Ottawa:
Montreal:
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Wordless Wednesday – evenings.
Tag Archives: fall
Catching up
Ready, aim, fire!
I am getting behind! Every day we are doing more things, exploring more places and by the time we get in at night I am so tired I can do nothing more than check emails for emergencies and fall into bed.
Getting wet at Cave of the Winds.
But today we got up extra special early and have already walked 7 miles (11.3K) and we’re back at the hotel taking a nap before heading out for the evening. So I’ll see if I can give you the short version of what we’ve seen. (Click on any photo to see more detail.)
Riding Maid of the Mist at Niagara Falls.
Do you remember the trip we made last October where we saw all sorts of lighthouses? Well this trip, once we got past Niagara Falls, where we played under the American Falls and took the boat ride into Canada’s Horseshoe Falls, seems to be all about forts built in the early 1800’s.
Learning about family life at Fort Henry; kids went to school until 14, then boys had to find a job in town or join the army. Girls had to get married.
And about the war of 1812 where, according to the Canadian guides we’ve heard, America invaded and wasn’t very nice to Canadian villages.
Fort Wellington never saw a battle, but sent troops out to fight in other local villages.
We’ve been driving up the St. Lawrence River through Ontario, headed to Montreal and Quebec. We saw a couple of freighters on the river, and, near Kingston, lots of houses out on quite small, rocky islands. Seems a romantic way to live until winter arrives.
Headed west on the river.
But right now we’re in Ottawa, Canada’s capital. We toured the Parliament building this morning.
Parliament Hill, with Peace Tower.
It’s beautiful inside, designed much like the National Cathedral in Washington DC.
Stone arches everywhere.
And it has a library that reminds me somewhat of the Library of Congress in Washington DC as well. Absolutely stunning.
It was very quiet in the library. We were in awe.
After the Parliament building we walked a couple of miles to the Laurier House, where two Prime Ministers of Canada lived, Wilfred Laurier and William King, 12 years apart. Lots of history here too.
Prime Minister King ran the country during WWII from his office on the third floor, preferring it to his office in the Parliament building!
And after that…we sat on the house veranda for a spell, letting it all sink in. Then we wandered back to the hotel, noticing the beautiful buildings of a beautiful city.
Built in different centuries.
Many different cultures and influences are evident in this city.
And a river runs through it. Actually a canal.
And now it’s time for a nap.
Resting our feet.
WordPress Photo Challenge: Monochromatic
We are traveling, so I’m taking lots (husband says hundreds and he is right) of photos. I’m going to pick out a few from our first three days to show you monochromatic on vacation.
The first one is from our visit to Fort Niagara on the American side of the river.
Window with basket.
The second is from our visit to Niagara Falls.
Boat in mist.
And the third is from a marvelous spot in Ontario Canada called The Big Apple Pie Factory.
Green in red.
I knew about the challenge when we visited the apple pie store, so I took that last one on purpose. Even rearranged the apples in the barrel to my liking while no one was looking. I took full advantage of the permission granted to use a splash of color to set off the main values, especially on the apple shot, though I like the brown of the basket against the grey of the window too.
Looking through my photos I’ve learned that I take quite a lot of monochromatic shots. I think it’s something I’m drawn to, but I didn’t realize that until this challenge. You can go to the original post to see other people’s versions of monochromatic.
Thanks for stopping by!
See you soon!
Where are we now?
We started our trip near Niagara Falls, spending a lovely evening walking on the Canadian side of the river enjoying the falls, the lights, the beautiful night air.
Do you see the falls back there?
We even rode the giant ferris-wheel and got a fun view of the falls just as they were lit up for the evening.
Very large ride…and they sent us around 4 times!
We started today at a town called Niagara on the Lake. It’s unbelievably beautiful, especially this time of year. They have flowers everywhere! And the annuals are at peak right now. They have huge gardens in the medians, and along all the store fronts.
Let’s sit a spell.
I could spend this entire blog just showing you photos of flowers. But we must move on. On to Fort George, on the Canadian side of the Niagara River.
Our guide Courtney explains about life at the fort.
There we learned about life in the fort, especially during the time of the 1812 war. Life wasn’t easy. And though this fort and the fort across the river on the American side started out friendly things got rough when the British and the Americans decided they both wanted Fort Niagara for all sorts of political reasons.
Ft George was built of wood, never meant for defense. It was burned and the entire town also burned by the Americans.
It was interesting to hear the story told from the British point of view. On our way over to visit the American’s Fort Niagra we stopped at a monument for General Brock. It has 235 steps to the top; a narrow winding spiral staircase.
This is in a beautiful park.
You know we had to do that. It was a bit like running a marathon without training. Now I know for sure I’ll never sign up for the race they do up the stairs at the empire state building. As if there was any thought of doing that. Which there has not been.
After we found our way back down we headed over to Fort Niagara to hear the American’s version of the war.
Standing on Canadian soil looking across the river at Ft Niagara.
Our guide there talked about how the fort was designed. It was built of stone, by the French as a fur trading operation, then taken over by the British to control traffic on the river.
Notice our American guide is more casual than the guide in Canada.
Fort Niagara is beautiful, especially the officers’ quarters. There’s a room there, up on the second floor with a view of Lake Ontario that was begging for me to stay the night.
Guest room with my name on it.
We had a wonderful day. We more than met our 10,000 steps and 10 flights of stairs. I think tomorrow will be more of the same. My heart says go for it. My feet say take a break!
Stunning stone building protected by cannons.
I hope you will enjoy this trip with us. I wish I could show you all the wonderful things we saw. But I guess for you to truly understand you’ll have to head on up here for yourself!
Pretty in blue.
