June 21...

Today (June 21) is the first day of summer, Calgary's  Neighbour Day, and International Go Skateboarding Day.  It was also another one of those Saturdays where I ran all over the place taking tons of photos.

First, it started with a talk about lenses and then a field trip with the Calgary Public Library Photo Club.  The field trip had us practicing shooting slow shutter speeds and panning.

While shooting everything of interest that moved I noticed there were more skateboarders than usual downtown, so I asked one heavily tattooed guy if there was an event going on.  He said that today was International Go Skateboarding Day and that people were skateboarding all over the world.

So after the walkabout a friend and I went to Shaw Millennium Park where dozens of skateboarders (of all ages) were competing for some very strange prizes (size 8 shoes and underwear).

We ran into an Aboriginal Awareness Week celebration complete with tee pees and country music, also taking place near the park.  We saw a fiddler that could easily win a duel with the devil playing the Orange Blossom Special.  He was fast, frantic, and wicked!

Next, I went to Bridgeland to check out Arusha's Re-Localization Fair.  I hopped the c-train and got off at the City Hall stop.  From there I walked past the DI and discovered a community of gophers.  At the DI I took photos of a young gopher who looked so cute; even with the red nose and claws.  I heard that gophers were cannibals.  Well, I saw for myself.  A few seconds before taking the shot the little critter was nibbling on a relative; recently road killed.

At the Fair I picked up some fresh BC fruit, bumped into some people I know, and explored some of the businesses on Bridgeland's main street.

Then on the way home I discovered a house party with young people sitting on the roof and a garage punk band blaring from the back yard.  I'm thinking it was part of Neighbour Day.  By this time my energy level was running on empty and I was more focused on getting up the hill to get home than taking any more photos.

Links:

• Summer Solstice - CBC
• Aboriginal Awareness Week
• Neighbour Day
• International Go Skateboarding Day
• Arusha Centre Re-Localization Fair
• Richardson's Ground Squirrel - University of Lethbridge