Who would have thought that in April there would still be ice on the rivers in Winnipeg? Well, I suppose that on the low temp side of Winnipeg one might expect just about anything…

Ice on the Assiniboine river is today mostly gone. We have had a warm March. At least that is what I thought when looking at the Assiniboine river at Munson Park.

The Assiniboine, a bit high

But when I came a little upstream on my bicycle, there was a surprise…

Read more: On ice II

Many of us have asked this question over the years. Obviously if you have little pictures at very recognizable events, there is not a big problem. But the old shoeboxes with pictures will tell you differently. How many pictures do you have in these boxes (“I will put them in an album, I promise!”) of which you don’t even remember taking them?

Ok, there has always been this method: simply write down where you took your pictures and be done with it. Just look in these old shoeboxes. The proof is in there, somewhere…

A tree, somewhere in the wide wide world. But where?

Nowadays we have different tools to get us through this chore of adding information to our pictures. The first one is Lightroom from Abobe, the second …

Read more: Now where did I take this picture ?!?!?

The first time I heard about prairie dogs was when I went to Fort Whyte Alive in Winnipeg. I expected some kind of coyote to show up. Was I wrong about that! I did have some attenuating circumstances pleading for me… The prairie dog is a native of North America and does not live in Europe.

Meet Pete the prairie dog

These little guys live in small hills in which they dig holes and tunnels.

Read more: Prairie dogs? You said dogs?

At Walt Disney’s they try to show a goose as lazy and fat. Always trying to find a way to eat the most and deliver the least of effort. Visibly Walt Disney Studios never came to Canada in spring…

The Canada Geese DO come to Canada in spring, after a flight of several thousand kilometres through wind, rain and snow.

Arrival of the Canada geese

When they arrive, they are tired and rather noisy. The ice is still not gone from the water, but still they arrive. In Canada they announce spring…

Read more: Geese

By now, you may know that water and electricity are nearly family. Both represent energy, in different forms. The old dam in Pinawa, now in ruins, was the start of our journey.

Water from the canal, rushing into the forebay of the Pinawa Dam.

The water, rushing into the forebay, kept there to be used at a later time. But why build a dam in a place where originally there is no water?

Read more: Electricity and water… back to Winnipeg

Like many other photo enthusiasts in the world, let’s welcome the latest beta version of Adobe’s Lightroom.  Often enough we see updates to programs, adding a few options that we probably will never use. But this looks different. Now I’m not a Lightroom specialist, even if I use it for all my pictures. Currently a “meagre” 11,000 of them. My collection is growing fast. It needs care and attention. Lightroom 3 has a whole bunch of improvements that are worth talking about. I will take two of them here for a closer look.

The pictures I will present here will be a little different than what you are used to until now. But let’s take a look anyway, ok?

Read more: Noise combat and freakiness

Anyone will say that these two do not go together. Certainly not in your bathroom. On the other hand, the two are closely related, one may be the result of the other. If you hold back enough water to create pressure, you can use this pressure to get electricity or any other kind of energy. Our ancestors knew this already for a long time. As “general” public there is normally no chance to get close enough to such a power installation, for obvious security reasons. However, there are places where this is possible in Manitoba.

You are warned!

Despite the safety warnings we’re going to take a look! Shall we go?

Read more: Electricity and water