Marsh Reflections

 Wonky reflections - McKenzie Marsh, Aurora

1. Local marshes are still a dull yellow, but as you can see by the runner on the boardwalk, this marsh is coming to life. Spring birds are beginning to return too.

2. This marsh is in a built-up area and is a great place for urban and suburban humans to reconnect with nature.

More wiggly reflections

3. FYI:  marsh is a wetland area where plant growth is made up of mostly cattails, reeds, rushes and sedges.

4. Many wetlands in the Great Lakes area are under stress: toxic runoff, invasive exotic species,  artificial changes in water level, filled in, paved over...

5. Why should we care? They
   a. help control and reduce flooding in low-lying areas
   b. help reduce damage along shorelines
   c. filter water for reservoirs
   d. attract birds, fish and other animals
   e. are great places to take your camera!

To enjoy reflections from around the world, visit James at Weekend Reflections HERE

I am joining Nancy's Random 5 Friday at Rural Journal HERE

Spring!

Coot in the harbour and reflection of pier, Wednesday, March 18th

1. Spring Equinox 2015 happens today - 6:45  EDT. So now it's official:  spring in the Northern Hemisphere.  FYI: I'm not putting away my winter duds quite yet and I still have gloves stuffed in my coat pockets.

2. Or does spring actually begin today? Not according to most meteorologists! They say North American spring started on March 1st.  To them the three warmest months are called summer, the three coldest are winter and those in between are spring (here March 1 to May 31) and autumn (here September 1 to November 30). Meanwhile since March 1st in Australia and New Zealand, it has been autumn.

Icicles dripping off melting snow on the river bank

3.  Although I love spring and flowers, I'm not quite ready to let go of winter yet - I haven't yet had my fill of making photos of ice and icicles.  

4. I AM looking forward to not wearing gloves when I'm making photos, though.

Ice and reflections in the river

5.  It's maple syrup season here north of Toronto, when daytime highs are above freezing but the nights are still below.  Sweet, don't you think?

To enjoy reflections from around the world, visit James at Weekend Reflections HERE

I am joining Nancy's Random 5 Friday at Rural Journal HERE

Water-y

Wednesday afternoon

The ice on the local creeks is beginning to melt. Here a puddle has formed on the ice and grasses are reflected in it.

A longer view

Random 5 Friday

1. A Canadian climatologist has dubbed February 2015 in York Region (the region in which I live north of Toronto) “Fridguary.”  Apparently it was the coldest February in eight decades!

2. If you like B&W photography, you might like to look at Elliott Erwitt's photos HERE.  In addition to being a very fine photographer, he has a great sense of humour too!

3. The guy who invented K-cups doesn’t use them in his home. He regrets having invented them as he believes they are an environmental nightmare. He designed a coffee-pod machine for office use, never dreaming at the time that people would use them in their homes.

4. Taber, Alberta's town council has passed a bylaw that states that anyone in their  community yelling, screaming or using profanity in public can be fined $150 for the first offence, $250 for the second.  Hmmm. I can think of a few people who could grow broke fast!

5.  I rarely drink soft drinks, still I found it interesting that for more than a century Coca-Cola has added more sugar to to the Canadian version than  to its American counterpart. Apparently they will soon reduce the mount by 7% to match what's sold in the U.S. Both will be sold in smaller cans and bottles. I bet the price won't be less, though.

To enjoy reflections from around the world, visit James at Weekend Reflections HERE

I am joining Nancy's Random 5 Friday at Rural Journal HERE

Sunset over cornfield

Orange sky over snowy cornfield

1.  What a difference Daylight Saving Time makes! The sun will set over Toronto today at 7:20 p.m.

2.  Colourful sunsets are caused by tiny particles in the atmosphere that scatter the direction of light rays. (Hey,  maybe air pollution is not always all that bad.) When the sun is low on the horizon, light rays travel through more molecules that scatter blue and violet rays, allowing yellow, orange and red to reach our eyes.

