Marilyn's Photos - Feb 3 2026 - Go-Bag

 

I don’t think that Wilie has a go-bag.  He’s going back to sleep for a few weeks until '“early Spring” pops up.  Phil, on the other hand, says winter is staying longer.  I saw the phrase go-bag this morning in the New York Times and had to look it up.  That would be because the effects of 911 in the U.S. were profound and there was a rush to get disaster preparedness kits for the next terrorist attack.  The U.S. remains traumatized 25 years later and a go-bag became normalized and part of everyday life. The survival kit originated as the “grab bag” and “bug-out bag” used in U.S. military and survivalist contexts.  FEMA, the American Red Cross and local fire departments promoted the phrase to get individuals to prepare for disasters and terrorist attacks.  So it is 25 years later - it isn’t terrorists invading the U.S. but floods, snowstorms and fires that will cause the terror.  Who would guess the terror lies “within.”  Go-bags have been around so long now that there are quite a few jokes: -My go-bag is so organized, it has a separate compartment for my existential dread. I finally created a “go-bag.”  It’s just a bag with a big bag of chips and a note that says “good luck.” And here’s the AI-inspired introduction to the jokes: Packing for the apocalypse (or just a really bad Tuesday) is stressful, so here are a few jokes to carry along with your dehydrated beef jerky. This picture is the result from yesterday’s Monday morning watercolour class.  The background is created with salt on watercolour. I am sure you will see a few more of these pictures - salt on coloured water is magic. I then scanned the picture so I could complete the black floral foreground in Photoshop.  Photoshop is very forgiving - you can erase things with the stroke of a “control x”.  You can imagine that watercolours don’t work that way. Next week, I take up the challenge of completing the actual watercolour picture - this time with watercolour paint.

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Marilyn's PHotos - Feb 2 2026 - Groundhog Day

 

How does Phil “seeing” his shadow work?  If it is cloudy today, no shadow will appear, so by default spring arrives sooner.  We don’t really need Phil if the sun doesn’t come out today. Then the “see shadow” scenario is based on whether he looks around.   How do we know he has looked around and has a shadow encounter?  Then the story goes that when he doesn’t see his shadow, he stays outside.  For how long? What does he do? No answers there.  It made me think of “walk into a bar” jokes, as somehow Phil might appreciate a notable conclusion to his dutiful day. It seems odd that we are excited about Phil in Canada. This forecast doesn’t hold much risk or reward for us. Six more weeks means spring comes mid-March.  That seems fine. We’ve been known to get snow into April.  The two standouts are: 20 cm in 2016 and 25 cm in 1979 - for the month of April. Last year had its own record - more snow in April than in March.    So Groundhog Day is something to distract us for a few minutes. And how would Phil’s day conclude if he was in a “walk into a bar” joke. Here’s one that references the movie:   “Was it the day before or the day before that that a groundhog walked into a bar and said…” More walk into a Bar hokes are HERE with all kinds of them - enough for everyone. “Two friends are walking their dogs together. One has a big black lab, while the other has a minuscule chihuahua. They pass a bar and the lab owner says, "Let's get a beer." The chihuahua walker complains, "That would be great, but we can't take our dogs in there." The first responds, "Watch me." The lab owner strolls in with her dog and orders a beer. The bartender tells her, "Sorry, you can't bring your dog in here." "He's my seeing eye dog," the woman replies feigning offense. The bartender quickly apologizes and serves her the beer. The other woman follows, her chihuahua in tow, and orders a beer as well. Again the bartender says there are no dogs allowed in the bar. "He's my seeing eye dog," the woman replies. "Yeah, right,” the bartender says, “A chihuahua? Give me a break." Without missing a beat, the woman replies, "They gave me a chihuahua?” February is an excellent month to celebrate roses.

