Thank goodness it’s been almost six years since the selfie theme last came up on the Photo Blogging Challenge. I don’t like them, I avoid taking them if at all possible, and maybe that’s why I’m not good at them. Which results in a viciously negative reinforcing circle. So either I need an attitude adjustment re: selfies. Or I’d better keep my fingers crossed that it’s another five or six years before this theme pops up again! 😉

Now that I’ve got that out of my system, here are the selfies I took in July…

1. Hamilton Lake, Yoho National Park

We first hiked to Hamilton Lake back in 2020. It was early in COVID days, so it was just the two of us. We made a return trek in July, with friends who are training to hike a portion of the Camino de Santiago this September. It was their most challenging training session yet! And made that much harder by the relentless sun and hotter than normal temperature.

We really appreciated the breeze blowing across the lake while we enjoyed our lunch break. Actually, it was a lunch break for our friends. Mr GeoK and I made do with our trail snacks because we forgot our lunch in the car (explains my lack of smile). Thanks again to our friends who shared their sliced oranges to help fuel us for the hike down. That was the first (and hopefully last) time we forgot our lunch in almost 30 years of hiking together.

For a video recap of our Hamilton lake hiking adventure, check out Mr GeoK’s Relive.

2. Reflection Selfies

I headed downtown for an appointment one morning in late July. Traffic was in my favour, so I had about 10 minutes to walk around to see what’s changed since my last trip to city centre. I knew I still needed another photo for this challenge, so decided to have some fun with reflection selfies. It’s all about the distortion. The one on the right gives me an idea what it would be like to be considerably shorter than my 175 cm.

3. Ussie

I’m never sure what to call a selfie with others, but ussie seems the most logical label. We enjoyed a few days visit with my parents this month. I roped them into squeezing into my view finder after a walk in the sunshine one morning. Love you both!

4. Shadow Selfie

Okay, only my forearm is showing, as my hand strokes the horse sculpture’s nose. What’s most noteworthy about this shadow selfie is that there’s actually a shadow!!! We’ve had so many smoky days this month that we’ve hardly seen any shadows.

5. Vermilion Lakes, Banff National Park

Birdwatching from a kayak at Vermilion Lakes in Banff is one of my favourite things to do these days. Can you tell? There’s no lake visible behind me because we were in a little side channel, watching a bald eagle perched on a snag. Later the same outing, we spotted an immature bald eagle on another snag less than 100 meters away from the first.

For a virtual “birding by kayak on Vermilion Lakes” adventure, check out Mr GeoK’s Relive video recap here.

Phew! Glad to be done with selfies for a while. Putting this blog post together has been a good reminder to dig out Minifig Me and all the members of our minifig family and get back in the habit of bringing them along when we’re out an about.

To see selfies from other participants, hop over the PJ’s blog. While you’re there, please consider joining us for August. The theme is Happy Place. All you need are five photos. How much you write is entirely up to you.