Days are light and nights are dark. That’s what I was taught in preschool. I guess that was more for the words “light” and “dark” than for teaching me what night was. However, here in Canada, the dark nights can be surprisingly light. And I am not talking of nights on the North Pole.

Oak Hammock Marsh

A few weeks ago I went out to shoot some elusive aurora. Right from the start it was clear that the aurora was there. But Mother Nature had other plans for the night.

For a long time I have been blogging about birds and bees and dragonflies. All nice and all, but what about the rest of the animals in the city? Namely people and their activities? Well, I thought it was time to start at the roots of the city of Winnipeg.

Point Douglas is one of the oldest neighbourhoods of Winnipeg. Also one of the poorest. Also one of the more industrious. Now, how does that all fit together?

It’s that time again. Waking up in the morning, thinking that something is wrong. Everything is too quiet outside, you hear no cars, trucks or other noisy engines. What is going on? Is it too early to wake up? You look at the alarm clock. Nope, not too early, more a bit later than your usual wakeup tine.

You peek through the window, seeing nothing. Now this starts to be uncomfortable. You run to the living room that had a bigger window and see…

It comes and goes by waves, it seems. For long periods I do no night shooting, sometimes hardly getting out after supper. Then there are periods of nightly activity, laced with Red Bull and coffee. Those night owl times can be very productive.

The setting sun

Sometimes they are a bust. When the sun sets, things start to happen. That’s what I always thought when I was younger. It is still true today, although I seem to be less interested in those “things”. Nowadays, when I go out, it is to record the night and it’s beauty.