Tuesday, November 4, 2008

On With the Show

This past week has been unseasonably warm. This is November. This is Canada. We're supposed to be bundled up in layers and walking with hands in pockets, and heads lowered to brace for the brisk north winds. Instead, we spent the better part of last week in t-shirts, with hands free to enjoy the beautiful, balmy breezes which still carried that unmistakable scent of autumn with them.

It has cooled down again since then, and November now feels as it should. Summer has had its last hurrah. Soon I'll be focusing the camera on frost and other white reminders of the season, but for now, please enjoy these images taken over the past few weeks.

As with the previous post, there are movie quotes which accompany them. How many of them do you know? Answers can be found at the end of the post.



9) “The shadows are just as important as the light.”
The grass behind this fallen leaf was casting shadows, courtesy of the autumn sun. (please click, and then click again to enlarge)



10) “Don’t miss the wonders that surround you because every tree, every rock, every anthill, every star is filled with the wonders of nature.”
This is one of my favourite spots along the path which surrounds my neighbourhood pond. No matter the season, it always looks beautiful to me. The little bird on the lower right branch thought so too. (please click, and then click again to enlarge)





11) “What we take for granted might not be here for our children.”
This heron had been wading in the pond to the left of the path when he decided to check out the fishing in the creek over on our right. Without a moment of concern over the two of us and an active dog, he just strolled in front of us, over to the creek. (please click, and then click again to enlarge)




12) “Nobody takes a picture of something they want to forget.”
Some of these photos were taken a couple of weeks ago when autumn hues were much more prominent than they are at this time. (please click, and then click again to enlarge)





13) “Always look on the bright side of life.”
Standing here, looking out over the water, there's a bench behind me where we almost always stop to sit and maybe sip - no matter the weather. This was a rare view of the lake set ablaze with the season's finest colours. (please click, and then click again to enlarge)






14) "Heres looking at you, kid."
A robin absorbs the sunshine while watching cautiously from the safety of a still-leafy branch. (please click, and then click again to enlarge)






15) “The photograph shows only the reality. The painting shows not only the reality but the dream behind it.”
This photo of chicory growing in front of a backdrop of vivid, autumn hues did not turn out as sharp and crisp as I had hoped, so I played around with it in Photoshop, giving it a "water colour" effect just for fun, and to avoid hitting the delete button. (please click, and then click again to enlarge)





16) "The trees are strong, my lord." (quote continued below)
This is the view we see from across the creek on our late afternoon walks near Frank's place. No matter how many times we stop there, it always seems photo-worthy. (please click, and then click again to enlarge)





16 continued) "Their roots go deep."
This is a close up of the roots seen in the above photo but taken on a different day. The two quotes go together.


Answers to movie quotes
9) - Jane Eyre
10) -
Mr. Smith Goes to Washington.
11) -
An Inconvenient Truth
12) - One Hour Photo
13) -
The Life of Brian
14) -
Casablanca
15) - Harvey
16) - Lord of the Rings

33 comments:

Cath said...

Oh how beautiful. A friend commented that I wasn't taking as many photos these days. I think our autumn has ended up wet and grey. I haven't seen the beauty you have captured... yet. It is just too cold at the moment!

So I am grateful for these. And what about that heron? WOW!!

Frank Baron said...

I like how your playing around with the chicory shot turned out. :)

And I only got Casablanca, Life of Brian and LOTR. Oh well. :)

Maggie May said...

The photos are out of this world..... I was going to talk about one....... the blue chicory against the Autumn leaves, but then I looked at them all again & each one has something wonderful about it. Reflections in the water, colours of the leaves. Magnificent!
Everything is fine over at my place, thanks for asking. Thanks for visiting!
Have bookmarked you!

Kappa no He said...

I guessed same three as Frank. Although the One Hour Photo quote was particularly moving. Gorgeous shots. Glad the chicory and and autumn colors didn't get deleted!

Pat - Arkansas said...