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Marilyn's Photos - Feb 1 2026 - Escape to Alcatraz

 

There’s a recent story of a coyote who swam across the San Francisco Bay to Alcatraz.  That’s about a mile of swimming in cold water.  This is the first time anyone has seen this happen.  The swim was captured on video and scientists are monitoring the animal now.  There is no fresh water on the island, but lots of birds - it is a bird sanctuary and a national park so there is also public access to the park which raises concerns about “Floyd” as he’s been named.  They will decide whether he should stay or be relocated.  I hope they don’t make him swim back to San Francisco. We are a bit berserk about coyotes so we don’t need to go far to find a coyote joke. Foxes and coyotes are quite different.  Foxes are known to be curious and friendly. This picture is from 2023 when we had six fox puppies on Lynnwood and Sunnylea (our street).  They would come over and call Baxter our cat out to play. Here’s a picture of 5 of them at the intersection of Lynnwood and Sunnylea. They look like they are just “fooling around.”

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Marilyn's Photos - Jan 31st 2026 - Counting Winter Months

 

I observe winter as December, January and February - the meteorological definition.   That means that we 2/3 of the way through winter.  With February the month of hearts  and flowers, we can have a sense of optimism and good spirits for the rest of the winter.   However, there was a blow to the garden community’s February.  I found out yesterday  that the Orchid Society is not having their annual show at the Royal Botanical Gardens on February 7th.  Each year, it displays hundreds of special and rare orchids grown by amateurs and professionals.  Sellers fill the atrium with wonderful and diverse orchid plants for sale.   Last year the RBG had the Alice in Wonderland Show with a “competing”  display of Phalaenopsis orchids - thousands of flowers on display and also many for sale. It was unpleasant.  What was the RBG thinking?  It seemed like a competitive show to the Orchid Show weekend or a disregard for the society’s special weekend. We will have to wait until next year to find out if there is a resolution with RBG, or if there will be an orchid show at another venue.  Hamilton’s Gage Park would be fantastic. At least we are 2/3 through winter if you count things meteorologically.  Here’s an orchid from a past show - the background is one of my motion blue images. This is one of the last year’s show displays of Phalaenopsis orchids - the common name is moth orchid, and these are the ones available in grocery stores and very easy to grow.

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Marilyn's Photos - Jan 30 2026 - Ice Sculpture Time

 

Niagara Falls alert!  With the freezing temperatures, it is an ice sculpture wonderland.  Everything is coated in ice. It makes me wonder if the light standards could collapse under the weight of the ice.   It is that frozen mist effect.  The Tunnel viewing platform at the Niagara Parks Power Station is the place to get the best view, according to news articles.  The great historic ice bridge happened  1848 and water stopped flowing for 30 hours.  An ice bridge will form when the strong currents push water and ice to the surface where frigid temperatures freeze the mixture.  They can still happen, but are small and not stable.  . Here’s the story of the day the water stopped flowing and the ice bridge formed in March 1848: “For thirty long, silent hours, the river dried up and those who were brave enough walked or rode horses over the rock floor of the channel. Then, with a roar that shook the foundations of the earth, a solid wall of water, cresting to a great height, curled down the channel and crashed over the brink of the precipice. Niagara was back in business to the immense relief of everyone.” “News traveled slowly in those days but the explanation finally came. High winds set the ice fields of Lake Erie in motion and millions of tons of ice became lodged at the source of the river, blocking the channel completely until finally a shift in the forces of nature released it and the pent up weight of water broke through.” Did you know: Lake Erie is the major producer of ice that flows down the Niagara River and is capable of producing 16,093 square kilometers (10,000 square miles) of ice. The ice is blown down the river and over the Falls, where it becomes caught as the river narrows near the Canadian Maid of the Mist Landing;  some of the ice is pushed back upriver, which can build up to form an ice jam.  Ice jams can be very erosive; ice grinds on the river bed, moves large boulders and alters the shoreline.  When wind stops forcing water out of Lake Erie into the river, the water level drops leaving the ice jam aloft like a bridge. The phenomenon of the ice bridge is a familiar occurrence each winter.” Ice bridges were popular events in the 1800s and there would be trans-national parties below the river.  This came to an end in 1912 when the jam broke and people perished in the icy flood. Here’s the historic 1848 picture (even though I see water flowing, so who knows). Here’s my tiny patch of ice on Lake Ontario’s shore at Grimsby Beach.

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