Kananaskis Time

We don’t take enough time for ourselves.  Heather had booked a two night stay at the Pomeroy Kananaskis Mountain Lodge and we decided to bring an end to a busy summer season with a mini vacation. She also came up with the brilliant idea of doing our first online art auction at the same time. 

Over the course of doing maybe a dozen auctions over the years, I’ve learned one very important thing:  you can’t just launch an auction, share it once, and expect it to be successful.  It is super important to take a few minutes each day to find new ways of bringing potential buyers to the auction site.  Even though we are on a mini-vacation, I have time between hikes when we are at the hotel to do a few posts, like this blog.

Peter Frampton recently said that great output requires great input.  These days away are the input part of my journey, both personally and artistically.  We have another coming in a few weeks when we travel back to Saskatchewan to see my parents for the first time in several years.  

One of the many benefits of having moved to southern Alberta and Okotoks is our new proximity to a plethora of hiking trails.  I have been out for mountain (or foothills) hikes at least 10 times this spring and summer; Heather has been out at least double that amount.  She is part of a large hiking group.  Heather loves the forest, mountains, and fresh air.  I love it, too, and always bring my camera along to capture what inspires me.

This is our first time in Kananaskis Village.  It is a lovely spot and a quick drive to so many hikes that fit our abilities.  We will likely do one today that will be 10 km in length and 500 m+ elevation gain.  It is a cloudy, smoky day, and temperatures are expected to not rise beyond 20 degrees.  It’s perfect for a great walk.

Back in Birdsong Studio, all of our original works are waiting to see where they will be dispatched to at the end of the week.  Typically, an auction will attract buyers from multiple provinces and states.  The Monday that follows always includes several trips to our neighbourhood Canada Post outlet.  Based on the names that have signed up so far, paintings will be shipped far and wide.