Illumination

At this time of the year, every drop of sunlight is delicious but it's particularly enticing during the late afternoon - those golden hours which bathe everything in deep, rich colour.

I took advantage of that precious sunlight with all of the photos below. I hope you enjoy them.

The tip of this autumn leaf was peeking out of the shade and into the sunlight.

There are a number of apple trees around my local park - many of them edible - some of those without worms.

This lovely blossom is called Indian Balsam or Touch Me Nots. At the slightest touch, the pods burst open to reveal their seeds.

Cedars are beautiful in all seasons, even when their fronds have lost their fresh, green colour, and especially when saturated with sunlight.

Luscious, red Hawthorn berries - brilliant in the autumn light.

Autumn Joy (Sedum) enjoys basking in the sunlight which pours into my front yard.

A tiny, deep blue chicory blossom glows in the afternoon sunshine.

Like a Walk in the Park

It's been ages since we've taken a walk around the pond path together. There's some mulled apple cider by the door - the spiced rum is optional. Please grab a cup and join me.

My own front yard offers this sedum (Autumn Joy) bloom in its early, pink stages of opening.

It must have rained earlier. These droplets on a broad leaf sure do catch the eye.

More proof of the recent rain.

This is my favourite spot at my local park and I've photographed it often. The subtle changes of autumn have begun to take place. Look closely to the right of the tree roots and you'll see Mr. Blue fishing the shore.

A Queen Ann's Lace, closed up tight. Lots of tiny seeds adorn each little bloom.

Here's how it looked wide open, in full bloom. Notice the tiny red flower in the center? My bloggy pal Linda pointed that out to me in one of her earlier blog posts. I never noticed the red petals before and now I look for it every time. Thanks, Linda!

And last, but not least, one of my favourite late summer to early autumn flowers - the wild chicory. Such a pretty shade of blue.

I hope you enjoyed the walk. Let's do it again sometime soon.

This is a scheduled post. In all reality, I didn't just walk around the pond because Frank and I are up at the cottage for a few days for one last visit, this year. Still, feel free to help yourself to the cider. It's virtually a bottomless cup.

Poetography

Some of you already know my bloggie pal Jinksy of Napple Notes. If you do, then you also know she's a clever lady with a delicious sense of humour and fine poetry skills. Jinksy is my favourite kind of poet - sometimes serious - oftentimes silly. Occasionally she'll turn her comments section over to her readers challenging them to a poetic response, which is what prompted me to offer her a challenge of my own.

I often search the web for interesting quotes to accompany my photos. Sometimes I select a snippet of a song, a line from a movie or something from a book. More often than not, a bit of poetry exists which will often express the mood of my images. It's satisfying to find the right ones, but it's also very time consuming.

Enter Jinsky.

The other day, I dropped my poetic friend an email asking her if she might be inspired to write a few lines for each of the photos you'll see below. Jinsky rose to the occasion and quickly shot back with her wonderfully crafted verse and haiku which are paired with the matching images for which they were written. I hope you enjoy them, and if you do, please be sure to drop over to Jinsky's blog and let her know. I bet you'll find yourself returning there often.

This lovely gull circled around me a few times before I was able to get him into focus. Though he was still fairly distant, it looks like I just had time to take the photo and duck out of his way - thanks to my zoomy lens.

the camera's eye
freeze-framed the quizzical glance
of the gliding gull

This little pocket of the lake collects the strangest things. Last time, it was a fishing float and an apple. This time it looks like breakfast was on the menu - Cocoa Puffs, a solitary Honeycomb and what appears to be a mushroom cap.

cereal puff balls
float in a nightmare landscape
of water logged dream

This is last year's Autumn Joy which will be cut back before new growth appears. When it begins to bloom in mid-summer, it looks a bit like broccoli. Then as the mini blossoms open, it changes from green to soft pink to rusty red.

Ghostly echoes of the past

haunt the dried flower heads
as they dream of youth flown
and wait patiently for rebirth.

Walking down the street, in the town of Lindsay in southern Ontario, we saw this cute pooch watching every car and person which passed beneath his window.

It's a dog's life standing still,

poised like a statue on the sill,
watching clouds go passing by
with never once the chance to fly
on scudding paws along the street,
free, excited, swift and fleet.
What dreams go racing through his head
at night, inside his doggy bed?

We spent the night in Lindsay. These three stones decorated the table in our motel room.

Three polished stones encircled by lace

each with a word carve on its face-
Truth for the seeking,
Faith in the finding,
and Wisdom to grant overall grace.

Back at home, I was trying to photograph a bird which sat atop a higher branch. The winged critter was out of my focal range but the camera decided that these woolen mittens were an unusual find - about ten feet above me.

green pine-needle spray
disguises identity
of two brown mittens

On the first warm day of spring, all sorts of wheels hit the pavement - bicycles, motorcycles, roller blade and skateboards. This board was abandoned hastily by my young neighbour. I suspect he had to pee.

Bright painted shapes protest at their sudden view
of a world tip tilted and stationary,
as the discarded board's metal wheels vibrate
with the hum of remembered movement.

Then again, that might have been me who had to pee... after finishing this yummy martini made with passion fruit, lemonade, pineapple and vodka.

on a glass surface
painted dragon fly hovers
intoxicated

Newly-sprouting willow boughs against the backdrop of the setting sun.

willow branches bow

to greet golden, glow-worm spheres
of lighted windows

Thanks for joining Jinsky and me on our little joint adventure. If you enjoyed our post, please stop by her blog and let her know.

I'll be back in a few days.