apologies all round..........

for my regular readers it must have been hell these past few days with no stories about snow, snow & um grizzly bears - topics which seem to pretty much sum up the content of this blog

however in my defence i have been busy, work has been intense for the last few days & even meant a 6 day week last week, still it's a good job & i actually do enjoy what i do - so no complaints

with all work & no play, there's not a lot to report - we bought some Cross Country skis, boots & poles but haven't had a chance to try them out yet

i played the most insanely intense 2 hours of indoor 5-a-side football on Wednesday which at altitude is about as brutal as it gets, my limbs are only just recovering - i also went to my first meeting at the local camera club, which was nice - these guys go out in the summer on field trips to shoot the local wildlife (photographically speaking) & scenery - that'll be fun

talking of shooting wildlife, there is a big debate over here on whether the hunting season for Grizzly bears in Alberta should go ahead, environmentalists claim that the numbers of these bears is dangerously low & that a hunt is further endangering the viability of the species

i suspect the counter argument is that the numbers of bears needs to be controlled & therefore hunting is a good way of doing this

if there is truth in the 2nd statement & the population DOES need to be controlled, well i have no arguments about that - if this is the case, the hunting should be done by professional National Park employees under strict regulation

in this scenario everyone will be happy

- the environmentalists can rest safe in the knowledge that the numbers are being professionally monitored by experts & the cull (if needed) is carried out humanely & for the right reasons

- the hunters won't mind because their concerns over the population expansion, which seems to be the usual argument for a hunt, are being met by a professional cull

- & the bears can take comfort from the fact that the only reason they are being shot dead is for the long term sustainability of the species within the confines of their range - not for the sheer fun of it...............

or am i missing the point?