3. To make orange-coloured paint, you mix red with yellow - not GREEN and red, right? Well, did you know that in the system used to create colours on a TV or computer screen (RGB colour model) orange is made by combining a GREEN light with higher intensity red light?  The blue light (the B in RBG) is turned off. You can learn more by clicking HERE.


4. Cursive writing has been removed from the school curriculum in at least two Canadian provinces and some forty U.S. states.  Does that mean future generations won't be able to read old postcards found in antique shops and letters found in the attic?

5. Sadly, I cannot think of anything else to say! 

I am linking to Sky Watch Friday HERE.
I am joining  Random 5 Friday Here

Winter morning

Pinkish sky and swans

Random 5

1. On some winter mornings when the sky to the south is ALMOST totally obscured by clouds over Lake Ontario, the light has a pink, coral, or yellow cast. It's probably pollution...but it's pretty, especially when the landscape is mostly whites, browns and greys.

2. Hooray for honest car mechanics! Last week our car was stuck in PARK in a local grocery store parking lot. Our long-time mechanic drove my husband to where the car was stuck, determined the problem was a burnt-out fuse, and charged us for a couple of fuses and his time.  A dishonest mechanic could have claimed the car needed a new transmission.

3. I bought a small bunch of tulips last week. Did you know that you can keep them upright in a vase by pricking their stems with a pin just below the flower?

4. The Monarch butterfly population has declined from between 80 and 90% since 1996. The main culprit appears to be the herbicide that kills milkweed, the Monarch's main food source. Recently the presidents of the U.S. and Mexico and the prime minister of Canada agreed at a NAFTA (North America Free Trade Agreement) meeting to study the situation - the Monarch is a symbol of cooperation  amongst the three countries. I hope cooperation on the monarch decline is not too late.

5. I'm reading a collection of short stories by Russian author Anton Chekhov. If you're looking for stories with happy endings, these are NOT for you. Chekhov's stories tend to be open ended in that you have the feeling much has happened before the first chapter and that the characters live on once the story is finished. If you are curious about what life was like for Russians during the last two decades of the 20th-century (a few years before the Russian Revolution and communism), Chekhov's works are goldmines.

I am linking to Sky Watch Friday HERE.
I am joining  Random 5 Friday Here

Sundown over East Gwillimbury

 Sunset #1

The top two photos are actually of the same sunset but from two different locations.

Random 5 Friday

1. We are still in the grips of winter here. I'm still embracing the beauty I see, but my heart is moving towards looking forward to spring. For you in the northern hemisphere, does spring start on March 1st or March 20th?

Sunset #2

2. Tim Horton's Roll Up The Rim To Win season: I like my morning coffee and - when I'm out birding - my coffee of choice is found at Tim Horton's. From mid February to early April, Tim Horton's runs an annual contest. The BIG prize this year is a Toyota Corolla (one of 50). I'll let you know when I win. So far, my husband and and I have rolled up 10 rims, all of which suggested we "Try again."

3.  A fundraiser at Wilfed Laurier University (Waterloo, Ontario) collects "Rims to Win" to distribute to homeless people in her area. Last year she collected 600 winning rims, which meant she was given 600 chances for homeless people to sit in a warm place to drink coffee or/or eat donuts. She is hoping to collect 1,000 winning tabs this year. I'm impressed.

4.

Creative flower arrangements at Get the Jump on Spring, Toronto

Last Saturday to beat the winter blahs,  a few friends and I attended Get the Jump on Spring at the Toronto Botanical Garden. To be sure, one of the main reasons to attend was to be surrounded by flowers.

5. Alice Munro - a wonderful Canadian short story writer - has such a delightful, subtle wit that makes me laugh. I just reread her only novel this week: Lives of Girls and Woman.  It's probably the least favourite of the books I have read by her, but it left me wondering how she would describe some of the grumpy people I've met lately for whom life is rarely as good as it could (or SHOULD?) be. 

