Canadian Museum for Human Rights – Inspiring a Global Dialog

Winnipeg, Manitoba.

Rising high above the Canadian plains, the Canadian Museum for Human Rights was conceived as the world’s first museum dedicated to human rights. Located on the street that is named for the late Israel Asper, a Canadian philanthropist who had a dream that came to fruition when the human rights center opened on September 20, 2014 in The Forks area of Winnipeg, Though he did not live to see his vision come to exist, his family and others brought forth the site where the Red and Assiniboine Rivers meet.

Cellpic Sunday – 19 January 2019

Buckeye, Arizona.

It’s an Arizona Autumn… but this photo was captured on 2 January 2020. It’s Hamilton Avenue in the Verrado neighborhood of Buckeye. This quaint development is fast on the grow after having some fits and starts through the housing crisis of the early 2000’s. Buckeye is now the fastest growing city in the United States and the Verrado neighborhood is one of the reasons for the city’s growth spurt. This may seem like a commercial for Buckeye, but after spending seven winters here in this community, I’ve come to call it our winter home and can’t help bragging on it.

Lens-Artists Photo Challenge – Window With a View

This week, Amy asks us to share our photos featuring windows with a view. She writes, “Share with us photos you’ve captured through windows.” You can read her entire challenge post here.

In this post, I am going to mostly focus on the views to the inward side of the window, just to add a little “twist” to the challenge. Obviously, in most cases, windows have both an inward and an outward view. Maybe the opening photo is looking outward at the world… or is it looking inward at a staged display? The large window contains a view of one of the many beautiful (and very large) dioramas featuring natural scenes from around the world. The window is in several sections and has a couple of different angles so in order for me to get the entire image in one photograph, I had to use the panorama feature in Lightroom to merge several images. That accounts for the extra distortion in the photo. My wife, Lynn, is included in part to help the viewer gauge the size of this diorama at the Denver Museum of Nature and Science.

FortWhyte Alive – The Fort That Never Was

Winnipeg, Manitoba.

So, I borrowed their “Fort That Never Was” reference from the website of this nature preserve. FortWhyte is a neighborhood that was the center of a dispute on railway construction. The confrontation somehow led the area to the name “FortWhyte” after the head of the Canadian Pacific Railway, William Whyte. I’ll let you, dear reader, explore the park’s website here if you want to learn a little more of that early history.

In the mid-20th century, the Wildlife Foundation of Manitoba began converting the site to a wildlife habitat but by the 1980’s, their focus shifted toward environmental education. The trails and Interpretive Centre opened in 1983. If you are really interested in the history of the place, on their website, you’ll find a seven volume blog featuring the park’s first fifty years here.

Cellpic Sunday – 12 January 2020

Buckeye, Arizona.

While on one of our weekly hikes a few weeks ago, we happened upon a couple of trail maintenance tools sitting beside the trail. Not being trained in that particular skill, I can only assume that the pick is used to remove or modify stubborn rocks that might be a tripping hazard. I’m sure it has plenty of other uses.

Lens-Artists Photo Challenge – Special Spot Shots

White Tank Mountain Regional Park, Arizona.

For the first photo challenge of 2020, Ann-Christine asks us to share images of a special place. Gee, that’s hard! I’ve done a lot of traveling for Journeys with Johnbo and have come to find there are many special places around this United States, and though I have not been outside of the Western Hemisphere (yet), I know there are many special places waiting for me to visit in the coming new decade.

Lower Fort Garry – Historic Fur Trading Post

St. Andrews, Manitoba.

On our first visit to Manitoba in over 30 years, we returned to one of our favorite places to refresh our memories. In the summer, you can tour the grounds and meet staff members dressed in correct period costumes, role playing their particular position in the daily life of a fur trading site in the 19th century. You can even take advantage of daily guided tours at certain times of the year. One post on the Canada Park site says the buildings are open year round, but a notice on the Parks Canada website says they are closed for the season and will re-open in Spring 2020. Check the Parks Canada website for specifics on hours, things to do, etc. here.