Pam's Week 43: Sundown in the Paris of the Prairies...

I am posting late this week because the weather was anything but cooperative and conducive to picture taking at the beginning of the week and then I headed to the Paris of the Prairies, also known as Saskatoon, mid-week, returning home last night.  I had envisioned actually having some new inspiration this week and photos of unfamiliar sights but alas, twas not to be.  You see, I was in Saskatoon for a workshop that began at the crack of dawn and ended just prior to sunset.  It was full of great information but my brain was toast by Friday afternoon.  Luckily today was reasonably sunny and Sharon dragged my butt out of bed early so that we could meet for a walk and I could take the rest (or most) of my photos.

Rim Light

I did have the opportunity to take this photo yesterday morning when I was out for breakfast with my dear friend, Courtney (who drove from Regina to visit me while I was in Saskatoon), but I didn't think she would appreciate being front and centre of this week's blog, and although the light was lovely, it would not have been one of Courtney's best photos.

While at Whitefish Island this morning, Sharon had her trusty birdseed and the light was shining beautifully, allowing me the opportunity to capture these photos.  I couldn't decide which one I liked better.  I liked the chickadee better when it was on Sharon's hand but I liked the light on the mossy branch in the other photo too.  After this photo, I had to borrow Sharon's gloves as my fingertips were frozen from staying still and patient for so long....

Starts with P

A plane in the prairies.....just the prairies.....I took the first one from my phone in the airport lounge (where, I might add, everyone but me got upgraded to preferred seating).  The second I took from the window on the plane.

Not Enough

I considered taking a photo of all the lotion I own to illustrate that all the lotion in the world is not enough to keep your skin moisturized when you are in Saskatchewan.  My goodness, to say it was dry was an understatement.  I must have used nearly an entire tube of lip balm and put hand lotion on my hands every hour or two.  My legs would have made an alligator look smooth.  Instead, while I was in the air, I recalled my friend telling me that there weren't enough bridges to cross the river in Saskatoon during rush hour.  The bridges were beautiful but once again, there was no light when I may have had the opportunity to take a photo.  I had a pretty good view from the plane though.

Handwriting

I should have taken out all my notes and taken a photo of them or better yet, written in the beautiful notebook/journal Courtney gave me as a belated birthday gift and taken a photo of it.  Instead, I used what was within easy reach this morning - my grocery list.  My mother, who was a grade 2/3 teacher back when they taught handwriting in school, is likely horrified right now that I am photographing my writing as she finds it appalling - it is "priting", does not have the proper angles and loops, is too small and cramped, and essentially looks nothing at all like hers.  Nearby is the cup Courtney gave me as well.  My tea this morning tasted pretty yummy out of it.

Orange

Orange is my favourite colour - it makes me happy.  It isn't always the easiest colour to find though.  The emergency swing dam at the locks, however, is orange.  I had to choose between the best reflection and the best sky for this photo though as they each had their benefits.  I decided the sky in this one made the orange of the dam pop better so I voted for sky this time around.

Pumpkin

I have been rather neglectful this Halloween.  It somehow snuck up on me and I never did get around to buying pumpkins to carve with the kids.  Luckily they have some pretty awesome grandparents who spent the PD Day Friday carving pumpkins with them.  Apparently they also baked some Halloween cookies with them so I grabbed a couple of the pumpkin ones for this picture.

Wildcard

Sharon might kill me when she sees this photo as she took a similar one and was contemplating making it work for one of next week's topics.  I initially took this for rim light (on the clouds) but then found the birds.  The photo just seems so appropriate for this week though as the fog and the clouds and the lighting are rather spooky.  And this isn't a black and white photo - it was taken in colour.

Sharon and I were talking about the redundancies in this week's photos with orange, starts with P and pumpkin.  Looking ahead, it looks like the next couple of weeks will also be challenging the old noggin as I see some more potentially repetitive topics.  Here is hoping the sun is shining this week so I am able to capture the requisite photos before next Sunday!  Have a good one!

Sharon's Week 43: Don't Smoke the Pots

I was having quite the giggle this afternoon as I read through the signatures in my high school yearbooks.  My title comes from one of the more interesting comments, "Don't smoke the pots because then you won't have anything to cook in."  Another memorable one in almost illegible handwriting, "Due to the wave nature of sub aerobic particles in the earth's outer crustacean layer..."  I am completely unaware of what the heck that was all about but it went on and on in that manner.  I read things from people I swear I have never met, telling me to have a good summer in Agawa and to not party too much (or to keep on partying).   And I thought that I had a good memory for names (not that I can come up with them on demand, but I certainly thought I would recognize names of people I have known).  I guess it has been 32 years since I graduated from high school.

