Derek Ryder
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ryderda.bsky.social
Derek Ryder
@ryderda.bsky.social
220 followers 120 following 620 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
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
ryderda.bsky.social
Today's lunch view while out volunteering.
Under a clear blue sky, mountains rise – though many are obscured by haze and wildfire smoke – above a not-too-distant lake, while in the foreground, bear-attracting shepherdia bushes rise.
September 8, 2025 at 2:49 AM
ryderda.bsky.social
Today's lunch view while out volunteering
Brilliant blue sky lights up a grassy meadow with a paved bicycle path crossing it, leading towards tall rugged mountains partially obscured in haze and wildfire smoke.
September 7, 2025 at 1:03 AM
ryderda.bsky.social
Oh, this is SO Monty Python.
samwhyte.bsky.social Sam Whyte @samwhyte.bsky.social · Sep 5
This gets progressively funnier with every use of the term "floppy".
One of Britain’s most senior police officers has launched an angry tirade against Extinction Rebellion protesters going “all floppy” when they get arrested. Sir Stephen House, the deputy commissioner of the Metropolitan police, said the tactic of going limp was a “flipping nuisance” as it required extra officers to drag protesters away. House told a London assembly police and crime committee hearing: “We have asked them to stop being floppy. And that might seem like a silly thing to say, but when we arrest them and pick them up, they go all floppy, which is why you see four or five officers carrying them away. It’s a complete waste of officers’ time, and a complete pain in the neck.” Extinction Rebellion: how successful were the latest protests? Read more House also expressed annoyance at how the tactic made the police look heavy-handed. He said: “The problem with them going floppy and four offices carrying them away [is that it] looks to the general public like police are overreacting here. We’re not making them go floppy. They’re just sort of being a nuisance.”
September 6, 2025 at 3:29 PM
ryderda.bsky.social
I would call this a "turtle alert-le"
turtleecology.bsky.social Tharusha Wijewardena 🐢 @turtleecology.bsky.social · Sep 6
Turtle alert! 🐢

Look at this Blanding’s Turtle walking all over a poor Painted Turtle. 🤭🙊😅
Blanding’s Turtle walking over Painted Turtles on a log.
September 6, 2025 at 12:46 AM
ryderda.bsky.social
Today's volunteering was near my house, so consequently, my lunch view was my front yard. So here's something cool I saw 10 minutes before lunch.
A dead tree has fallen over in a forest, in a green sea of horsetails (that EVERYONE thinks are ferns). The tree was cut because it was blocking the trail, and out of the cut end of the stump is growing a VERY cool white cap and stem mushroom.
September 6, 2025 at 12:44 AM
ryderda.bsky.social
I'm late. Yesterday's lunch view while out volunteering.
In the distance, under a blue sky with some wispy cirrus clouds, across a willow-filled alpine meadow already showing fall colours, rugged mountains partially obscured in wildfire smoke rise.
September 3, 2025 at 4:28 PM
ryderda.bsky.social
Today's lunch view while out volunteering
Across the grassy lawn of the Kananaskis Visitor Information Centre, a forested hill rises under a brilliant blue sky.
August 31, 2025 at 12:39 AM
ryderda.bsky.social
Today's lunch view while out volunteering.
From a hillside, looking across a valley to rugged mountains on the other side, under a brilliant blue sky.
August 30, 2025 at 12:21 AM
ryderda.bsky.social
Here’s where I WANTED to have lunch (at 11:40) while out volunteering today. Yet we pressed on, so lunch was at 2 in a parking lot.
A creek spills over some waterfalls into a small pond in a shaded canyon filled with sun-dappled trees.
August 28, 2025 at 3:27 AM