Sean: Wonderful photo work. I wish I had the patience and know-how. Question: Where is the church located? I was born and bred in Alberta but I don't recognize it. Have you tried to get inside the big Ukrainian church on 101 St in Edmonton with your camera? The colours and art-work would be superb to the lens (I think).

Whoa! The Ukrainian church is on 97 St ... not 101 St.

Yup, that's my Alberta as I see it. Great work. I hope to see more.

Superb- that photo of the land, seen through a windowframe in the stone wall! The second time I have seen that one. I keep going back and looking at it- matter of fact, it would look good, parked on my wall right here, above my monitor. And perhaps now, I am beginning to understand what you are trying to do. Maybe.
You may recall, that article in one of the Vancouver newspapers, where the journo interviewed a farmer from the prairies who had retired, flogged his farm, and moved to the coast.
The journo asked him: "How do you like the mountains?"
The farmer responded: "Nice- but they sure hide the view!"
Burning your brother's old tax records, is probably a criminal offense. Firstly, because it fouls the air. And now, the feds can jump on him again, and since he has no records to defend himself, they can AUDIT him, (the hushmoney for Dingwall has to come from somewhere.)

St. Norbert's is in an area called Rosenheim, Alberta. It's about 7km south and 5km east of the town of Provost. Built in 1922, it's the largest neo-gothic church in Alberta.

Predominantly German pioneers settled the district of Rosenheim beginning in 1907. Many of the settlers were from Rosenheim, Germany, which is where the community took it's name from.

The community of over 100 families flourished until the Great Depression. In 1968, St. Norbert's was closed. The church was declared an Alberta Historic Resource in 1978, and some refurbishing was done after that.

The church and it's recreational facilities can be rented for weddings and other functions today.

"Superb- that photo of the land, seen through a windowframe in the stone wall! The second time I have seen that one."

It's an old stone barn that was built in 1919. Apparently the fellow who owned the land had two wooden barns that burned down for some reason or other, so his neighbors pitched in and helped him build a stone barn that wouldn't burn down.

"And perhaps now, I am beginning to understand what you are trying to do. Maybe."

I'm not sure I understand yet. All I know is that I've fallen in love with the area and its people. No one will ever get me to live in another city for the rest of my life. Photography is more challenging out here and there are more opportunities for growth as an artist. When you live in B.C. you're surrounded by 'gimme' shots. Here a person has to work at it to produce a good image. :-)

"Burning your brother's old tax records, is probably a criminal offense."

Not if they're over seven years old. That and small fires are allowed here (we just fed the paper in with the logs and sat around the firepit).

sean, you wrote: "St. Norbert's is in an area called Rosenheim, Alberta. It's about 7km south and 5km east of the town of Provost".

OK, now I know whereof you write. Many moons ago I used to hunt geese in the Chauvin - Provost - Consort area. I haven't fired my Winchester Model 12 for 20 years but I still have it and it's not registered ... ergo, my government says I am a criminal. I'll never understand their logic.

Sean,
It suddenly occurred to me, that since that photo I like so much, (it's really grand)-is on my screen, so I....uh.....downloaded it. Didn't work the first time, but on the second attempt, I captured it. But since it is Your image, I gotta ask Ya, firstly: Can I have it?
secondly: How much it gonna cost me?
And, is it possible- that having realized that you can't depend on anybody else for anything- that you are better off having them not too close to you?
A long time ago, I lived on a farm, too. (something new for me). My nearest neighbours dropped over to introduce themselve, and we retired to the new patio/platform thing I had made, and we were sitting around out there, having a drink and watching the chickens running around in the yard, and he asked me what I was feeding em? Told him: Laying Mash. He sez: "You are wasting your money- half of them is roosters.
'Side's that, laying mash has chemicals in it, things like hormones, etc. Best way for you to feed them things- go find a farmer who grinds his own grain-cheapest way to get it- buy three sacks of grain, three different kinds, don't matter what they are. Best way to store it, is three new plastic garbage pails, with lids that snap on so the bugs and critters don't get at it. Mix it up good.
Get a half dozen or so plastic one gallon pails, drill small holes in the bottoms of all of them but one, ( to hold water). On day one, scoop a large applejuice can fulla the mixed grain.
Place it in the pail with no holes in it, fill the pail with water, let soak one day.
Day two- transfer pail of soaked grain to one of the pails with holes in it, and soak under water tap, set aside.
By day five or so, the grain from the first pail, has sprouted into a solid lump, (which is for why the pails have to be flexi, so you can squeeze the lump out.
Chickens loved it! So did the pigs! (I even saw the dog nibbling it). And if you want a nice salad, grab a couple of handfulls of it and put it on your plate! You can even sprout the stuff on a sunny windowledge in the winter time. (A window ledge just like the one in your photo.)
Wanna make big brownie points with your hayseed neighbours: Just say-Hey! When was the last time you folks had a vacation? Yaknow-get away for a few days, go someplace. I got a field here with good fencing and lotsa feed- just park your critters over here and take a holiday? (Works every time-haw!)

I really enjoyed the excellent photographs. Clearly, Alberta is a beautiful place, and I am not surprised that so many Albertans have loyalty to their province.

I was struck by the fact that in many respects some of the scenery here in north Texas is quite similar. Actually we have a lot in common.

Everyone else has commented on your photos Sean, so I am going to give you a big Bravo Zulu (well done!) on the AWM comic strip. Cutting stuff for both the left and right that makes you think, particularly the one about profiling pig farmers. Whew, close to home.
Keep it up