I was also reminded several times in my grade 13 yearbook that I was planning to be a physiotherapist and my education was going to be at Queen's.  Two things about that:  first, I am an occupational therapist and I got my degree at U of T so that changed, and second, I can't believe we didn't know at graduation time if we had been accepted into our programs yet!  Things certainly are different nowadays.

About the photos, I took most of them today...I kept hoping the weather would change and I could get out and about for a few of them but that didn't happen.  I did put some thought into my ideas over the last couple of days but execution didn't happen for the most part until today.

And here they are...

pumpkin

I HATE the smell of pumpkin.  Levi and I instead carved watermelons over the years but this year we haven't done a darn thing about Halloween (except buy the yummy treats of course).  On Wednesday and Thursday I had the misfortune to be in schools where the younger kids were carving pumpkins.  I am slightly embarrassed to tell you that I actually had my hand over my nose as I approached those classrooms to collect the kiddoes.  So, you can see that I wouldn't be photographing a pumpkin of my own.  I considered heading to Farmer Bob's for some photography but the weather this week was just awful so instead, I headed to the Bulk Barn.

rim light

I had so many ideas for this but we had NO sun all week.  Today I set up my flash behind this decorative grass that was still looking pretty good in my garden and tried to get the rim light.  It isn't quite what I was going for but I think it comes close.

not enough

Levi and a few of his friends play a card game called Vanguard.  He does not think that he has enough cards!

handwriting

Here's why I had my yearbooks out today.  Look, everybody back then knew how to write in cursive.  I wonder if it will ever come back.

orange

There are still a few fairly beautiful orange trees around but like I said earlier, the weather has been uncooperative so I resorted to the Bulk Barn.

starts with P

Pork tenderloin starts with P.  My friend Carla was in town for work so I claimed her time for  Tuesday evening and invited everyone from my book club (which she used to be a part of) to stop by and say hello.  I made an awesome dinner, if I do say so myself:  balsamic pork tenderloin in the slow cooker, roasted veggies and sweet potato fries.  I enjoyed leftovers until yesterday and they were still yummy.

wild card

We are in definite need for a time change.  This week when I went to Elliot Lake, the sun rose at 8:10, just as I was getting into town (it was dark for the entire two and a half hour drive).  The sky was really pretty so I drove to where there is a little park by a lake to photograph the pink sky (starts with P).  Things happen fast at that time of day and by the time I got to the lake, the pink sky was gone.  I turned in the other direction and took this.  

And that's it for this week.  Happy Halloween everyone.

Pam's Week 42: It's Been a Pleasure Doing Business With You...

My blog title this week isn't inspired by the photos but rather by the week itself.  Many of you will recognize the lyric as being from the Tragically Hip song "Scared".  Many of you will have, along with me, bawled your eyes out when it was played during last summer's Canadian tour, knowing in our hearts it would be yet hoping it wouldn't be the final time we saw the Hip live.  Many of you, like my friend Joanna, would have also bawled your eyes out listening to this song on the radio on Wednesday morning as you learned that Gord Downie, the Tragically Hip's energetic, frenetic, courageous and inspirational lead singer had passed away the evening before (I fought back tears all day at work but living in a border town with US radio stations, there wasn't any all Hip songs all day happening around here).  Others will be reading this and although they have heard of The Hip will say "I never understood the attraction."  Others still will be saying they have never ever heard of The Tragically Hip and could not ever imagine an entire country (or a good chunk of it) mourning the loss of a rock star and would be even more amazed to learn that our Prime Minister teared up when talking to the press about the loss, the Parliament held a moment of silence, flags across the country were lowered to half mast, and the Peace Tower bells on Parliament Hill played the Hip's "Bobcaygeon". 

I was first introduced to the Tragically Hip back in 1989 or 1990 by 2 friends of mine who happened to be huge fans of theirs.  I immediately fell in love.  Their music was unlike anything I'd ever heard before and they were singing about places I knew, people I'd heard of.  Their music inspired me to learn about events and people I'd never learned about in history class.  It had a social consciousness (to quote someone I'd heard interviewed this week) and they used their music and their platform to bring attention to causes, plights, and issues, such as War Child Canada, indigenous issues and residential schools, the environment, and brain cancer. 

