Maple Leaf Mailbag rock'N roadshow

Up early, but Blake is sick. That's 3 of us now. Blake feels it more than most. I'm hoping to God it's not going to be bad. Blake sick is a sight to behold, only Mother Teresa could provide adequate care. We have broken both the primary camera and several still cameras. Tom and Marty are working hard to improvise. The cold is forcing us to change the way we use our equipment and how we plan. Head to Lake Louise for the Ice Magic Festival. I don't like festivals. They're banal. Boring. I wonder why people go to them. Lake Louise is beautiful, the ice carvings are cool, the chateau's atrium impressive. Maybe we have these festivals to show that we can live and love to live in Canada's hostile winter climate. We leave early, briefly visit Banff and get on the way to Calgary. Sunset, I see the Rockies in the rearview mirror, the Calgary foothills in front of us. Still concerned about the way the group is working, but mainly satisfied with the pictures I've seen so far.

It's here. The virus has taken hold. Its single purpose is to destroy me, to end my existence. My body deploys its counter measures. The battle rages inside me. All reserves are pumped into the fray. This concentration of effort leaves me weak and decrepit. I'm old before my time. My thoughts seem incongruous with the the days activities: why am I on this journey ? Is it to find the listener? What is my roll in this search? The air is cold at Lake Louise. I rally my strength and step outside with Martin. Each breath inhaled is like liquid nitrogen on my lungs. The sculpted images are as striking as the views of the lake in the background. I'm done. We head to Calgary.

Nothing planned for the day, except the ice sculpting festival in Lake Louise. This is more of a look-see than an experience. We've been DOING stuff up until now, but today we're just LOOKING at stuff. Looking around at all the mountains makes me restless. The sculptures are pretty impressive, but we arrive too late to see any of the actual sculpting taking place. Our pacing is off a bit. Blake's sick, we're all a bit tired, and our breakfast takes forever. Not the best day yet, but by sunset we're heading east to Calgary. No real plan, but sometimes it's good to leave it open-ended. See what happens. At Blake's brother Brett's house, we meet Brett's step-daughter Tristan. The story is her, and Ian knows it right away.

Rolling some shots on beautiful Lake Louise. It's cold! So many tourists. Arriving in Calgary, we stop in at Blake's brother's. Sleeping at the Hilton!