Friday, June 28, 2013

Four Strong Winds that blow lonely.................

Four strong winds that blow lonely
Seven seas that run high
All these things that don't change come what May 
But our good times have all gone
And I'm bound for moving on
I'll look for you if I'm ever back this way.................

This is one of my all time favorite songs - you may know it by Neil Young - even Johnny Cash sang it - but
it was written by ( and sung by ) Ian Tyson - during the folk movement of the late 60's early 70's Canada exported a lot of talent - Jodi Mitchell - Neil Young - Gordon Lightfoot - and I know I'm missing a ton of them here but they're the ones that come to mind.

Think I'll go out to Alberta
Weather's good there in the fall
Got some friends that I can go to working for
Still I wish you'd change your mind
If I asked you one more time
But we've been through that a hundred times or more

and of course it makes me think of one of Canada's most breath taking provinces - when we think of Alberta
we think of this


and this

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If I get there before the snow flies
And if things are going good
You could meet me if I send you down the fare
But if you wait until it's winter
It will be no good
'Cause that wind sure can blow way out there

source
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and of course the Calgary Stampede

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where sometimes Royalty dress the part and join in

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In my mind's eye, when I think of Calgary, I see this



Four strong winds that blow lonely 
Seven seas that run dry 

I never in my life time could have imagined associating our beloved Alberta with this


100,000 had to be evacuated due to this record breaking flooding....................



Beautiful Alberta
She's hurting
and it hurts me - more than I can say


This proud, beautiful province has been brought to her knees


and has brought me to mine.........................

heartfelt prayers to all who have been affected by this horrific act of nature.

donations - of any kind - can be given through the Canadian Red Cross by linking HERE




Much love Alberta - from the other side of Canada

23 comments:

  1. Oh my....how tragic! Prayers for the city and all those left homeless from the flooding. May the good Lord restore her to her former beauty and get all those folks back in a home as soon as possible. I did think of two more talented Canadian singers....Celine Dion & Shania Twain! I love both of their singing...:)

    Blessings, Vicky
    Life On Willie Mae Lane

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  2. This is such a tragic thing to happen to one of our most beautiful areas in Canada. It breaks my heart.

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  3. Mountains are so intimidating to me, but they sure are beautiful.

    That flooding is horrid. 100,000 evacuated...*sigh* Hoping money pours in for the cause. I can't even imagine.

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  4. Why Why Why??? What a tragedy. Hopefully they will recover and be back to the beautiful city it is. I am jumping over to your Canada Red Cross to offer some help. So sad.
    Kris

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  5. Oh my...so heartbreaking. We've had our share of flooding here in the states this year...I was hoping the worst was over. :(

    xo
    -andi

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  6. What a beautiful tribute to the people and the province of Alberta. Your blog put it in greater perspective than any of the the newscasts. Thank you. PS that is a beautiful song and one I don't mind having in my head for the rest of the day.

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  7. Horrible! I'm still in shell shock from the minor flash flood we had a few weeks ago. I can't even imagine :(

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  8. So sad and unbelievable that these things keep happening all over.
    What a shame...it's so beautiful there. Hoping they get back on their feet soon. These tragedies break my heart.

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  9. It's unbelievable to me too! Strong Albertans - used to rough and ready climate, cold winds and snow storms, but not this kind of devastation. My heart goes out to all those that lost their homes and livelihood.

    Nice reminder as we head into Canada Day weekend that our country is so strong and diverse!!

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  10. Great post Suzan! I was lucky enough to get to see Alberta when we lived in Montana. So sad. I hate that it happened.

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  11. What a beautiful ode to Canada. All the pictures are stunning, but the early ones make the last few look that much more forlorn. Prayers to all of the affected...certainly the people of the US can relate to their tragedy.

    Peace in Christ,
    Ceil

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  12. This is just a beautiful tribute to Canada and what gorgeous pictures!!

    Cynthia

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  13. Hi Suzan!!!!

    I lived in Calgary for 12.5 years and remember being all around the city. Fell in love the first time, fell in love with roller skating. The hikes up in the mountains was breathtaking and skiing at Lake Louise and my favorite mountain, Sunshine!!!

    It's where my cousin Katrina and I became so close. When the stampede came to town we found ourselves working at various jobs and then with the money we made we bought new clothes for school.

    When I first heard of the floods from my husband over the phone, I rushed to put on the news and saw the devastation. It looked like a tsunami had hit Calgary. Then when they showed High River my heart sank. My very much loved cousin, Katrina lives there. I didn't know that the phone lines were down.

    Facebook at this time has become a wonderful tool for communication at a time like this. I found out the sad news that they may have lost everything. She has been fighting cancer for 11 yrs now and at this time is on chemo treatment. Nobody needs this to happen, but, what more can this girl go through?

    They are trying to go to their house but, are told not yet. Everyday that goes by the more contamination sets in. On my facebook page you can see how people are pulling together to help. It's amazing!!!!

    I just hope and pray that my cousin can return to her home and begin the long process of deciding what's the next steps. I heard from my sister that 34 friends in Calgary alone have 100% lost their homes.

    All of Albertans are in our prayers for this nightmare to be over.

    Saying all that I hope everyone has a beautiful weekend!!!

    Pam
    xox

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  14. The flooding is awful. It's hard for me to imagine as we have been in a drought for 3 years! New follower!

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  15. Beautiful post, Suzan, and sad at the same time. Our son lives in downtown Calgary, they were evacuated and the restaurant he manages was all but destroyed. He sounds hopeful they will be back to normal soon, As bad as it looks, I don't think they got the worst of it. Calgary is determined the Stampede will still continue. "The show must go on" since it is their biggest financial asset every year.

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  16. Alberta is stunning. I hadn't heard about the flooding - that is so awful. It seems like there has been so much flooding everywhere the last few years. I hope it's not a trend. We are going to Quebec for vacation this fall, and I am very excited as I've never been. I hope someday I can see Alberta in all her glory.

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  17. What a tragedy, Suzan. I heard and watched about this on TV. Such crazy weather. We're having horridly hot temps and wildfires while Canada is flooding like crazy. Prayer for the people of Alberta.

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  18. Oh Suzan, It's terribly heart braking, and I hear there's no relief from the rain either. Alberta will have my prayers tonight.
    Take care and I pray your daughter's wedding will be dry tomorrow.
    Cindy

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  19. Suzan- This song has ALWAYS brought me to tears-touching something deep inside...adn now tied in with this- well, my heart is aching and my throat feels swollen shut. God bless...and I am praying for a nice day for the wedding. Take heart, dear one- xo Diana

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  20. I saw the news on TV and immediately thought you were probably really sad. We had also huge floods in the South of France last week, because the snow on the mountains melted all at once this year and there was a lot of snow since it was such a cold spring. I have the deepest admiration for people who rebuild everything after such a disaster.

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  21. Oh it's dreadful we've been watching it here. We too have had devastating floods in Queensland and all I can say is its amazing how people come together and help.. God bless them all!

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  22. Thank you so much for your kind words and thoughts.
    ~Carol ( an Albertan!)

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