Day 376 - Banff Mountain Film Festival

Today was MUCH better than yesterday. Although I drank some eggnog (1st of the season!) last night & I think I'm officially lactose intolerant. Super headache all day from the moment I woke up. Thanks for that!

Jaco had a dental appointment in Black Diamond, so I dropped him off at Absolute Dentistry & then made my stops at Bluerock Gallery, Stirr & the gas station. Bluerock had some amazing butterflies in - just like the ones I picked up in Panama. Well worth checking out! And Stirr was busy unpacking Christmas goodies & all sorts of other exciting new kitchen gadgetry! And the new knife rack looks freakin' amazing! Wowser! (Did I mention that their website is up & running & they used my photos!? Yep. Pretty excited about that too!)

Jaco was finished his appointment rather early, so I thought I would see if I could introduce him to Dr. Dowdall (for the 3rd attempt), but lo & behold, he'd just left the office. Go figure. I think he's running away on purpose! As we were leaving the clinic, this old timer stops Jaco & asks him about the 'Fitch - Fighting Moose' slogan on his shirt. Clearly the former Scotsman just wanted to visit. We stood on the street for a good 15 minutes listening to this fellow recant the days gone by. He was 21 years old when he crossed the Atlantic from Liverpool to Montréal & the Captain sailed right over an iceberg & this fellow's cabin was right by the hull. Then he took a train from Montréal to Calgary. Now he wants to take a train from Calgary to Vancouver so he can say he's traveled all the way across Canada. Oh & his Scottish cabin mate's sister moved to Galveston, TX & traveled to Canada, but got lost & ended up in his driveway to ask directions! They'd never met, but got talking (I can see how now!) & put the puzzle together. He was quite the character. I'm sure we could have filled the rest of the day with stories. He's going for knee surgery tomorrow. He had his hip replaced, but fell & now needs the knee repaired. He hugged me good-bye when I told him we had to go. Jaco got a firm handshake. I love these moments in life!

We sped, I mean, drove the speed limit home & quickly changed clothes & left for Banff. We were off to the Snow Show tonight. The Banff Mountain Film Festival is currently underway & we took advantage of tonight's show. It was amazing! I have never tried snowboarding & I haven't skied since I was 18 & that was at Elkwater - hardly the mountains! This was incredible! I'm sure it's a lot tougher than it looks, but I was encouraged to give it a go! If you get the chance - check out Deeper & Sherpas Cinema's Chimaera. The best 2 films of the night. Deeper features Jeremy Jones. A crazy guy who freerides in ANTARCTICA. Wow. In any case, I think I fell in love with Banff all over again. Hmm... maybe there's a Doctor's job in Banff. Don't they have a photography program at the Banff Centre? Hmm...

It's now really late & I'm sacked. This was a WAY better day than yesterday. Yesterday was fire. Today was ice. Well, at least a lot of snow.

xxxxMJV&O

Enjoying tea & soup at Maple Leaf in Banff 

View from the cozy chair. 

Intermission at the Film Festival.