Derek Ryder
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ryderda.bsky.social
Derek Ryder
@ryderda.bsky.social
230 followers 120 following 690 posts
Skier, hiker, traveler, Former Director - Friends of Kananaskis, K-Country Bear Team member, Sunshine SnowHost, Wildlife Ambassador, and retired.
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ryderda.bsky.social
I keep having birds visit my yard that don't belong here in winter. First is my Robin, who arrived in November and doesn't seem to want to leave. Today, I had a Townsend's Solitaire show up. Both are common in summer but are supposed to migrate. #birds #birding #albertabirds
A plump female American Robin sits in a snowy tree, which has tiny red berries. A grey Townsend's Warbler with its distinctive eye ring and tiny yellow wing bars, sits in a bush, with snow on the wood fence in the background.
December 30, 2025 at 10:38 PM
ryderda.bsky.social
I ran into Paul Newman (in a bathroom) at a CanAm car race in 1981. Chatted for a few minutes. Wonderful man. My hero. Not a "minor" interaction at all.
Paul Newman being interviewed by news reporters at a CanAm car race in 1981.
December 30, 2025 at 5:43 PM
ryderda.bsky.social
How I spent Christmas Eve (tour guide at Sunshine Village for a dad and daughter on a snowy day).
Me, in an iridescent yellow ski jacket, standing next to a young skier and her snowboarding dad, against a backdrop of white ski runs, in the middle of a raging snowstorm.
December 25, 2025 at 2:14 PM
ryderda.bsky.social
How I spent today.
Two Sunshine Village SnowHosts dressed in bright yellow jackets (one - me - with a bright salmon coloured helmet) mugging for the Sunshine Selfie Cam on a foggy, snowy, grey day.
December 22, 2025 at 4:26 AM
ryderda.bsky.social
I liked everything Rob Reiner did. Such a sad loss, and for such sad reasons.
December 15, 2025 at 5:10 AM
ryderda.bsky.social
White Breasted Nuthatch hanging in my yard today.
A cute White Breasted Nuthatch birb stands on a tree branch – upright, for a change – with a fuzzy background of shrubs.
December 5, 2025 at 2:00 AM
ryderda.bsky.social
Today's about an hour before lunch view while out volunteering.
Across a snowy flat with in tracks of walkers and bikers, through a dark shadowed forest, a snow-capped mountain looms under a blue sky filled with wispy cirrus clouds.
December 4, 2025 at 1:44 AM
ryderda.bsky.social
Today’s lunch view. Not volunteering.
The base lodge area of a mountain downhill ski area, under a brilliant blue sky.
December 2, 2025 at 8:07 PM
ryderda.bsky.social
13 cm of snow on my wife’s car to shovel this morning so she could get out, then another 8 cm fell before 11 am that I had to shovel before she came home.
A steel ruler, embedded in snow up to the 13 cm mark, sits on the top of a Mini Cooper S. In the background is a snow-covered fence and snow-covered trees. A Mini Cooper S sits covered in snow, with a steel metal ruler sticking out the roof.
November 25, 2025 at 4:46 AM
ryderda.bsky.social
There be aurora at my house tonight.
Aurora borealis, in shades of red and green with pillars of white, dance against a dark sky with the outlines of unlit conifers in the foreground. A curtain of aurora borealis, in shades of red, white and green, dance above mountains, against a dark sky with the outlines of unlit conifers in the foreground.
November 12, 2025 at 2:38 AM
ryderda.bsky.social
Look what I saw in Setubal, Portugal today.
October 25, 2025 at 9:38 PM
ryderda.bsky.social
Today's lunch view. Not volunteering.
In the dappled shade of huge trees lining a linear park, a tall volcanic cone-shaped fountain and art installation trickles water, awaiting its next eruption. And erupt water it does.
October 9, 2025 at 4:18 PM
ryderda.bsky.social
I cannot share today's lunch view while out volunteering. So instead, who I saw an hour before lunch, and the view on the way home this afternoon.
In a cold and frosty covered meadow, a younger male moose with a small-ish rack marches out of the mud, with fog rising. Under a blue sky filled with high, wispy clouds, a mountain rises, with dark evergreens surrounding the magnificent fall colours of yellows, pale greens and golds on the aspens and poplars below.
