Oct 8 - Fall Colours all at once

 

Some of the most beautiful fall colours happen when the trees and shrubs in a grouping all turn colour at once.  That's the case with Sumacs and Poplars.   Sumacs grow as a clonal colony through suckers.  So you will see a hillside of startling orange-red.   Quaking aspen also are clonal colonies.   The Poplar named Pando has been tracked as a colony in the Fremont River Ranger District on the Colorado Plateau in south-central Utah.  It is 108 acres.  It has been estimated to weigh 6,000 tonnes so would be the heaviest known organism. While individual trees live around 100 years, the whole organism is estimated to be up to 14,000 years old.  How many stems are there?  40,000 trunks/stems.

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Dec 2 2020 - Body Part Names

 

How much did we learn about the body and its parts as a child?  And then what did we remember?  Here are a few that perk up one's attention: Glabella — This smooth, flat area between your eyebrows and directly above your nose can be pinched to determine if you are dehydrated — the pinched skin would remain extended, if so.   Philtrum — This is the groove found below your nose and above your top lip. It is where the two sides of your face meet and some believe it allows for a wide range of facial expressions and increased articulation of the mouth.   Frenulum — This is a small fold of skin that anchors a movable part of the body. You can find two types under your tongue between your lips and gums, and from the base of your tongue to the floor of your mouth. Others are found in both male and female genitalia, and internally. You can check out more in an article at dictionary.com that uses various body part names in sentences with explanations, giving rise to some good entertainment  HERE. I was curious about synonyms for buttocks.  I found a silly article on the pros and cons of not wearing underwear on one's 'tush'.  That got my attention, along with the the many synonyms sprinkled through the article.  I found all the synonyms more interesting than the content of the article.  Here are a few:  backside behind breech bum bottom butt buttocks derrière fanny fundament posterior rear rump seat tail tush It seems to me these align nicely with an 8 year old's vocabulary.  Maybe with COVID, we need to return to our childhood for some silly talk that reduces anxiety.   It was a winter wonderland yesterday and more today.  These sumacs had huge seed heads that made for some fun motion blur.

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Sep 26 2020 - How the Days Fly

 

"Time Flies when you're having fun."  Or: "How time flies." Alexander Pope's version: "Swift fly the years."   And the originator: Tempus fugit is a Latin phrase, usually translated into English as "time flies". The expression comes from line 284 of book 3 of Virgil's Georgics, where it appears as fugit inreparabile tempus: "it escapes, irretrievable time". I think that is September's experience.  Warm days, cool days, cold nights, then warm days again. So much happens in September that we are 'overrun' with the experience.  And it is an enjoyable one.  Here, in Niagara and Ontario where the leaves turn colour.  Perhaps less so other places, as it ranks only mid-way in the much quoted 2005 American poll.  Is it true that Albert Einstein said "Time flies when you are having fun"?  Here's what one article gives as the entire quote from Einstein:  "When You’re Having Fun Time is an interesting beast, because it is relative. Put your hand on a stove and time moves slowly. Boredom draws our attention to the passage of time which gives us the feeling that it's slowing down. Watch an excellent movie with someone you love and time flies by. Ultimately it may come down to how much you believe that time flies when you're having fun. Always choose your actions wisely!!!" I can't imagine Einstein using three exclamation marks.  But there is a low chance that I can prove this as I've just gone to the wikiquote.org website to look for the quote, and there are hundreds or perhaps thousands of quotes in the article on Einstein.  They list them by year, by event, by person, by disputed, by post-humous, and so on.  There are many quotes because he said many interesting things. So right now Summer and Fall sit side by side in the trees. Here is the green and red of a Sumac yesterday.  And then there will be none.  And we'll say:  "How time flies". Enjoy this wonderful weekend!

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Enjoying the Weather Whatever it is

It was cold in Toronto last week, and this week it's warmed up with a mix of sun and cloud. Today was a very overcast day with rain. It makes all the colours stand out so much - the trees look luminescent. Here in the city, I don't see great sweeping landscapes. I see small vignettes and beautiful close-ups. Here are some photos from this week in my neighbourhood at Royal York and Blook. I hope you enjoy the colours wherever you live!