I was hooked, and that was before I ever saw them live.  The Tragically Hip are one of those bands who are even better live.  The energy, the craziness, the obscure ramblings, the choreatic, jerky dancing - you never knew what you would see or hear.  Whether in a bar, a huge arena, an outdoor festival, you always knew you would have a good time.  And I have been lucky enough to see them in all of the above.

There was a time when I couldn't figure out why a band that was so huge in Canada never really achieved a similar name or following in the U.S.  Then I didn't care.  In fact, it was a little source of pride for me that my American friends didn't know about the Hip.  Canada has long struggled with figuring out who we are as a country, a struggle made more difficult by our bigger, louder neighbours to the South.  All too often it seemed as though they were stealing our homegrown talent, our actors, comedians, game show hosts, even musicians and although we were proud to see our fellow Canucks "making it", it also felt, at times, as though they had to lose Canada to succeed.  The Hip never had to do that. 

In May of last year, the band announced that Gord Downie had been diagnosed with an incurable brain cancer, a glioblastoma.  He had undergone surgery, radiation, chemotherapy.  He was experiencing memory loss, word-finding problems, and yet they were going to embark on a Canadian tour.  My amazing future sister-in-law managed to score us tickets for the show in Hamilton on August 16th, a night I will never forget, a night celebrating a band I loved with people I love.  On Wednesday, when my friend, Joanna, had texted me the news, I was saddened.  Gord Downie and the Tragically Hip were at every party, every night out, every road trip, every quiet night in, every camping trip, every wedding for nearly 20 years of my life.  Although I'd never met him, it was like I lost a friend.  And I am pretty sure that sums up how a lot of Canadians have felt this week. 

Anyways, the point of the blog is the photos so I should move along before I start ugly crying and drag you all down with me...

Sky

 Sunset over the bridge on Friday night...

Sunrise over Bellevue Park this morning...

Vanishing Point

Fort Creek portion of the Hub Trail...

Triangle

Letter O

 Blah, blah, blah night wine with Sharon, Kathy, and Tuula...

A knot in a tree at Bellevue Park...

Soft

Book

Wildcard

 Pretty pink clouds...

 Reflection in the window at the Delta...

Another sunrise at Bellevue Park photo...

Rest in peace, Gord.  You will be missed but your music and your legacy will live on.  You taught us about courage and until the end you were armed with will and determination, and grace, too..

Sharon's Week 42: Forever Autumn

What a difference a week can make.  Tonight my struggle is choosing between too many options, rather than trying to make lame photos at the last minute or trying to fit a photo I have to a topic on the list.  The upside of this is that I'm not feeling bad about my efforts this week and I have lots of photos to put into my project photobook.

I'm not really sure how that happened though, because I had a busy week.  However it came about, I'm glad it did because it seems to have eased my negative attitude a bit.  I think I might make it through this post without any deprecating comments or complaining.  Wouldn't that be a breath of fresh air?

Here we go...

vanishing point

I knew exactly what I wanted for this photo when I saw the topic.  There's a road on St. Joe's Island that I frequent at different times of year...in May for the trilliums, in the summer for the overall beauty and in the fall for the colours.  I figured if I drove out there I would certainly find a spot where the road disappeared into the distance.  I made myself a cup of tea for the road and headed out in the rain sure that the heavens would cooperate and I was right.

sky

I found myself out at sunset on Tuesday and Wednesday but both times without my camera.  On Thursday when this amazing weather continued, I headed out to Pointe Des Chenes and arrived about two minutes before the sun hit the horizon.  When I was leaving after shooting the actual sunset and the colours in the western and eastern skies just following sunset, I turned around and saw this.  The scrubby trees aren't a very lovely silhouette but they are what was there, making this brilliant sky pop.

triangle

As soon as I saw this, I had a brilliant idea.  I love tamarack trees and I always think I need to find a way to photograph them, both in the summer when they are green and look so soft and in the fall when they turn a burning orange.  I've never done it but I figured since tamarack trees are triangle shaped, now would be the perfect opportunity.  I had a place on highway 17 in mind but when I got there on Thursday, the trees just didn't seem triangular.  I found some lone tamaracks later on the highway and took a few photos but I have chosen this one, which was taken on Airport Rd.

