The picture above is of the Frenchman River in Grasslands National Park;  a park far more beautiful than my photos can convey.  It's wild there, what the prairies used to look like before Europeans arrived.  A place full of sage and grasses and gophers. 

There were also bison.  I didn't know that North American doesn't have any buffalo, they are bison. 

We had a lovely trip and saw parts of the country I'd never seen before.  I learned how to remove ticks from the dogs and one from myself.  I also learned that rattlesnakes in Alberta don't have enough venom to kill a human being, just make you feel like crap.  I also learned that they're shy creatures and prefer to not deal with humans.  I feel the same sometimes.  I also learned that Heidi is much faster than I thought;  she grabbed and killed a gopher while we walked and she was on her leash.  She dropped the gopher and I had to wash the blood off her paws.

I had a wobble while on holidays and couldn't stop crying at one point.  The culprits, my brain that can't let go of things and acid reflux meds, again.  I had to start taking them again because when my arthritis flared up in my foot I had to take anti-inflammatories which led to heartburn which led to the acid reflux meds. 

And my brain, it still struggles with leaving things alone.  It tends to go round and round and then down a gopher hole, even on holidays.

It's lovely to be back home.  The garden is damp and green, the laundry is done and our grandson is coming over this afternoon for awhile.