Calgary Stampede

A friend very kindly asked if I'd like to go to the Calgary Stampede Grounds this afternoon. Temperature was high but there was a very welcome breeze down at the Stampede Grounds. There one finds the Chuckwagon Races, the Rodeo, musical entertainment, the Midway (terrifying rides that defy gravity), stuffed toys to be won, the smell of heat and grease. And - Mini-donuts! The smallest size bag holds 18 of these tiny rings - it's all I can do to even look at my photo this evening! However, I took the photo for my kids, especially my daughters, one of whom who doesn't go to the Stampede and the other lives in Vancouver (though she came here for three days for a meeting and managed to go the Grounds the very first evening).

The Indian Village has been a major part of the Calgary Stampede since the inception in 1912 and is one of my favourite parts of the Stampede Grounds during Stampede week. The ring of brightly decorated teepees gives visitors a small glimpse into traditional First Nations way of life. The 10 days of the Stampede came to an end on Sunday, so the city can now return to "normal". en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tipi

This is a huge slide at the Stampede Grounds, set up as part of the Midway for Stampede week. I remember my kids coming down this many, many years ago : ). The Calgary Stampede is known around the world - 10 days of craziness! I spent a couple of hours wandering the Stampede Grounds this morning with my daughter from Vancouver (flickr, Silver Pomegranate), soaking up the smell of grease and farm animals, LOL! I was thinking of my 7-year-old grandson, knowing that he will have to miss the Stampede this year. He has a second-degree burn all over the top half of his body (not the lower half, as far as I know yet). He and his parents have very fair skin and always take great caution when out in the sun. Now that school is out, my grandson is in daycare and unfortunately the worker(s) there used ordinary sunscreen (#8, I believe) instead of the very powerful sunscreen that had been given to them to use by my son and daughter-in-law!!!! Apparently, my grandson has blisters the size of golfballs, so I can only imagine what pain he is in. He's not allowed to go out of the house for the next three weeks, poor kid!

These tiny piglets were a joy to see at one of the displays at the Calgary Stampede Grounds, not far from downtown. I love piglets - and it's always interesting to see what a variety of colours and patterns can be seen in just one litter.

The Indian Village has been a major part of the Calgary Stampede since the inception in 1912 and is one of my favourite parts of the Stampede Grounds during Stampede week. The ring of brightly decorated teepees gives visitors a small glimpse into traditional First Nations way of life.

I'm looking forward to seeing what photos my daughter (who lives in Vancouver but is in Calgary for a week at the moment) eventually posts to flickr or sends me in a regular e-mail. We spent a couple of hours together yesterday morning wandering round the Stampede Grounds, soaking up the annual Calgary Stampede atmosphere. This is just a silly photo, of one of the "bumble bees" that are part of one of the Midway (amusement park) rides. For sure, I can't stay away from nature for long, LOL! Actually, I was also curious to see how sharp this image would be in original size - a stationary object taken in full sunlight, unlike most of my usual subjects.

My youngest daughter and I love to go and see Momma pig and her piglets at the Stampede Grounds during Stampede. There were 11 of these beautiful little pink piggies and they had just been fed/ They love to climb over each other and snuggle into a huge heap of hairy bodies : ) Posting ridiculously early this morning, as I have a long, long day of botanizing east of the city, at Horseshoe Canyon today. This amazing canyon is near Drumheller, in the Badlands of Alberta (dinosaur country). Something like a two-hour drive to get out there.

Couldn't resist posting a shot of this big blue and white Smurf. He was hanging in one of the Midway game stalls at the Stampede Grounds on Tuesday, waiting for someone to win a game and take him home with them, when my youngest daughter and I went down to the Grounds for a few hours. I used to love watching the Smurfs on TV when my kids were young (many, many years ago, ha!).

I spent a couple of hours this morning at the Stampede Grounds with my daughter from Vancouver (flickr, Silver Pomegranate), soaking up the smell of grease and farm animals. Stampede Week is a week of craziness, but you feel you just HAVE to go and experience the atmosphere. As soon as we entered the Stampede Grounds, the first thing we both photographed was this small log cabin with peeling paint. Both of us love taking macros, but this time I thought I would include her in my photo, while she was busy photographing the textures close up.