Seriously? You thought I what?

It just amazes me sometimes how misconstrued some things become. No matter how good your intentions someone will always find a way to take offense or think the worst of you.

A few years ago we had a large family trip (cousins, aunts, uncles, grandparents) to an historic area that was meaningful to the family. I had a nice time for the most part even though things didn't always go as planned and sometimes people got upset by the little stuff. Over all it was a good experience. However, I apparently made the biggest boo boo of all and didn't even know it. I think most of you know that I do a little professional photography as a side job. While there I found a lot of enjoyment shooting family and the scenery. I even made friends with a fellow photographer. When the trip was done I posted all the pics to my professional site so that the entire family could see what I had done and could either let me know they wanted a copy or even purchase professional prints (not Walmart quality) to hang in their home. This was before I had blogs and had become proficient with facebook. I knew no other way to let everyone see the pics. Well, unfortunately my price list (discounted from what I charge normally) is included on the professional site and this upset family members. They thought I was trying to make money off of them. That was never my intention. No one called to say they were upset. No one emailed. I thought I was doing people a favor by shooting their pics professionally and by giving them a way to get professional prints. I guess I was wrong and it took years for me to find out. Why can't people just let you know if you've offended them in some way? I don't know anybody who intentionally goes about their day trying to cause offense. I would never be like that but now I have family (inlaws) who have barely spoken to me since and I had no idea why. I guess this may be one of the reasons. Who knows? I probably did something else offensive and have no idea what.

What's Your Earliest Memory?

I've been reading another blog lately that focuses on the author's memories and it got me pondering my early memories. A lot of those memories happened in the same field; the one up the lane from the house. When I was really small and we were running a lot of cattle we used to do the branding in the corral on the hill. I was much to young to participate but that didn't mean I didn't want to join in on what looked like loads of fun (I still think it's the most fun of anything, ever). So I would park myself on the top rung of the corral opposite the action to get the best view. As I sat my 3 yr old self there I distinctly remember eating maple walnut ice cream (Grandpa's favorite) out of one of Grandma's blue bowls. It's not much of a memory. Nothing significant happened but to this day I love that field, maple anything, and branding cattle.

Divine Comedy

Have you ever seen BYU's Divine Comedy group? The daughter claims to be their biggest fan and I can see why! They are hilarious!! Check out the next couple of videos for some good clean funny.

Thick as Pea Soup!!

And I don't mean the foggy mornings either! Yes,the weather this summer has been abysmal! Wet, rainy, chilly!! Yuck!! Unfortunately the mosquitoes seem to love it. I've never seen so many nasty buzzing creatures before. You can't go anywhere without a cloud of them around you. We've even been bombarded with them inside the store, if you can imagine that. I think it's pretty sad when you have to wear insect repellent while at work, indoors. Those nasty critters have been sneaking into the house and car too. You've probably seen me as I commute each day slapping away at the infestation. I'm worried I'll end up breaking a window, I'm hitting it so often.

Sierra's Bridal Shots

I've added a few of the pics from the daughter's bridal photo shoot on the other blog. Click HERE to see!!

Grizzly Bear Update

I don't know why but this subject of this animal's supposed immanent demise is stuck in my craw but it is and it's really causing a raw patch. I was doing some reading and happened upon this statistic "In May 2002, the Canadian Species at Risk Act listed the Prairie population (Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba range) of grizzly bears as being wiped out in Canada. As of 2002, grizzly bears were listed as Special Concern under the COSEWIC registry." Wiped out huh? I guess those bears from the mountain regions must have been loving up on each other something fierce to cause something of a population boom in the last few years. Check out what the Cardston County website says as of June 20th. "We have seen the greatest increase in bear activity south of Cardston in a line from Police Lake east as far as Del Bonita. These Grizzly Bears are using the St. Mary River and Milk River as travel lanes and can often be found in close association with these rivers. It would appear that we have at least three family groups operating in this area along with at least one large boar and a couple of sub-adults." Police Lake to Del Bonita? Well if that ain't prairie somebody better pay for me to go back to school and get a better education. You can't even call that area foothills. Rolling prairie? Maybe. Another statement by the Canadian Government stated that the recovery of the Plains Grizzly was not feasible. "Some species have already disappeared completely from Canada. For example, we used to have Grizzly Bears on the prairies but they no longer exist. They disappeared in the 1800’s with the advancement of European settlers and the advent of firearms." I think these folks must get out of their offices a little more often. It might be a good idea to quit discounting the local human population's knowledge of their own surroundings and listen to that annecdotal evidence they report.
UPDATE!!!! July 12