Humble Opinions

Tuesday 20 March. Today is the Vernal Equinox - we have exactly 12 hours daylight, and when we officially start Spring. That's not a big deal in Brisbane where the transition from Summer to Winter is marked not so much by a change in the weather but by a slight reduction in the amount of rain, and that doesn't even apply this year because SE-Qld is suffering a terrible drought. In most of Canada, Spring is marked by a sudden greening of the trees and of the newly exposed grasses. But in Calgary the prairie winds will keep the system confused for another month. Today the city was shrouded in snow cloud and snow was plummeting down at about 10:00am, but by mid-afternoon the sun was out and all of the new snow had sublimated, leaving dry footpaths and roads. I'm told that as much snow will fall this month as in any over the winter, so the spring skiing is something to look forward to. What is interesting is the way the ice is breaking up on the Bow river through the cent

Another excellent weekend at Cowley Part 1 Arrived with Bob and Kurt on Friday night to meet Susan and Sandy who had prepared gourmet hamburgers for dinner. As usual, great conversation and plans for tomorrow. Relatively early night. Saturday Sandy, Bob, Kurt and I travelled to Castle Mountain Ski Resort for another great day. Bob's expert instruction had me keeping my weight forward with hands forward too so that my shoulders faced down hill and I let the simple weight transfer take care of my turns. This is actually counter-intuitive as one tends to straighten up if things look stressful. It made for more confident, aggressive and speedier skiing. Kurt and I quickly did five 1000ft green runs, plus a couple of blue sections, without mishap. So after a couple of beers and some pizza for lunch we did one more green and then attacked the first serious run on Castle. Again, little problem making our way down the cat-trail, which is supposed to be green, but clearly is a

Sunday couldn't have been better. The temperature at Lake Louise was around +5c but the snow was still light and dry. Dennis was taking step-son, Myles, to the snow for the day and they very kindly invited me along. I'm starting to get the hang of this skiing caper - keeping my weight forward, smooth transitions. It all makes for ability to handle steeper and rougher sections, more confidence, and ... a great deal less fatigue! Apart from about 45 minutes for lunch, we skied from 9:30 to 3:30. I did 11 long runs while Dennis and Myles, who go for the steeper and faster runs, did at least 13. Myles spent the whole day testing himself on the moguls - magnificent to watch. Dennis skis like he's standing and watching the scenery, except that he's moving straight downhill at about 80Kph - annoying to watch. I'm still very much on the green (and sometimes blue) slopes - probably very sad to watch. Only one little adventure when I took a trail down to where I coul

Reading Week is supposed to be a week for students to catch up with readings and to prepare for the meaty part of the semester. However, like Spring Break for the Americans, it is actually an opportunity to take a week off partying in Mexico, or Banff, or anywhere where there isn't a textbook. Here's the result of an exchange I had with one clever student... Hello Hume This is Kenneth H** from team stud (fist pump). Looking at my schedule for the up coming week I am not sure that I will have enough time to give the assignment a quality effort. I am currently working on a project for The Social Exchange (a student club here in Haskayne) that involves an awful lot of video filming and even more editing for a charity event that we are currently working on. Basically I am asking if I can have an extension until after reading week on the project. I tried to pop by today and discuss it in person to no avail, if you have any questions please don't hesitate to contact me either b