Just beautiful... as usual! I love wandering with you and your camera! Love the reflection photos! It's seasonably chilly here in Arkansas. Last week the trees were beautiful, and there's still quite a bit of color left since we haven't had a hard freeze, but a light rain has triggered the leaf fall. Won't be long until it's mostly bare branches.

Country Girl said...

Loved, loved, loved this beautiful post, Hilary. It even has movie quotes in it, which I love. I only guessed 2 of them correctly!

Unknown said...

So many beautiful photos and great quotes! :)

Woman in a Window said...

I always enjoy walking with you through your photos. As to the questions, erm, um, ya, got 'em all. (ya, right.)

the Bag Lady said...

As always, you have done a terrific job! Unfortunately, I only got Casablanca. ~~sigh~~ I need to pay more attention.

R. said...

Why a duck? - Chico Marx

Somehow I'm stuck with Marx brothers quotes. Nice pictures again!

Here I am surrounded by bankers in bankerland. From where I sit I can see a big purple tied investment banker & a tiny grey credit analyst linger around the coffee machine. I see a red secretary (flighty bird types) sneak her romance novel inside a big book. Maybe I should have got my camera huh?

Zuzana said...

To me, who also lives in the northern hemisphere, these pictures are so very familiar, yet, here in Scandinavia we can never walk around in t-shirts in November. The tress here are also by now barren, as the wind has ripped all the leaves away by now.
I love the incredible autumn colors that you captured so well in these photographs; most of all I love the contrasts that are very evident this time around in your pictures. My favorite is by far nr. 15, where the blue flower is so significant against the autumn colored background.
Again, I am very bad at movie quotes and only recognized “Casablanca” and “The Life of Brian”.:)

The Grandpa said...

Those are great photos. I especially liked the fallen leaf.

Angie Ledbetter said...

Sadly, I only got the Bogart quote, but it didn't spoil my enjoyment of the photos one bit!

virtualjourney said...

Lovely shots. I tend to adapt blur like the one with the chicory as well... often find they are the most successful as images!

photowannabe said...

Stunning and your photos have the "wow" factor.
the watercolor effect on the chicory is fabulous. I'm glad you didn't hit delete.
Sorry but i completely bombed on the quotes this time. Fun anyway.

Hilary said...

• Thanks, Cath. We're experiencing that kind of weather now (even saw a few flakes of snow falling this morning) but I still have a few photos from the past couple of weeks up my sleeve. ;) Thanks for stopping by. :)

• Thanks, Frank. I'm not at all surprised that you got those three - particularly LOTR. ;)

• Thanks kindly, Maggie. I appreciate the kind words. I've marked your blog as well. :)

• Thanks, Terrie. I guess I'm glad it didn't either. Thanks for the visit and the kind words. :)

• Thank you, Pat. It's been pretty much the same here. I'm just a tad behind on photos-to-blog updating. At this rate, I won't be posting the first snowfall (when it happens in earnest) until spring. ;)

• Thanks very much, CG. I'm glad you enjoyed it. I'll have to remember this theme somewhere down the road. ;)

• Thanks kindly, Lisa. Much appreciated. :)

• Thank you, WIAW. You probably got as many as I would have, had I not had Google at my fingertips. ;)

• Thanks, Baggie. Like I said above, I wouldn't have figured out many myself. But like you, I'd have known Casablanca. I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship. ;)

• Why a duck, Rabin? It leads over to the mainland. ;)

Yes you should have had your camera. You could have taken some wonderful shots. You could be onto something wonderful.. be famous.. be fired. So, maybe not.

Thanks for stopping by. I'm glad you enjoyed the pics. :)

• Thanks so much, Protege. You always say the nicest things. Believe me, we generally don't walk around in t-shirts during November either. This was a rare, week-long heat wave and I enjoyed every minute of it. Nights were still pretty cool - near freezing but the days were as lovely as could be. That's all in the past now. November feels as it should. Oh well - summer will come around again. Thanks for the very kind words. :)

• Welcome, the Grandpa and thanks. I'm glad you liked it. Please return soon. :)

• Thanks, Angie. I'm glad for that. Thanks for stopping by. :)

• Welcome, Tide Turn and thank you for the kind words. I suppose as long as there's something working in a photo, it can be salvaged. It's fun trying, anyway. Thanks for the visit. I hope you'll return soon. :)

• Thanks, Photowannabe. You always know how to make my day - and not in the Dirty Harry way. ;) Thanks for the kind words. :)

Suldog said...

