Maintenance

Photo Randy Vanderveen Sexsmith, Alberta 2014-11-04 Rail ties sit in bundles near the site of a new section of second track being built south of Sexsmith near the Viterra terminal as sand cars sit idle on the current rail line. Train traffic out of the Peace could become even busier thanks to the opening of a new Intermodal Terminal in the County of Grande Prairie this past weekend.Time sure flies and before I know it I am way off track again in updating this blog. Here is some recent work.

Photo Randy Vanderveen Grand daughter #3 Clarke Grace arrived in late October on her great great grandfather's birthday. Photo Randy Vanderveen, Grande Prairie, Alberta :Liquid natural gas burns only as it becomes a vapour (returning to its gaseous state). This demonstration was just one during the grand opening of Ferus' merchant LNG facility in Elmworth. Photo Randy Vanderveen Grande Prairie, Alberta 2014-10-22 Courtney Peters cleans out the stall of her paint horse Ace who is being boarded at Evergreen Park during the winter months. Cleaning the stall and feeding, watering and exercising is a daily task for Peters.

Harvest old and new

Photo Randy Vanderveen Grande Prairie, Alberta 2014-08-25 In what appears to be a race in time, Dick Bacon operates Gary Dixon's 1949 Massey Harris combine as he harvests wheat near Four-Mile Corner Monday, Aug. 25 with members of the Bear Lake Growing Project, (one of the members is operating the John Deere combine in the background). The wheat will be sold and money donated to the Canadian Foodgrains Bank, which will receive matching funds from the federal government to be used for relief efforts where needed. Bacon used to operate a combine of the same vintage in a custom combining crew decades ago. Last week I took photos of the Bear Lake Growers harvesting a field of wheat just north of Grande Prairie for the Canadian Foodgrains Bank.

The wheat will be sold and money donated to the Canadian Foodgrains Bank, matched by the government and then used to purchase food for relief efforts globally.

What struck me as interesting was the juxtaposition of old and new equipment harvesting this year's crop.

 Photo Randy Vanderveen Grande Prairie, Alberta 2014-08-25 Gary Dixon uses a 1949 Massey Harris combine to harvest wheat near Grande Prairie Monday, Aug. 25 with members of the Bear Lake Growing Project. The wheat will be sold and money donated to the Canadian Foodgrains Bank, which will receive matching funds from the federal government to be used for relief efforts where needed. The truck following is a 1949 REO Speed Wagon owned and operated by Gerald Logan. Both pieces of equipment have Peace Country pedigrees and both, are now operated by their second owners.

Photo Randy Vanderveen Grande Prairie, Alberta 2014-08-25 Dick Bacon watches a load go into the back of a 1949 Reo Speed Wagon run by Gerald Logan as Gary Dixon mans the controls of a this 1949 Massey-Harris combine as they harvest wheat near Grande Prairie Monday, Aug. 25 with members of the Bear Lake Growing Project. The wheat will be sold and money donated to the Canadian Foodgrains Bank, which will receive matching funds from the federal government to be used for relief efforts where needed. Photo Randy Vanderveen Grande Prairie, Alberta 2014-08-25 Dick Bacon unloads the hopper of harvested wheat in Gary Dixon's 1949 Massey Harris combine into the grain box on the back of a 1949 REO Speed Wagon, owned and operated by Gerald Logan near Grande Prairie Monday, Aug. 25. Meanwhile a modern John Deere combine operated by one of the members of the Bear Lake Growing Project works quickly in the background. The wheat will be sold and money donated to the Canadian Foodgrains Bank, which will receive matching funds from the federal government to be used for relief efforts where needed. Volunteer farmers donated their time and equipment to seed and harvest the crop that was planted on donated land also. Bacon used to operate a machine of the same vintage when he worked as a custom combiner decades ago. Photo Randy Vanderveen Grande Prairie, Alberta 2014-08-25 Gerald and Tess Logan haul a load of wheat near Four-Mile Corner Monday, Aug. 25 to a larger unit for members of the Bear Lake Growing Project. The wheat will be sold and money donated to the Canadian Foodgrains Bank, which will receive matching funds from the federal government to be used for relief efforts where needed. Volunteer farmers donated their time and equipment to seed and harvest the crop that was planted on donated land also. In the back ground Dick Bacon operates a 1949 Massey Harris combine owned by Gary Dixon (waking behind) while Greg Sears pulls a grain wagon behind his John Deere tractor for the modern combines working in the field. Photo Randy Vanderveen Grande Prairie, Alberta 2014-08-25 A pair of combines work in tandem to harvest wheat near Four-Mile Corner Monday, Aug. 25 by members of the Bear Lake Growing Project. The wheat will be sold and money donated to the Canadian Foodgrains Bank, which will receive matching funds from the federal government to be used for relief efforts where needed. Volunteer farmers donated their time and equipment to seed and harvest the crop that was planted on donated land also.

Summer sampling

Photo Randy Vanderveen Valhalla, Alberta 2014-07-24 The pink and purple fireweed blooms stand out in stark contrast to the bright yellow and green of a nearby canola crop.

