Back in April I took a too-brief trip to Alberta, Canada because of you-know-why. We drove west out of Calgary, up the Icefields Parkway through Banff National Park and Jasper National Park, then east along the Yellowhead Highway to Hinton. I posted a set of pictures from the trip on Flickr. Here I've posted a few panoramas to whet your appetite.

One of my hobbies is stitching strings of photos into panoramas. I got hooked on this when I lived in the Mojave for a season. The long, flat horizons are difficult to express in a single shot. A long, flat panorama captures the scene better -- gives the viewer a more immersive experience in the environment, just as it was for me when I was there.

Also, why get an image of just one mountain when you can get an image of four?

Don't tell Pierre about this. I think I played it off legit.

There I was. I was driving in Boston -- something I just plain don't do. I always take the train. Always. If you want to experience what it's like to drive in Boston without having to go there, go, look in the mirror, and punch yourself in the face. ("I want you to hit me as hard as you can." "What? In the face?" "Surprise me.")

Anyway, that's not the point.

I was driving to South Station in Boston, the train station where the trains and buses from New York arrive, which is where Pierre would arrive. Pierre emailed a week ago, saying he wanted to come up and go hiking in New Hampshire. Cool. Pierre is an old roommate from college, a half-Chinese half-Iowan guy with a French name, whose wedding to an Ecuadorian girl I unfortunately missed because I was at a Punjabi wedding in Atlanta, Georgia. I challenge you to connect those dots.

That's not the point either.