I am linking to Sky Watch Friday HERE.
I am joining  Random 5 Friday Here

On the Way Home

Sandford Road

I love the reflection of the sunset on the road!

Random 5

1. "In the depths of winter I finally learned that within me there lay an invincible summer."
-  Albert Camus

2. Last Saturday I inadvertently baked a batch of "sink-hole" muffins (the tops caved in when they cooled).  No one inside the house wanted to eat them, so my husband took one outdoors to lure a pesky squirrel into a have-a-heart trap to be "relocated" to a nearby forest. The squirrel wasn't tempted either.

3. Consumerism: There’s a commercial on Canadian TV that bothers me.  A woman is talking to her husband saying “I can’t take it any longer!” What is she talking about? Her refrigerator doesn’t match her stove. OK, I know this ad is supposed to be funny, but actually I think it’s rather sad. I have nothing against matching stoves and refrigerators, but a commercial designed to make people feel unhappy if theirs don’t match is WRONG.

4. I beat the winter blahs this week by attending a digital slide show of Keukenhof (beautiful bulb gardens in The Netherlands), the photos taken last April by friends. WOW! 

5. Question: Does chocolate improve your mood? I've read that for some people it does temporarily but then they feel even worse than they did before they took a bite. How does chocolate affect you?


I am linking to Sky Watch Friday HERE.
I am joining  Random 5 Friday Here

Winter Sunset

Sunset with reflection on icy snow

Since it gets dark so early during the winter, it's easy to be out and about when the sun is setting.

A slightly different view

Random 5

1. "Fairy tales are more than true: not because they tell us that dragons exist, but because they tell us that dragons can be beaten."
~ Neil Gaiman

2. TV Commercials dupe us all the time.  (But you knew that already,  didn't you?) I'm reminding you because  according to the Mayo Clinic, regular soap is just as effective at killing germs as the antibacterial variety. Hmmmm. Not only do anti-bacterial varieties cost more, but they may actually be causing us harm in years to come by encouraging bacteria to become resistant to certain antimicrobial agents, making germs harder to fight in the future.

3. Recently I had someone visit my blog who told me that a pastime I enjoy is boring. REALLY?? Why did he feel he had to tell me that?

4. I love the power of sunshine and shadows in February. For me, sunshine during the winter months, is magical. The feeling is glorious, hard to duplicate in any other way.  I often take sunshine for granted the rest of the year.

5.  I've just learned two Japanese insult words that might come in useful someday: baka (idiot) and o-baka-san (honourable idiot). Not that I ever come across any overly aggressive baka  or o-baka-san drivers in my travels, of course. And you know (don't you?) that I would only mutter the insults under my breath.


I am linking to Sky Watch Friday HERE.
I am joining  Random 5 Friday Here

Sun Dogs

One of two sun dogs seen late one January afternoon

Sun dogs look like fragments of rainbows, don't they? Both are created by light traveling through water or ice acting like prisms: rainbows when light passes through water droplets, sun dogs when light strikes ice crystals. 

Another view

Sun dogs often mean rain or snow will soon follow.

Random 5 Friday

1. It's not what you look at but what you see.
~Henry David Thoreau

2. For those of us who live in the Northern Hemisphere, daylight hours are getting noticeably longer. Today, Toronto has 10 hours and 6 minutes. Whoo hoo! The darkest 1/4 of the year ( November 5 to February 5) is now behind us.

3. Last weekend, I bought some annual flower seeds. It's too early to plant them yet, but I like looking at the packages.

4. Most of the time I don't like to shop, but take me to a camera or art supply store and I feel like I'm in a magical mansion with secret doors yet to be opened.  So much to discover, to investigate, to play with, to imagine!