I love the Jane Eyre quote. It reminds me of one of my favorites from Fred "Mister" Rogers, who said:

"In music, the silences are just as important as the loud parts."

That is tremendously profound, although couched in simple language. Same with the Jane Eyre.

João Fialho said...

Excelent photos.
Beautiful colors of Autumn.

Thanks for your visit to my Photomics. And also, thanks for your ocmment (if you please, of course you can continue to coment in english ... )

Greetings.

João Fialho said...

Sorry.

I mean:
"...thanks for your comment ..."

Anonymous said...

I only correctly guessed a few of them, but I enjoyed all the photos - esp. the reflections in the water and the close-up of the tree roots (the almost look like a hand).

I think we, too, have finally bid farewell to summer. Although I recall playing croquet in shirtsleeves on Christmas Day last year...

Joy T. said...

Coming over to say thanks for the visit to my blog. But now I'm REALLY glad I popped over. Your photos are stunning. And being from Canada, I can relate on the weather. Here I sit in Alberta and not one flake of snow to be seen. *sigh*

Lulda Casadaga said...

Just lovely...and I think it wins my vote...the chicory shot.
Sometimes our mess ups are priceless! ;)

Dr.John said...

All great pictures but I really loved the lake shots.

Hilary said...

• Sully, you're quite right about the similarities between the two quotes. Fred Rogers truly was an incredible man. I'd never realized just how special he was until just a couple of years ago. Thanks for sharing that quote. :)

• Thanks very kindly, JF. Much appreciated. :)

• Thanks very much, KC. I wouldn't complain for a minute if we had t-shirt weather in December, but I wouldn't have a clue how to play croquet. Sounds like it was a fun day. Thanks for stopping by. :)

• Welcome, Joy, and thanks for the kind words. Winter can hold off as long as it likes. No doubt any time it arrives will be too soon. Not a single flake in Alberta? You must not have met Bag Lady yet. Thanks for stopping by, Joy. And I'm just kidding, Baggie. :)

• Thanks, Lulda. I think you've just uttered another classic quote. Much appreciated. :)

• Thanks, Dr. John. It's a tiny lake/pond but it's nice to look at. Thanks for the visit. :)

Daryl said...

Lovely .. catching up .. and these are just so ... lovely

:-Daryl

Louise said...

What beautiful photos! My favotie is the one of the tree with the bird near the bottom left--one of your favorite views. I can see why.

And then the brilliant colors reflecting on the river. Truly wonderful.

Hilary said...

• Thanks very much, Daryl. Much appreciated. :)

• Thank you, Louise. I'm glad you like them. :)

Sandra said...

Beautiful pictures, as usual, Hilary. I love #13 -- beautiful colors and reflection.

Hilary said...

Thanks kindly, Sandra. :)

Zuzana said...

Hilary, I have an award for you at my place, one you do not have yet; I would be honoured if you accepted it.:)

Kerri Farley said...

Oh Hilary....these are so beautiful! How EXCITING to have a Heron walk that close....oh my....I would LOVE that!!

And of course, you know the one that captures my heart, is the chicory that you did NOT delete! Yippee! You "painted" that one perfectly!

Hilary said...

Thanks so much Kerri. The heron was indeed a treat, as is every day this wonderful bird graces us with its prescence. We've not seen the Great Blues for a couple of weeks now, so we assume he's moved South. But last year he showed up unexpectedly after a few week absence, so you never know. Great birds, eh? Thanks also for your kind words about my "painted" photo. Since you're the clever girl who inspired that idea, it means a lot to me that you like this one. :)

Mike Qian said...

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