O

I think this wheel is more a circle than an O but really, depending on how you print, they could be the same.

soft

Sooooooooo soft is our little Cissy.

a book

A couple of weeks ago when I mentioned that I was considering whether or not to continue this sort of project next year, Maxine made an awesome suggestion.  She said I could combine my two loves: reading and photography, and photograph something related to each book I read next year.  I immediately thought it was a great idea but since then I have put a lot of thought into the idea, without success.  I tried really hard to come up with a photography idea for any of the three books I am currently reading (one real book, one on my ereader and one on audible) or any of the books I have read in the past month.  I came up with nothing!  I think that maybe my brain doesn't work that way.  So I went with the literal interpretation of this topic and got out a really, really long book (or series of books if you insist).  Now that they're out of their resting place, perhaps it's time to begin a re-read.

wild card

This is Mo.  My friends Heather and Dan got their daughter a dog for her graduation from teacher's college.  When they went to Southern Ontario to pick up the puppy, there was one other dog left from the litter.  The people convinced Sammi to take the second dog for free and it became Heather's dog.  She is a real sweetheart and since we had just taken her for a long walk in the bush, she was nice and tired and happy to stay still long enough for some photos.  

This is another photo of her that makes me laugh.  Does it remind anyone else of a painting of an aristocratic woman during the Renaissance?

Have a great Sunday everyone.

Pam's Week 41: You Write on This Body, Leaving Your Sad Graffiti, Your Sad Graffiti

A caveat before you look at this week's photos - they would have been much better if the sky was blue and the sun was shining at some point when I had both the time and the equipment required to actually take some pictures and if the photos in my head were consistently captured by my camera. 

Yet again it is into the next week and I am playing catch up with this blog.  Time just seems to get away from me and all my good intentions continue to not be enough to get all the tasks on my to-do list done.  My attempts at organization this school year have been much more successful than in years past but there just aren't enough hours in the day.  Of course, the fact that it feels like midnight when the clock says it is 7 pm is not helping the situation any.  Oh well, looks like fall is here for sure and winter is on it's way which will result in even shorter days so I should stop complaining and get used to it...

A quick note - many of you will not recognize the title lyric today and that is really unfortunate.  It is from the song "Human Remains" by an old friend of mine, Chris Belsito.  Since nostalgia was one of the topics from this week, as is graffiti, it seemed fitting that I would choose a song that would be nostalgic for me.  When Chris and his various bands used to play local bars regularly, his girlfriend (now wife) and I would do his hair and makeup and help pick out his wardrobe to ensure he truly had the rockstar look.  Lots of fun times and memories from those days and with those two.  We don't see each other very often but there will always be a special place in my heart for them.

Wow - that got sappy fast.  Must be all this nostalgia stuff.  Okay, on with the photos:

Graffiti
When Sharon and I were chatting the other night and I was admitting to have only attempted one photo and not being particularly pleased with it, we started discussing where in town there was nice graffiti as opposed to the "let's ruin buildings because we have nothing better to do" kind.  After walking Riya tonight and gathering most of the requisite shots for this week, we drove by a street that isn't in one of the best areas of town though they are trying to revitalize the area and there was the graffiti I was hoping for.

Technology
My intention actually was to take a photo of an old viewmaster that once belonged to my grandfather.  I remember being so amazed as a kid that they had family photo reels and not just the typical Niagara Falls touristy reels that we had for ours.  Unfortunately, my parents don't even remember the viewmaster and although I was sure it was at their house, they had no idea what I was talking about. 
Interestingly, I just finished Dan Brown's latest novel, "Origin" which hypothesizes that in the future, humans will be so intertwined with technology that we will actually no longer be fully human (or something like that).  As such, I thought it was interesting to see how my own life has evolved - I have clear recollections of the 8-track player my parents had in the house and in our van, the record I first purchased with my own money, the advent of cassettes, DVD's and now electronic music files.  Video has progressed in the same way, as have books.  How will our entertainment look in the future?

Y
I took Riya to Fort Creek for a walk along the Hub Trail tonight in the hopes I could find some new photographic subjects.  Luckily, I didn't fall while looking for "y" shapes in the trees, although that would have allowed me to be a little more creative in my quest for this week's "fall" photo.

Nostalgia
So I was already nostalgic with my song choice this week as well as during my technology discussion.  My original intention for this photo was to find an old car but that didn't happen.  Tonight while walking at Fort Creek, however, I became nostalgic for a walk I had taken there many years ago with my friend, Courtney.  She has since moved back to Saskatchewan but every time I think about that one walk, I begin to giggle to myself.  You see, back a number of years ago, there was no Hub Trail and thus the trails at Fort Creek were true nature trails - tree roots, rocks, mud, leaves, rivers.  They weren't the easy paved and bridged trails they are today.  Courtney and I decided we should walk there for something different and somehow I think we thought it might be less muddy than Hiawatha.  Boy, were we wrong.  As if the muddy trails weren't enough, there was a big hill that was totally muddy. For every step we took up, we slid back about 3 feet.  We were giggling uncontrollably but I finally went to the side and managed to get myself up.  Courtney, however, continued to giggle and ended up crawling up the hill on her hands and knees.  Needless to say, I made her strip down and cover herself with the blanket in my trunk before I would let her in my car. 

