A nice day, kind of hazy/clear with a gentle south wind. The temperature was up to about 22° by coffee time, and 24° by mid-afternoon. Yesterday was another beautiful day; so pleasant, in fact, that we went out in the boat for a while after supper. That’s the first time we have done that since we put the boat out three weeks ago.

On Friday, we went to Tisdale to take part in the Relay for Life for the Canadian Cancer Society. We took our motor home and got there about noon, early enough to grab a parking spot right by the fence. Parkland Photography Club had been asked to take photos at the event, and eight members showed up. Some had digital cameras, some film cameras, and some video; and then there is Wes, who had all three, plus flash brackets and tripods.

Tisdale got three quarters of an inch of rain Thursday, so the field had some very wet spots. Most of the service vehicles were ATVs or golf carts, so the field didn’t get too badly chewed up.

We took photos as the walking groups were setting up their tents; of the stage entertainment (Our own Amy Shuya did a fantastic job!), the opening ceremonies, the Survivor Walk, and the Team Walks. We also took group photos of the Survivors, all three hundred of them! We shot until about eleven PM (the walkers went all night!) then got up at five AM for breakfast, and took photos as they wound down.

There were 2,700 or so Luminaries, which are candles in a bag; each was either in memory of someone (if that person had died) or in honor of someone who had survived. School kids placed them around both sides of the walking track. At nightfall, they were all lit, and what a show it made!

The bags obviously were not made of paper; they were some kind of plastic that must have been fireproof. Doreen saw one in which the candle had been knocked over; the bag was blackened but no sign of melting or burning.

The event raised over $182,000 for cancer research. There was a tremendous amount of work and organization getting it set up and running; we were proud to have a tiny part in it.

Last week’s report was a day late; I wound up with computer problems and couldn’t send it out. Hope it was in time for inclusion in the various papers. Worst part of it was, my computer was working very well, better than ever. Just one little annoyance I tried to get rid of and wound up losing my address book and spending all day Monday and Tuesday re-installing my programs.

Mosquitoes are a real pain, but we have been able to make them bearable with repellent. Another nuisance all week has been fluff blowing off the willow catkins. The strong winds blow them all over the place, mostly in your face. Soon after the willows are finished, the black poplars will start.

I checked a few saskatoon bushes, and the fruit seems to have set nicely despite the strong winds and occasional frosts. Is it possible that we could have three good crops in a row? Unheard of!

Danger stalks the highway in the Park! Friday before last, a young man from Porcupine Plain hit an elk up near the Steiestol Lake approach; it was the death of the elk, and didn’t do the car any good, either. Then, early last week in almost the same spot, a local young lady had to swerve to avoid hitting a moose, which she did, but her car hit the ditch and rolled. She got badly shaken up and bruised, but no broken bones. The car, which was a vintage Comet in like-new condition, was a write-off.

One night last week, coming south on Highway 38, we got pretty close to a moose It was very gray and hard to see, and for a minute I thought it was a horse. I’m told that moose do turn gray just before they lose their winter coats. I find moose particularly hard to spot, possibly because they are so tall that headlights shine underneath them.

Let this be a warning to anyone driving through the Park, especially at night, because there are a lot of animals out there. They don’t seem too bad if they are grazing in the ditches, but if they are on the run for any reason, look out! We feel that even 90 kmh is too fast at night.