Give Thanks

Canada celebrates Thanksgiving in October, but when you hold an “attitude of gratitude” it’s easy to give thanks any time of year. And yet, it’s not always easy maintaining an attitude of gratitude, especially during these COVID times.

There’s a lot of information out there on why and how to keep an attitude of gratitude. One tool that works well for me is daily journaling. I refer to a list of about 15 questions/prompts when I sit down to write for 5-10 minutes each evening. The list is ever evolving. The current set of questions/prompts includes:

  • What am I feeling grateful for today?
  • Who did I appreciate today?

The first question fosters an attitude of gratitude. The second one helps spread that sense of appreciation and can really make a person’s day. What’s your go to technique or tool for regularly feeling thankful?

Enough reflection…time for this month’s photos!

1. Minifig Mighty M Enjoys the Great Outdoors

This image represents so many things we gave thanks for this month. First, Mighty M represents a family member who is a currently a long-term patient in Alberta’s public health care system. Thanks to her entire medical care and rehab support team!

Due to COVID, she’s allowed just one visitor, her spouse. She is doing amazingly well – an inspiration to everyone who’s remotely supporting/following her recovery. We decided to make a Minifig representation to join us on our outdoor adventures. And to share Mighty M photos and videos with her as part of our remote support. Mr. GeoK is getting pretty good at coming up with funny quips or puns to go along with the pictures.

The day I took this photo, we gave also thanks for a Twitter “heads up” about avalanche control scheduled for the east end of Mount Rundle. As a result, we were in the right place at the right time to hear the explosions and watch the resulting avalanches. Check out my Relive video recap for avalanche videos clips.

give thanks for the great outdoors

2. Still Enjoying the Harvest

We had good luck with gardening this year. In November, we continued to appreciate our bountiful harvest, including the last of the carrots, kale, chard, garlic, apples, and these tomatoes. I picked them green in early October, and ripened them in a covered cardboard box. Despite being a big shriveled, they tasted great as the main ingredient in a big batch of homemade salsa.

homegrown tomatoes

3. You Are Here Now – Lucky You

There’s a new public art project in Canmore. It’s called the Spur Line Art Trail, and came about under the leadership of a local artist and designer, Lesley Russell. She saved plaques of wood from trees that came down along the Spur Line Trail over the past several years. Some 200 plaques were distributed to people who wanted to contribute their art to the project. More details are in this local newspaper article. The range of art is marvelous and magical. I just had to take a (rare) selfie with this piece that flat out reminds passersby to be present in the moment and place. To see more of the art pieces along this trail, watch Mr GeoK’s Relive video recap.

selfie spot on spur line art trail Canmore

4. HBO Comes to Alberta

Despite the disruptions to traffic and interruptions to businesses, a lot of people gave thanks this summer & fall that HBO came to Alberta to film “The Last of Us”. It’s reportedly the largest production ever in Canada. Many locals were hired as extras, set security, for set construction and more. Local hotels, restaurants and bus companies got lots of extra business – a boon for the hard-hit hospitality sector.

After stints in Edmonton, Calgary, High River and Fort Macleod, filming moved to Canmore in November. It took crews about 2 weeks to transform Canmore’s main street into post-apocolyptic Jackson Hole, Wyoming. And while we weren’t able to watch any actual filming, very polite security personnel let everyone wander through “the set” when filming was not underway.

HBO The Last of Us in Canmore

5. Mother Nature

I’ve written over and over again about how blessed we are to live in this part of the world, where we have easy access to some of Mother Nature’s most beautiful scenery, plentiful wildlife and a trail system that makes it easy to soak up a daily dose of Vitamin N(ature).

This is just one of many beautiful November sunrises we enjoyed. I truly appreciate that I have time for at least one leisurely cup of coffee before heading out and can still make it to the Bow River in time for scenes like this. Oh, and I also give thanks that my camera has a built in neutral-density filter feature. That’s what makes for the smoother river surface and amazing reflection. πŸ™‚

November sunrise on the Bow River

Boy, did I have a hard time narrowing it down to just 5 images this month, because we also have some great wildlife and waterfall photographs from our wanderings. I managed to sneak one in as the featured photo for this post. Would you like to share something you gave thanks for this month? Drop a comment!

And to see what other photo blogging challenge participants appreciated in November, hop on over to A ‘lil HooHaa and check out the link-up at the bottom of the post. While you’re there, please consider joining our small but mighty community of bloggers for the December PBC. The theme is Holly Jolly, which has lots of scope for creativity.

5 thoughts on “Give Thanks

  1. Pingback: Holly Jolly - Out & About with the GeoKs

  2. cmiked

    I hope that we are able to travel next year. Your photos always make me want to travel, especially to visit our Northern Neighbors. Other than sneaking across the border a couple of times on a Boundary Waters canoe trip, I’ve never been to Canada.

  3. The Bow River looks as if it is frozen? Fantastic picture. Well worth getting up early!
    Very exciting to have a film set right at your town!
    Canada celebrates Thanksgiving in October – yes, we were surprised by that fact several times… Limited opening hours, heavy traffic, and ask me about my open turkey sandwich experience in Lake Louise πŸ˜‚
    Here’s to a speedy recovery to “Mighty M”!

  4. So many good things here.

    I need to revisit “Relive.” I’m not sure if I am still a premium member, but I certainly haven’t dived into it like you have with the storytelling aspect. I wonder if that is newer, or if I just never figured out that aspect of things. That was cool to watch, though.

    Your part of the world is amazing to see. I truly do want to get back up that way one day, especially Banff and be able to stay longer than I did last time. The last photo of yours is amazing with the color.

    I’m going to *attempt* to journal more in 2022. I have a few ways I’m going to try and tackle it, so we’ll see how it goes!

    Great job all around this month! πŸ™‚

  5. You most certainly live in an awe-inspiring area of the world. I thrill at your photo postings of the natural surroundings! What a thrill it would be to be part of a filming production. And, what a great influx to the local economy during these hard times. My garden gave it up around the end of October with the last of the tomatoes before it started to freeze at night. I do hope Mighty M’s heath improves and she is back with your family in person soon. And, you’re correct in that there is always something in which to be thankful. I have a gratitude journal but, sadly, I’ve fallen out of the habit of writing in it daily. Life got very depressing and I suppose I didn’t have much of an attitude of gratitude. πŸ’œ

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