A quick look at some recent work. Photo Randy Vanderveen Grande Prairie, AB 2014-07-22 A race horse is taken through its morning exercise by a trainer Tuesday. The horses, which get exercised each morning, are part of the race season at Evergreen Park through July and August.Photo Randy Vanderveen Concrete is jack hammered away in the old Grande Bingo Hall as McLaurin Baptist Church works on changing it over to the congregation's new home. Photo Randy Vanderveen Spirit River, Alberta 2014-07-30 A farmer collects swathed forage crops for silage in a field southwest of Spirit River.Photo Randy Vanderveen Spirit River, Alberta 2014-07-30 A swather cuts down a field for silage southwest of Spirit River. The weather has been co-operative for those harvesting forage crops and hay, although spotty thunderstorms did rain on some hay in the Peace.Photo Randy Vanderveen Teepee Creek, Alberta 2014-07-30 A swathed forage crop is loaded into a truck to be taken to a nearby pit near Teepee Creek. Extreme variations in moisture levels throughout the Peace Country is resulting in crop conditions changing depending on the locale.

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Earlier in July I attended a Pictures with Purpose Workshop in Oregon. There are some thoughts by Yolanda Li, my teammate and fellow student, and myself here. David LaBelle, who organized and leads the workshop, has put up the introduction to the story we covered on his blog Bridges and Angels which will have more to come in the future.

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In case you missed it, both this site and my web page have a different look. I hope you like the changes. The new web site should load faster on to mobile devices.

Recent Work and Remembrance

Here is some recent work.Photo Randy Vanderveen Debolt, Alberta 3/19/2014 Pussy willows are beginning to show themselves along the rural roads throughout the South Peace as spring arrived with a cold whimper in the Peace Country.

 Photo Randy Vanderveen Grande Prairie, Alberta 2014-03-24 A bald eagle spreads its wings as it takes off from its perch on a poplar tree and heads out across a clear blue early spring sky in the South Peace.

Photo Randy Vanderveen Grande Prairie, Alberta 2014-03-24 Deer gather for a morning feed in a field southwest of Grande Prairie. Farmers across the Prairies lose a portion of their crops and feed each year to wildlife and an Alberta survey is trying to determine a dollar value on those losses.Photo Randy Vanderveen Grande Prairie, Alberta 2014-03-25 A rail spike sits above grade on a section of railway west of Grande Prairie. Photo Randy Vanderveen Grande Prairie, Alberta 3/19/2014 A hot air balloon pilot lifts and lowers his aircraft for practice in the Grande Prairie sky as Prairie Sunrise Towers and the city are seen in the background. The hot air balloon season is just around the corner as mornings and evenings become milder.

•••Photo Randy Vanderveen The 1994 Genocide memorial for the Kinazi Sector in southern Rwanda. Hundreds of genocide memorials are set up across the nation with a national one in Kigali.

On a more serious and darker note, April marks the 20th anniversary of the Rwandan Genocide.

The country has seen a lot of healing and forgiving over the past two decades but unfortunately the rest of the world doesn't seem to have learned any lessons.

Currently there are a number of countries that are on the threshold of genocide experiencing mass murders because of religion or ethnic backgrounds including South Sudan and the Central African Republic.

One would have thought that the expression "Never Again" would mean NEVER but we as humans never learn.

Keep Rwanda and her people in your prayers this month as they remember and try to continue to heal from this nightmare in the nation's history. Pray that the other nations on the verge of genocide would stand down and their citizens would instead stand up for their relatives, neighbours and friends being persecuted and killed.

 Photo Randy Vanderveen A memorial plaque outside the Rwandan National Genocide Memorial in Kigali .

Winter retreat

Photo Randy Vanderveen LaGlace, Alberta 3/11/2014 A foal sticks close to mom in a field east of LaGlace where several dozen horses were feeding on hay. The horse appeared to be the youngest of all the animals gathered in the pasture.After a long hard winter, it appears that winter is finally retreating in the Peace Country and that spring may have sprung — although I am sure Old Man Winter will have one or two kicks before retiring.

Here are a few photos shot recently which look forward to spring's arrival. The change of seasons provides plenty of opportunities for a photographer to hone his or her skills.

Photo Randy Vanderveen LaGlace, Alberta 2/27/2014 A late bison calf, born Halloween, stays close to the more mature animals on the Black Velvet Buffalo Farm northwest of LaGlace. Usually calves are born in May but despite its late start this youngster has managed to handle a hard winter.Photo Randy Vanderveen Grande Prairie Alberta 3/4/2014 Todd Wagner, of Troyer Enterprises Ltd., is reflected in a hubcap as he fires off a burst of water from his wand to prevent it from freezing up as he prepares to wash a piece of bale handling equipment in preparation for last week's Peace Country Ag Classic at Evergreen Park. Photo Randy Vanderveen Grande Prairie Alberta 3/4/2014 Todd Wagner, of Troyer Enterprises Ltd., almost disappears in a cloud of steam as he and co-worker Daryl English (not pictured) wash a piece of bale handling equipment in preparation for last week's Peace Country Ag Classic at Evergreen Park.