Spatter

Just Checking

I was just checking how the transition to Spatter's new platform is going and noticed that I still show no email subscribers.  If you're an email subscriber and you're reading this instead of reading posts over at Tumblr, you need to refer to previous post and sign up for email subscription over at Spatter's Tumblr location.  That is, of course, if you still want to get Spatter updates.

Moving Day

The day has come.  Spatter's saying good-bye to Typepad and hello to Tumblr.  I won't go into all the reasons why, but I think it's going to suit my needs better...and maybe even be a little more fun.  Thanks Ron for suggesting it. 

So this is my last post here.  If you want to continue to follow Spatter, you'll need to do one of the following:

To get Spatter via RSS feed, click this and then click on the RSS feed symbol in the right sidebar.

To get Spatter via email: click this and then click on the words "Subscribe To Spatter By Email in the right sidebar.  This will initiate a drop down box where you enter your email and type in the scrambled letters.  After that, you'll get an email to confirm you actually want to get the emails.  You'll need to open and confirm. 

If all you do is check in at your leisure, then you'll need to delete your old bookmark and  add a new bookmark with the new address:  http://spattr.tumblr.com

Hope to see you on "the other side"!  When you come for your first visit, scroll back a few days.  I've already posted some photos as I was playing around with it.

Big Horn Sheep

Right smack dab in the middle of the town of Radium Hot Springs what do we see?  A beautiful big horn sheep looking for berries:

It was evident that he knew exactly where he was going...I think he's been here before!

The locals didn't seem to give him much notice.  I reckon for them seeing this guy was as mundane as alligators are in Florida.

 

Marble Canyon

Our route back into the U.S. went through Kootenay National Park.  It was a beautiful drive.  We stopped a couple of times to take it in, and in one instance...Marble Canyon...we got out and hiked.  It was a beautiful walk following the path of Tokumm Creek.

First seen at Lake Louise, then Moraine Lake, the turquoise color of the glacial melt-water was a sight to behold.

The Tokumm Creek fire occurred in the summer of 2003.  During a single day in July, lightning started five different fires in Kootenay and Banff National Parks. Three of these fires (Haffner, Taylor Upper and Taylor Lower) were quickly extinguished by “initial attack” helicopter and ground crews. Two others, Tokumm and Verendrye, demanded attention for over a month and eventually merged into one fire. The Tokumm-Verendrye fire burned 12.6% of Kootenay National Park.

 

Blog Change

In case you're wondering, Spatter's taken on a new look.  It's called "free".  As a freebie, gone are the font choices, the ability to schedule posts to be published ahead of time, and of course, the customized look and links I had.  I downgraded because I saw no reason to keep giving Typepad money for a tool that I'm barely using.

Spatter has been in existence for over four years and during that span it's served me well...both as a creative outlet and as a vehicle for meeting some really great people. Call it a sign of the times, but it's been becoming  a bit obsolete for me and the reasons to keep Spatter going are waning:

• I'm finding Facebook is mostly fine for my "spatter"  and I now spend most of my time interacting there and on Flickr.   People interact with me more there too. In fact, most established blogger friends are on Facebook and I see them there more than I do on our respective blogs.

• And Spatter has become mostly a re-post of my photography with links to Flickr.  It's become redundant most of the time.

Still, it's hard to abandon my "baby"...the vehicle that was born when my creative juices were reborn. and I do still think there's a place for an archive of my life.  For those reasons...and because there's a group of friends who, for now at least, only keep up with me via Spatter,  I downgraded in lieu of cancelling.  The new format isn't as pretty and isn't as capable, but I think it'll do. 

 

 

Banff Gondola

The Banff Gondola is a must do when visiting there.  It's an eight minute ride up to a summit at 7486 feet.  There is a trail you can hike if you're so inclined, but at a 2292 feet elevation change, not many people take it on.

It's quite a view, both on the ride...

And once you're up on top...

That's Banff down there.  The mountain is Cascade Mountain...the peak you see when you look down Banff's main street.  I took photos from all directions while at the top, but the pictures just don't adequately capture the magnificence of feeling the cold wind and the grandeur of it all.

 

BOW RIVER FALLS

BOW RIVER FALLS
Originally uploaded by bydamanti

The town of Banff is located in the Bow River Valley and, as you might deduce from that, the Bow River runs through it and through town.

The name "Bow" refers to the reeds that grew along its banks and which were used by the local First Nations peoples to make bows.