Sep 23 2024 - Autumn Colours

 

t seems like it is still summer here in Niagara with recent high temperatures.  But it is Autumn and the Florida Dogwood out front has turned red and orange.  Across the street, the European Walnut is yellow. We are on the warmest side of Ontario, so that means the colours further north are about to burst.  There is enough time to plan for a day trip up north in the next two or so weeks. Here's the status at discovermuskoka.ca  Gravenhurst: 5%  Very small pockets of colour here and there – green predominates Bracebridge: 15% – Very small pockets of colour here and there – green predominates Huntsville/Lake of Bays: 10 – 20% – Very small pockets of colour here and there – green predominates Muskoka Lakes: 5% – Very small pockets of colour here and there – green predominates Georgian Bay: 10% – Very small pockets of colour here and there – green predominates "These dates are our best guess for when to see the fall colours this year. Please note, these are just educated guesses based on historical trends. There are many factors that affect when the fall colours will be best for viewing, and these conditions and dates may change slightly from year to year. Early fall colour viewing opportunities: September 22 – September 28 Peak maple fall colour viewing opportunities: September 29 – October 10 Peak golden encore fall colour viewing opportunities: October 11 – 20" Check out the website as it gives the best roads to drive in the fall.  It is HERE.   This chart shows the colour changes so far.

I found this wood abstract in the Lightroom database.  It was in Monterey, California.

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Oct 29 - Bedtime Tales

How did fairy tales get that formal name?  They are folklore stories with a specific definition of being a children's story about magical and imaginary beings and lands. Merriam Webster indicates that the adjective "fairy-tale" is characteristic or suitable to a fairy tale - marked by seemingly unreal beauty perfection, luck, or happiness. Fairy tale, the noun, is defined as a story (as for children) involving fantastic forces and beings (such as fairies, wizards, and goblins) or a story in which improbable events lead to a happy ending, or a made-up story usually designed to mislead. Is Star Wars a fairy tale?  It says it is in megaessays.com. Is The Hobbit a fair tale? It too is identified as a true fairy tale. The most famous (well-known) fairy tales? Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs tops the list on one site, but Cinderella on another.  What about Beauty and the Beast? I think that comes after our first place tie and others like Hansel and Gretel, Little Red Riding Hood, Puss in Boots, Rapunzel, come after these top three. It seems to me that the easy answer for what makes fairy tales so beloved is their presentation in movies.  Our top fairy tale movie producer is Disney and we've benefited from wonderful renditions of fairy tales. And what about Fairy Tale Jokes: The little tin soldier had been in the army ever since he was a tiny baby. He was in the infantry! Rapunzel is not a fairy tale It's a hairy tale. My girlfriend wanted a marriage just like a fairy tale. Fair enough. I gave her a loaf of bread and left her in the forest. Why was Cinderella no good at playing hockey? Because she was always running away from the ball! What kind of pet did Aladdin have? A flying car-pet! Why was Cinderella such a poor football player ? She had a pumpkin for a coach ! Today we have two pictures on the same day - one with the blue sky and gold trees, and the second cloudy and all the colour gone from the trees.  That's Autumn - lots of mood swings - but not the happy fairy tale ending of spring.  That is, unless you are willing to wait a few months.

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I'll Take Mine Fried

I made it in time to capture the fiery foliage of the Cemetery Japanese Maple.  It is entwined around a headstone, which is not visible in these photos.  November is their month for vivid colour - as long as it doesn't get too windy.  That's always a dilemma here in Grimsby with the wind off the escarpment or the Lake. I planned to capture the large tree in front of one of our heritage homes and the leaves are gone - they dropped in one day.    And around the corner from me is the largest Japanese Maple I've seen in Niagara, with the glorious red colour on the tree and in the driveway. From the den garden website: "In Japan, maple trees are known as kaede (楓/"frog's hands"), as well as momiji (紅葉), which means both "become crimson leaves" and "baby's hands". Momiji is commonly used as the term for autumn foliage in general in Japanese, but it is also used as a term for maple trees. These names come from the appearance of the leaves, which resemble the hands of a baby or a frog. The scientific term for Japanese maples is Acer palmatum."   "In Japan's Osaka prefecture, the red and orange maple leaves are a sight to see during the fall. As is the case in the rest of Japan, people go out in droves to see the beautiful fall scenery. However, in Osaka, locals also go out in droves to collect the leaves and turn them into a deep-fried delicacy! Fried maple leaves are a very popular snack in Osaka, and apparently have been for at least a thousand years. The city of Minoh, located in the north part of the prefecture, is particularly famous for their fried leaves. The maple leaves are dipped and fried in tempura butter, which give them their unique taste. The secret of Minoh's success with fried leaves really isn't much of a secret at all. Chefs there usually store their leaves in barrels of salt for one year, which makes their leaves particularly tasty!"