Wordless Wednesday. It’s still Wednesday somewhere. Right?
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Sweet Southern Story
I was at the local grocery store in the small Alabama town where I’ve been hanging out for the past couple of weeks. An older man (probably about my age if I were truthful) is leaving the deli counter, a package in his hand, walking toward me.
He looks me in the eye and says “If I had any peanut brittle I’d give you some.”
I figure he’s talking to the women behind the counter, so I smile vaguely and turn my cart into an aisle, looking for something on my grocery list. He follows me and calls out. “Have you ever made peanut brittle?”
I respond that I had, but it was a long long time ago. He repeats the question. I repeat my answer. He comes closer and says he’s sorry he can’t hear me. So I say it again.
“Where’s that accent of yours from?” he asks.
“Michigan,” I say.
“Your team gonna do anything this year?” he asks.
I look at him blankly.
“You’ve got a good new coach.”
I figure out he’s talking about the University of Michigan, so I just nod in agreement…backing up down the aisle.
“You living here now?” he asks.
“No…just visiting.” I say.
“Well if you’re living around here you got to make a choice.” he says. “You got to choose either Alabama or Auburn. Doesn’t much matter which you choose but you got to make the choice.”
“You know this guy?” he asks, pointing to a store employee behind me shelving cans.
“No, I say.”
“Hey there!” says the clerk to the man.
“He’s rooting for the wrong team” says the man.
“I still pray for you every night.” says the young clerk smiling.
All three of us resume our business but the smiles stay with me as I drive back to the house. I’m still not sure what peanut brittle had to do with anything. But people sure are friendly down here in the South. Except on football weekends.
Just down the lake is a boat dock with a flag that flies. The homeowner has made his choice clear. For those of you not from around here that’s the Alabama A blowing in the breeze.
Football is huge down here.
Wonder what would happen if I were to hang Auburn’s flag at the end of our dock.
Go Tigers.
Cee’s Black & White Photo Challenge
I’ve been trying to figure out how to convert photos to black and white for a long time. Maybe years. Oh, not constantly – just when I see something I think would look better in black and white. I have Adobe Photoshop and it should be easy, but I’ve frequently poked around there searching without any luck. So I did what I’ve heard lots of people do when they get stumped about something.
I went to YouTube.
Apparently people are right; you can find instructions for anything there. After watching a couple videos, and going back to figure out exactly which version of Photoshop I had, I figured out the basics. Then I tinkered around a bit more and came up with this:
Still working on the farm.
It seems to fit in perfectly with Cee’s Black and White Photo Challenge, specifically a shot of something with an engine.
This old farm truck sits out by the road advertising events held at the farm. Soon it will be pumpkin picking time. Seems too early doesn’t it, but seasons come and seasons go.
This old workhorse has seen a lot of them, and I think it remains beautiful, and certainly photo worthy, no matter what the season.
Wordless Wednesday…it’s still Wednesday. Right?
A simple thank you
Great Lakes National Cemetery
Today was Veterans Day; the eleventh day of the eleventh month and designated by President Wilson in 1919 as a day to honor those who have given so much so that we here in the United States remain free.
It was a day for all of us to say thank you to those who have served our country in the military.
Flowers amid the stones.
Over hills and across farmland, not far from where I live, is the Great Lakes National Cemetery. It sits on over 500 acres, was opened in 2005 and is the final resting place for thousands, and someday hundreds of thousands, of veterans and their spouses. The numbers, even now, are staggering and very visual as you look across row after row of white marble headstones. You can become lost in the vastness of it.
Thousands of souls.
Or you can stop and wander, read a few of the names and messages found there.
Wandering and reading.
Each stone honors an individual, a veteran yes, but also a person. A person that had a life outside the military, someone who laughed with family, hung out with friends, traveled, went fishing.
Sometimes the story on the headstone is simple.
Pearl Harbor survivor.
And sometimes it gives you just a tiny glimpse of the person who once walked this earth.
Animal lover.
So many of the stones reminds you how short life can be. How short it was for so many.
While we were out there we had something of a flyover. Five sand hill cranes flew in formation directly overhead, crying their own version of a patriotic melody.
In formation.
It seemed fitting.
Today was Veterans Day. But really, shouldn’t we honor those who serve our country every day? Tomorrow, the day after Veterans Day, take a moment and thank a veteran. Smile at them. Shake their hand. Buy them a cup of coffee.
This WW II veteran understood the truth.
Make someone’s day. And yours.
Let’s not forget.
Just say thank you.
WordPress challenge: minimalist take II
I wandered about today, camera in hand, even though the sky was mostly uninteresting. The leaves, once colored, are long gone, the crops nearly gone as well. The landscape was brown. And gray. Drab.
But that works for what I was looking for; minimalism in the country.
I honestly think the concept of a minimalistic photograph fits more into an urban setting, at least in my mind, but I wanted to see if I could show you the vast expanses of farm country here in mid-Michigan. And see if I could convince myself that minimalism can have a country side as well.
I found a few interesting things, but so many seemed busy, cluttered. I like filling the frame when I’m on a photo hunt, so it was hard to look for negative spaces, to leave part of the frame empty. I’ll show you some of the shots that didn’t make the minimalist cut, but when I came across this I had to capture it.
It’s the end of the harvest here, and the white truck parked and being filled with shucked corn by the harvester in the middle of nowhere just struck me. The muted colors, the empty field. It all shouted to be noticed.
So I did.
You can see other photographers’ minimalistic offerings here and here. Go. Enjoy. Spread your arms in all the space. You can see all of photos by going to the original post.
And give it a try yourself. No matter where you are you can find something minimal and interesting if you look.
Even way out in the country.
Change Is Hard 