Writing-on-Stone Provincial Park

I am just leaving Writing-on-Stone Provincial Park. It was a great place and I had a great time even though the weather is not cooperating. Because I am in a camper the weather is formost in my mind these days.


Here are some panoramas:

The hoodoos:

The beautiful and very full Milk River. I tried to cross it a few times but couldn't. All this rain has to go somewhere!

In the background Sweet Grass Hills which are in the States. This is how far south I am. I cannot really go much farther south and still be in Canada.

More hoodoos but with some sun this time.

Evening light with the Sweet Grass Hills, the hoodoos, the river and everything.

It is obviously called Writing-on-Stone for a reason: there are native petroglyphs:

This one is beleived to be a buffalo.

The one below is beleived to be a bear paw.

Another buffalo, as per expert interpretation.

The most famous and most complex petroglyphs is the "Battle Scene", here is the drawing of it. Some of the petroglyphs above are from it.

I should say that this was typed, and the photos (which were already prepared) were uploaded from the friendly Milk River Visitor Center, a very friendly spot for people on the road.

The weather is not really cooperating

I am in the camper so the game becomes "find the good weather". The May long week end, which in Canada is considered to start the camping season, was absolutely dreadful and followed by a few days of solid rain. It didn't feel like Spring at all it felt like Fall. So far ...which is only 2 days I have been ok with the weather.
Today I woke up in Chain Lake Provincial Park, drove to Head-Smash-in-Buffalo-Jump and on to Fort Macleod for the night (at a private campsite hence the internet connection).
I was thinking of driving to Writing-on-Wall Provincial park tomorrow and then????

The game of "find the good weather" is not that easy right now, here is the reason why:

....... lots of clouds....lots of rain pretty much everywhere.

Camping near Mount Yamnuska

I have moved on since Mount Yamnuska but by mistake I just deleted all the phtos I took yesterday and today... so here it is: Mount Yamnuska.

Here is the camper with Mount Yamnuska in the background.

The campsite was by the river.

Every morning the rabbits would be all around, though at this time of they ear they are still quite shy. I am sure that by the end of summer near the end of camping season they will either be gone or be a lot tamer.

Again Mount Yamnuska.

I just started using the "panorama" option on my camera so here are two panoramas.

What NOT to say to somebody with a terminal disease

You may remember that recently I posted about a book I highly recommended titled "Help me live: 20 things people who have cancer want you to know". I just want to add a little something to this, not about what to say, but about what NOT to say. ...and I would have thought that it was obvious but apparently it isn't.

Please DO NOT under any circumstances say: "diseases are the way Planet Earth deals with overpopulation" to anybody who has a terminal disease, cancer or anything else. For that matter DO NOT say this while you visiting in Africa from somewhere where HIV, malaria, cholera etc etc are not a problem. You can think it, you can believe it BUT YOU CANNOT SAY IT!!!!!

Again, I would have thought that it was obvious.

Panch Phora (Five Seeds)

This post is for me so I can remember the 5 seeds, and also as an idea when I wonder what to eat.

Panch Phora has nothing to do with the Chinese five-spice powder. It is reputed to be of Bengali origin and anyway it is not a powder.
The idea is to balance "sweet, pungent, tangy, hot and amalgamating" (from an article on Phang Phora on Gourmet Traveller of March 1999). I would not myself qualify "amalgamating" as flavour, but here you are.

Here is one recipe:
- Brown mustard seeds (the heat of mustard comes over time after the seeds comes in contact with water)
- Nigella seeds (not to be confused with black cumin, the sometimes are called onion seeds or kolonji) for "tangy"
- Cumin
- Fenugreek (listed as "hot" ????)
- Fennel

A very simple dish where you can use phang phora is diced and pan-fried potatoes.