Denomination and Denominator

Denomination and Denominator.  It seems like these two words would be related, and yet one definition is about religious groups and currency.  The other is about dividing in mathematics/arithmetic, shared traits and average levels.  And then denominate is about giving a name to something.  There must be a history site for word origins, so let me know if you are aware of one.  Today we're looking at the brilliant foliage in a pear orchard at the top of Mountain Street in Grimsby.

Water's Words

The Autumn colours in Grimsby don't seem to be that bright.  I made a trip to Toronto on Tuesday and the colours at the Toronto Botanical Garden were splendid.  Beautiful orange and yellow maples reflected in the water of Wilket Creek. The highlight of the trip wasn't the opportunity to catch some Fall colour, but the opportunity to hear Doug Tallamy speak at the  Carolinian Canada CoalitionConference.    "Doug Tallamy is  professor and chair of the Department of Entomology and Wildlife Ecology at the University of Delaware, where he has authored eighty research articles and has taught Insect Taxonomy, Behavioral Ecology, Humans and Nature, and other courses for thirty-two years. Chief among his research goals is to better understand the many ways insects interact with plants and how such interactions determine the diversity of animal communities. His book Bringing Nature Home: How Native Plants Sustain Wildlife in Our Gardens was published by Timber Press in 2007 and was awarded the 2008 silver medal by the Garden Writer’s Association. Tallamy was awarded the Garden Club of America Margaret Douglas Medal for Conservation and the Tom Dodd Jr. Award of Excellence in 2013." A persuasive speaker gives us motivation through facts and data.  The most compelling statistic was that Oak trees supports 534 species of moths and butterflies.  And that their caterpillars are a mandatory food source for nesting birds.  This connection gives us the understanding of why we need to plant insect-friendly species in order to maintain our bird, butterfly and bee populations. And his most important point?  It is up to homeowners to make their gardens welcome to birds and insects.

On Being Cheap

I was in Harvest Barn yesterday - it is a local produce and bakery store in St. Catharines (like the old days of grocery stores in yesterday's daily post).  The cashier asked the lady ahead of me if she wanted to buy a carry bag ($.05) or use one of the small meat/freezer bags as they were free.  The lady had only 2 pounds of butter, and she wanted a bag because the butter was cold.  She accepted the little bag over the bag that cost the five cents.  Then the cashier told me how she uses these little freezer bag for all kinds of things.  And concluded with:  "I'm cheap". So I wondered what "cheap" is and how do we recognize it.  Here are 5 major differences between cheap and frugal from money.usnews.com 1. Cheap and frugal people both love to save money, but frugal people will not do so at the expense of others. 2. Frugality is about assessing the bigger picture and having the patience to cash in on the simple savings strategies. 3. Cheapness uses price as a bottom line; frugality uses value as a bottom line. 4. Cheap people are driven by saving money regardless of the cost; frugal people are driven by maximizing total value, including the value of their time. 5. Being cheap is about spending less; being frugal is about prioritizing your spending so that you can have more of the things you really care about. When I read the full article, I was a bit discouraged.  It points to a lot of rationalization by the 'frugal' author for choosing where and how to spend money:  a lot of one's internal conversations are taken up with mundane decisions.  It is a start, though, and helps to understand this significant topic. And a search for the country with the reputation for being cheap?  Two countries show up: Holland and Scotland!

Perfect November Day

I was in Toronto yesterday and had the great fortune of experiencing the most perfect Autumn day.  I walked from Queen Street up through the University of Toronto, along Philosopher's Park to Bloor.  The autumn colours in Queen's Park were at their peak, with people walking, sitting, reading, and enjoying the perfect day.

View From Above

I went out to see the Autumn colours yesterday.  I started at Beamer Park up on the escarpment.  The park is an example of a preserved Carolinian forest here in Ontario, and has excellent views out across the region.  The view in this picture is towards Niagara Falls, and one can see its high rises. The winds have been blowing the colours off the trees so there isn't the show that one might like for photographs.  And as the winds blew and blew, a storm blew in. The last picture is at Locust Lane, where the Hidden Bench barn is located, and looks out over the Lake. While the Lake is in this picture, there's no Toronto floating on the horizon today. Dezi and I arrived home just in time for the rain to start.

Sea of Blue vs Autumn Yellow

Grimsby gets windy in October and November.  The result is that the autumn colours are blown off the trees very quickly.  No lingering autumn here.  Charles Daley Park has a wonderful willow tree overlooking the lagoon.  The colours and reflections are excellent photo subjects.  The other day the yellowing leaves were blowing, making motion blur patterns that caught the change from green to yellow. Autumn colours are not on the minds of most Torontonians today. The colour that will prevail is a sea of blue, with the Blue Jays' Game 5 this afternoon.  20,000 signatures are on an online petition to open the dome for the game.

Autumn in the Rain

How better to stay warm and dry - these pictures are taken through the windshield at Charles Daley Park, St. Catharines Ontario.