It's time to blog

I observed something yesterday that, while it was unfolding, made me think,

"This would be blogworthy..."

Sadly, I wasn't in a position to snap any pics because it was a bit unusual, and would have made for a great pictorial story.

I was in Okotoks yesterday afternoon to do some work for a favourite client. The installation took longer than expected, and by 5:00 I was desperately feeling the need for a bite to eat. My habit when in Okotoks - which is about 20 minutes south of Calgary - is to frequent the local Smitty's.

The school I work at there is on the highway heading towards town. As I made my way down the hill toward town centre, the volume of traffic seemed unusually high; Calgary-high to be accurate. I thought to myself,

"Okotoks has a crazy rush hour!"

However, I justified it initially by reasoning that lots of people live in Okotoks and commute to Calgary for work. The time line seemed a bit early though. I figured something must be up.

Sure enough, at the second set of lights, RCMP were directing traffic. There was no visible sign of trouble though. At the next set of lights, yet another officer directing traffic. Just beyond that lay the railway tracks.

At first I thought the holdup was because of a lengthy train. In fact, there was no train in sight, yet the crossing lights were flashing and the traffic was backed up. As I made my way down the road and approached the crossing, I discovered four people on each side of the roadway, holding the crossing bars up so that cars could pass underneath. The lights continued to flash, the police continued to direct traffic.

The next set of lights was my opportunity out of the craziness - left to Smitty's.

The Smitty's lot was empty, but I figured it was probably early for supper and perhaps the crazy traffic was deterring any would-be early diners.

Smitty's was in fact closed, with a "sorry for the inconvenience" sign posted.

I now had to make my way out of the lot and back into the flow of insane Okotoks traffic. It was easier to turn right than left, and a good thing too. I came upon a little barn-shaped pub. I went in an upstairs and sure enough there was food to be had!

I refuelled and made my way back to the school.

Not a cop nor car in sight.

Even the crossing bars were up with no lights flashing.

So, to celebrate I stopped in at DQ for an ice cream, then back to the school to finish up.

Feels good to tell a story from life as it happens. Haven't done that in a while.

Thanks for tuning in.

Turtle out.