Cow
I tried to find cows last Sunday when I took a drive out to the Point Iroquois Lighthouse but they were all much too far away from the road to be helpful.  I tried taking pictures of the cow statues at Holy Cows Ice Cream Parlour but it was too dark so they just looked scary.  I also hoped the chocolate milk I bought today was from Lock City and had a cow on the carton but I was out of luck again.  This means that you have to think outside the box with me on this one.  Beef comes from cows, there is ground beef in the lasagna I made this afternoon, thus lasagna = cow.  Do you see my logic?

Fall
I attempted to take this photo last Sunday when I headed out to the Point Iroquois Lighthouse but there really wasn't much colour around it.  The white clouds caused the lighthouse to fade out in many of the photos too which was rather disappointing.  I took this first photo at Fort Creek again today.  I attempted to be creative and take a photo of the fallen leaves.

I feel like I should also include one of my lighthouse photos since I made the trek all the way out there and all.

Wildcard
Do you know how hard it is to choose a wildcard when you haven't taken many photos and the ones you have taken just aren't particularly striking?  You will never guess where this one was taken - Fort Creek!

Here's hoping I can get this week's photos done on time!  I think there is a bit of sun in the forecast so I will be optimistic...

Sharon's Week 41: This one time, at band camp...

Does this year seem to be flying by for anyone else?  I swear it was just July and now it's the middle of October, for crying out loud.  I think that if time wants to mess with my brain, it should speed up during the work day and slow down in the evenings and on weekends.  I could learn to live with that.  How about you?

About my photography this week...I came out of the starting gate with great speed and acceleration.  I spent most of the day Sunday driving and photographing then on Monday, Levi and I headed into Michigan looking for fall colours.  By that point I had four of my seven photos but it stopped there.  For the life of me I could not come up with any ideas for the final three: graffiti, technology and nostalgia.  I was off yesterday but instead of putting some thought into those photos, I completed most of an extremely long to-do list.  So as has been my habit, there were last minute, rather lame attempts today.

Here we go...

wild card

I was on a search for perfect leaves that I could take home and shoot on the light table but they have been few and far between.  When I stopped at Batchawana last Sunday, this leaf stood out because there was not a lot of red around.  The sun was shining brightly in the blue sky and we had just been doing sun flares the week before so I set this up.

graffiti

I headed to Whitefish Island because there is a lot of graffiti on the concrete pillars under the bridge.  As I was heading there I was thinking of the dude who writes, "BORED" all over town in black spray paint.  I was sarcastically telling him (in my head) that if he was truly bored, he could take the time to add colours to his graffiti instead of leaving those ugly, boring words all over.  Then I saw this and I had to apologize to him (again in my head).  

technology

I am often amazed at the technological know-how that people had in the past, before the discovery of so many mathematical and physical laws, before computers and even Google.  Think the Pyramids, the Roman aqueducts, the Eiffel Tower, the list is endless.  Anyway, I'm not sure how old these swing bridges are (the dark one is the train bridge and the orange one is the emergency road bridge, I think) but I'm sure they were built long before Google.  And, the reflections caught my eye.

Y

I wish the branch was prettier but I love the ripply water.

nostalgia

Here's where I demonstrate my lack of imagination.  All I could think of was high school.  I headed to the basement to get my yearbooks and I found my letters and my old Levi's jean jacket.  This yearbook is from my grade 13 graduation year.  The letters weren't for sports; I think I got them from a combination of academics, concert band and cheerleading (every extra-curricular activity was worth points and they accumulated over the years).  An aside about band: did you know that now, kids get credits for being in band?  And there are a million options...concert band, jazz band, rock band, choir and more!  I spent every Monday evening and many lunches of my high school career in the music room and none of it counted towards any credits.

cow

The landscape behind Echo Bay is full of rolling hills and farmland.  I figured I'd see some cows if I drove in that direction.

fall

Here we have the quintessential fall:  hay bales and colourful leaves.

And, because my mom complained that there wasn't any fall colour in last week's post, these are for her...

That's it for this week.