5. I read in my local paper that there's a home in my region that has sold for $40 million. I cannot help wondering if I had $40 million dollars if I would spend it on a home when a $35 million-dollar home should do me me just fine.  ;)

I am linking to Sky Watch Friday HERE.
I am joining  Random 5 Friday Here

Sunset Over Farmer's Field

Irrigation system in front of barn in front of sunset

Last Thursday - a magical winter sunset

Random 5 Friday

1. Time is fleeting.
    Don't hold back.
    Appreciate this precious life.
    ~ Ezra Bayda

2. Every fall I look forward to January and February because I know it's then that  I can find time to go through my book stash and read, read, read.

3. Recently I've been catching up with a few books I ought to have read years ago: two books about the settling of Canada's Prairies by Pierre Berton and three books by French Canadian author Gabrielle Roy.

4. I've been updating my garden club's handbook, 50 pages. It's done annually in January and think this is the eighth time I've done it.  When a change is made on one of the first few pages, the words can shift significantly on the following pages. Quite a few pages or sections of pages are "locked down" so that missing words can escape to places unknown.  I'm in the process of changing the cover, which is page 1. I should have done that first, right?

5. Earlier this month, my husband and I drove to Algonquin Provincial Park to enjoy the fresh air,  to see wildlife and, of course, to bird. One bird I had hoped to see was a ruffed grouse, which my husband saw by the side of the road but I did not. I was a bit annoyed with myself for being so slow. A couple of days later, we were driving down an East Gwillimbury country road when two ruffed grouse walked out in front of us. I saw those. And right here in my own town!

I am linking to Sky Watch Friday HERE.
I am joining  Random 5 Friday Here

On Guard

Official greeter or trying to scare me away?

This doggie was clearly watching me but never barked.

Cows and protector?

I'm pretty sure it thought it was protecting the cows. Or maybe not.  It was very friendly, eventually squeezing under the wire fence to silently check me out.

Friday Random 5
1. Friday the 24th is my birthday and I am proud to admit I am 19...AGAIN! Just how many times I have celebrated my 19th is difficult to say since it's definitely more times than I can count on my fingers and toes.

2. Perhaps one reason I like January is because it includes fond birthday memories: pretty wrappings, colourful ribbons, cake, ice cream and, of course, presents gotten at after-Christmas sales. I think "sales" were really sales back then.

3. I've never had a birthday party. Well, I'm an introvert so - to be perfectly fair - I have never asked for one.  When I was a kid, we usually had a family gathering, since my family had four January birthdays between the 24th and the 29th.

4. The only birthday presents I remember right now were from my grandparents. One was a sky-blue dress my grandfather chose for me when my grandparents were in Florida. I didn't get the dress until February or March but that was OK. The second was a little suitcase which had inside a skein of variegated blue yarn and included a promise from my grandmother to teach me how to knit.

5. Total change of topic: I don't like to shop (so please pardon my bad attitude), but last weekend I visited two large chain stores looking for ice grippers for my boots. Our January thaw did NOT melt the ice on a few of my favorite paths and I NEED to feel more secure to walk on them. It is January right? Even inside the stores? Then where is all the winter merchandise?  No I did not find what I wanted. I'm guessing the were sold out last August.

I am joining  Random 5 Friday Here

Blowing in the Wind

Onion skin

Five random thoughts:

1. On a back road in the Holland Marsh (an area north of Toronto where vegetables  are grown on large farms), a truck whizzed past with something blowing out the open back - light like confetti but much larger. Onion skins. And a photo op!

2. Coffee: the first cup every morning is heavenly. The second cup, not so much. After that, it's time to switch to tea - green or herbal.

3. Memories: When I was a kid, the noise of a snowplow before dawn was the sound of hope. Paired with the local fire hall's blowing horn at 7a.m., it meant NO SCHOOL! I still like being awakened by a snowplow.
 
4. For me, winter mornings (when it's still dark outside) are best started with a cup of fresh-brewed coffee, a good book, and a cozy blanket.

5. Winter sunrises can sometimes be the only colour I see on a winter day.

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I am linking to I Heart Macro HERE.