Sophie and the Flying Canoe

Kind of a cool art thing put on by MacEwan Fine Arts in Mill Creek Ravine this weekend:  

link:  The Flying Canoe Adventure

I didn't see it at night, but here are Sophie and I checking it out on Saturday afternoon. There are no pictures of me because all of the ones that Sophie took were either blurry or just of squirrels. She just doesn't have the patience. Or thumbs.

The start (down by the two houses in the ravine), and directions to the Trapper's Cabin.
One of us may be just about to dart to the right.

dogpile

On our way down the walking path, towards the Trapper's Cabin. 

Sophie's on high alert for mice in the haybales.

staying close and using the buddy system for safety

Just like the sign guaranteed...the Trapper's Cabin.  

Seemed cozy with the stove inside.

Sophie close, but not in pic...buddy system working great!

There were a lot of these decorative mini-lamppost things.  

If the explanation was on a sign, then I missed it - which was a common theme for me.

buddy system shot to hell; difference in footspeed becoming issue

I saw the sign for this, but didn't take a picture of it. 

Thus, my faulty memory has no idea what it was, so I'm calling it the 'Purple DNA Strand'.

Not enough resolution to zoom in on plaque - maybe the CSI guys could do it.

Sophie potentially, but unlikely, close by

These were cooler than the picture shows - they were lights frozen into spheres of ice.

Would've looked cool at night.

buddy system distant memory...dog over horizon

The main tent area - first aid tent and a larger tent to the left that isn't shown.

Polite laughter when I said that the homeless were sure organized this year.

It actually seemed like they hadn't heard the joke 100 times that weekend.

More about that quad later.

finally caught up to dog...had just eaten all their stores...sending quad for replacement foodstuffs

Base camp left, dog-troll guarding entrance to City of Lights.

resting, digesting food...stuffed

Not much contrast, so it's hard to see, but this small tent is The Mysterium.

Sorry, neither of us looked in, so whatever's inside it will remain a mystery.

5th attempt for picture

This is the Mira Animalium, with pictures of lots of animals.

Probably all native to Mill Creek Ravine at one time or another.

Irony of the dog missing from the Animalium picture isn't lost on me.

don't run ahead to the teepee...no...stay...stay

Not sure why I picked the most populous animal currently in the ravine - oh well.

what if this had been a real squirrel? I'd be dead...thanks Sophie

The relaxed artfulness of the juxtaposition of a black and brown Sophie on the white snow in front of a beige and blue teepee with an elk on it, which is itself in front of brown and green trees bathed in the failing rays of light as dusk nears...was at least the 8th freaking attempt. Every time I mumbled or said "Oh come on" when my phone camera timed out as I was backing up, Sophie obediently came. The woman on the quad was quite enjoying herself, thank you very much: "I could watch this all day."

In the order that we went anyway, this is the last of it. Pretty cool.

obviously no food inside

If you prefer a slighty more permanent amateur work of art, there's this graffito under the Whyte Ave bridge:

the eyes have it

The end.

Timmy's Flipped His Go-cart?

Mill Creek Ravine...not to scale.


Okay, so here's the thing...I live by Mill Creek Ravine and like to go walking, running, and cycling around down there. I never mean to, but I usually end up picking up bottles/cans/glass/trash and putting them in the garbage. That's me, Mr Civic Pride. Maybe I'll someday have some kind of pride parade in honour of myself, or maybe some group has an existing colourful pride parade that I can join.

Anyway - sometimes I take the neighbour's dog, Sophie, as an excuse to make me go out for longer. Plus, she's entertaining, really enjoys it, and is a conversation starter. She's black with cute little brown eyebrows - which makes her a chick magnet. Oh, and 99% of the time...when she poops, she poops in the woods somewhere and I don't have to scoop it.

For a few weeks now there's been one of those big plastic water containers sitting in the creek. It was caught in some roots and a fallen tree, the water's been high this year, and it's a difficult part of the creek to get down to with the muddy banks. I decided that I wasn't going to make any more excuses though, and I was going to fish that stupid container out of there this time.

Sophie was off of her leash and running around, and I scrambled down to the edge of the water and surveyed the situation: Too far to reach; too difficult to get to the other side of the creek; stupid tree on the other side overhanging and in the way. Surveying the situation didn't seem to help, so I then proceeded to examine, review, study, inspect, assess, analyze, appraise, evaluate, look over, consider, scan, look at, consider, peruse, regard, think about, plot, map out, chart, measure, graph, gauge, fathom, and plumb it. Nothing.

In my defense, Sophie kept distracting me by running around with sticks. She doesn't have any retriever in her, so this is unusual behaviour - she virtually never plays with them. Like Sherlock Holmes, I'm observant and intuitive, so this really stood out to me.

I did a test-lean, seeing how close I could get. Not close enough. Sophie is standing there with a stick in her mouth. I do another test-lean, this time in a slightly different way. Same result. Sophie is running around behind me with another stick. I turn the other way and try to reach. Nothing. Sophie is grabbing at a sticklike root. I debate going on my hands and knees to really maximize my lateral reach, but I can see that it won't be enough. Honestly, Sophie is not helping the situation at all - she wants to play or something and here I am trying to figure out a complex problem. It's not her fault really, dogs just don't have the brain capacity that we humans have. Or thumbs.

I know what you're thinking: After getting owned by spaghetti last week, he's about to have a Clouseau-esque flop into the muddy creek...likely involving a rambunctious and agitated dog.

Ha! Wrong! But let me continue, please...

I should be able to lean over the creek and grab onto the tree, providing it holds, then reach the container with my foot and kick it back. Yay, me and my giant brain! Just have to figure out a way to get out of that position though...leaning 45-degrees over the creek with nothing to pull myself back. If I tied a rock to my back foot to act as a counterweight like a tower crane...Oh for pete's sake, Sophie, put that long stick down and quit bugging me!

Oh crap.

Um, let's just say the solution might have been me using a long stick to knock the container back towards the bank. It's sad to say, but my ego wouldn't allow me to use any of the sticks that Sophie brought. At least she was good enough not to leave a pile of them there, sketch a diagram, or to actually fish the container out herself with one of her sticks and give me that look that all girls give guys when they've done something stupid and won't admit it. We had an uneventful walk home and I avoided eye contact. True story.



The intrepid hunters with their kill. I didn't have the pellet gun with me - it's just in the picture for big-game-hunter cred. I'm on the left.



I was thinking -- you know who I'd be really bad at? Being Timmy's parents on "Lassie"...

Them: What's that, Lassie? You're saying that Timmy has:
a) flipped his go-cart?
b) fallen down a well?
c) flipped his go-cart into a well?
I see you've got out a stout rope and pulley system already...now show us where Timmy is!

Result: Lassie is wonderful; Timmy is rescued, learns a lesson, and is set for another adventure in the next show. A wonderful and wholesome TV series is born.


Me: For fudge sake, quit barking already! Hey, that's my best block-and-tackle...bad dog! I'm locking you in the barn.

Result: Lassie is wonderful; Timmy dies in the pilot episode, no-one learns a lesson or wants another adventure. Years later, Hikers come across Timmy's body and the remains get returned to Timmy's father...Timmy's mother has died of heartbreak.