October 4, 2025 at 3:38 AM
ryderda.bsky.social
Today's lunch view while out volunteering was the same as Tuesday. That's what happens when it's cold and I eat lunch inside. So also, I've added a pic from about 40 min before lunch.
A green and gold meadow, surrounded by green conifers, under a blue sky with scattered puffy white clouds. Yellow and gold aspens speckle the dense green conifers in the river valley in the foreground, while in the distance, rugged peaks rise, all under a blue sky with puffy white clouds.
October 3, 2025 at 4:20 AM
ryderda.bsky.social
Today's lunch view, and for fun, the waterfall I saw just after lunch.
Under a moody, overcast grey sky, an alpine meadow, lush with pale greens and yellows, surrounded by a green coniferous forest, with mountains in the distant background. A small waterfall tumbles down vertical exposed rocks into a greenish-grey pool, surrounded by a lush green mossy forest.
October 1, 2025 at 3:42 AM
ryderda.bsky.social
Today's lunch view while out volunteering was uninteresting: in a campground at a picnic table. So here is my view about 10 minutes after lunch.
Under a moody, cloudy sky, three rugged, rocky mountains rise They're being viewed through a wide slot in the trees and shrubs that are in fall colours of yellow & gold
September 27, 2025 at 12:31 AM
ryderda.bsky.social
Today's lunch view while out volunteering.
Across a crystal clear lake, reflecting the blue sky, majestic mountains rise.
September 24, 2025 at 4:10 AM
ryderda.bsky.social
Today's lunch while out volunteering.
Under a brilliant bluebird sky, a fall alpine meadow, bursting with willows in yellows, greens and golds, and surrounded by dark coniferous trees, with towering mountains in the distant background.
September 23, 2025 at 3:36 AM
ryderda.bsky.social
I’m late. Yesterday’s lunch view while out volunteering.
From within a fenced playground, past aspen trees in fall foliage, rugged mountains rise under a brilliant blue sky.
September 21, 2025 at 12:52 AM
ryderda.bsky.social
There I go making more YouTube videos again. This one is about the Raymcraft keyboard case for the iPad Mini.
youtu.be/eKG4ml4UTMQ
Raymcraft Case Review
YouTube video by Videos from a Messy Office
youtu.be
September 18, 2025 at 7:30 PM
ryderda.bsky.social
Today’s lunch view while out volunteering.
Under a stunning blue sky, with some pretty puffy clouds for accent, a rugged mountain rises above a large alpine lake, while in the foreground, green and yellow grasses line the shore.
September 17, 2025 at 3:09 AM
ryderda.bsky.social
Today's lunch view while out volunteering. Yep, a truck-nic on washboarded gravel road.
In the foreground, a horribly washboarded gravel road. In the distance, mountains tower under overcast grey skies. In between, a dense green forest and a willow-filled stream bed in muted fall colours.
September 16, 2025 at 3:11 AM
ryderda.bsky.social
Went to see the amazing @cirquedusoleil.bsky.social show #ECHO last night! Brilliant! Spectacular! Awesome! The amount of raw global talent that Cirque puts on stage is mind-blowing. From costumes, to musicians, to technical people, to the ARTISTS who created such wonderful performance – MIND BLOWN!
On the giant cube that is part of the stage, while images are projected onto it, artists dressed as animals... dance? Hard to describe. In front of the Cube set, a gymnast is tossed in the air and spins. People, standing on the shoulders of other people, JUGGLE other people and throw them in the air! The remarkable "clown" act stacks boxes on boxes on boxes, and then carries the tower of boxes that is more than 2 stories in the air!
September 12, 2025 at 12:43 AM
ryderda.bsky.social
Today's lunch view while out volunteering.
Looking across, from the cliff edge atop a deep canyon, to towering peaks across a valley, all lit by a brilliant blue sky. There are flood control workings, including a dam, in the canyon below.
September 12, 2025 at 12:28 AM
ryderda.bsky.social
Today’s lunch view while out volunteering.
Looking down across a willow-filled meadow, to a valley rimmed with rugged peaks, under a blue sky with some puffy white clouds.
September 10, 2025 at 3:02 AM