One of the biggest problems of the working man or woman. If your work is taking up all your time and apparently leaves you no possibility to go out and have some “nature time” or “relaxation time”, well then you have a problem. I have seen this happen several times in my own life and in others’. Is there nothing you can do about that? It looks like there is no solution.

Between working time and leisure time there is only one constant: you. You are the one deciding if your spare time is spared for work or for something else. The problem is to come to that awareness that you have spare time. It looked as if my spare time was going to be in front of my keyboard since the beginning of this year.

Read more: Getting out there

When people are thinking about Canada, the first thing that comes to mind is COLD. So I will not disappoint you. Here is a post about cold. Before you go and run away, it might be an idea to think about what a cold landscape is. Not just about your freezing toes, the world doesn’t revolve around them.

It also doesn't revolve around Manitoba, although some people might disagree. Winterscapes, or winter landscapes are beautiful. For some, even more so because they can enjoy them from a nice warm spot on the beach..

Read more: Manitoba winterscapes

I often heard my parents say “Back when I was young, things were so much simpler…”, together with yet another story about things I could have no idea about. I used to dismiss the stories as stories, without thinking that one day I might be doing the same. Well, almost. Unlike my parents, today I have pictures to back up those claims of simpler times.

It is not so long ago that I lived in Ukraine. A mere 13 years ago, to be exact. At that time, Ukraine was even different from what it is today. No signs of war or even unrest. Also hardly any signs of tourism. Coming to a country like that is a tourist’s dream. Everything seems unspoiled and authentic. Until you start talking with the people that know of different times, that is.

Read more: Thoughts of simpler times

Ever since I was a kid, my parents told me not to shout and scream if it wasn’t necessary. They brought me up as a pretty quiet kid. There was no use for screaming or yelling in our house, not even to “express myself”. That kind of “expression” was pretty quickly taken care of.

Temper and tantrum were not part of my education. Later in life, some of the youngsters in school did have their outbursts; they made me feel weird. I was not used to this. When I arrived in Canada, I had to get used to another kind of outburst. One that would put me in awe of a spectacle not common to the region of my birth.

Read more: A small outburst

Photographing birds is nice. It’s relaxing, and gives sometimes spectacular results. But as time goes, it may give a somewhat warped image of my environment. There are not only birds here. There is lots more to enjoy in Manitoba.

While most of this is never promoted by the powers in place (past or present) there is way more to see and to enjoy. Often, the winter in Manitoba is depicted as brutally cold, possibly only superseded by Siberia in temperatures. The news of late did nothing to change that perception, by noting that Winnipeg was colder than the North Pole at a certain time.

Read more: Balance

Manitoba is a prairie province. Just to make that clear to those who don’t know. It is a flat province for the biggest part. It is definitely not a place where you would suspect hydro dams and waterfalls. Yet, Manitoba produces 90% of its electricity by hydro-electric dams.

Dams like Seven Sisters or its predecessor, Pinawa Dam provided electricity for the city of Winnipeg. This raises questions for many people outside Manitoba or Canada. How can a flat province have enough difference in altitude to produce hydro electricity? Let’s take a look at the waterfalls of Manitoba and see if there is no site steep enough for power.

Read more: Manitoba suds

Some time ago, I went up north with a friend. The idea was to spend a nice weekend, get some nice shots of some nice wildlife and simply have a good time. What I didn’t get was that “up north” requires at least a few days, not a simple weekend.

We ended up in an old mining town. By the time we wanted to go and shoot some wildlife, the said wildlife was already either asleep or frozen stiff. So the “wildlife idea” got somewhat changed into “shoot anything you want, we won’t get anything else now”. It turned out to be a good decision.

Read more: Up north by night