Song and Dance

Back to Mississauga's South Side Shuffle for one more post. This time I'll focus on the song and dance which was pretty much the real purpose of this event. Never mind that I was also in search of colourful photo opportunities while people watching in my two prior posts.


Harper and the Midwest Kind is a Michigan-based band led by an Australian harmonica and didgeridoo artist. They tour around Canada and the U.S., and they put on a great show for the many folks who came to see them. See all those lights up there? And all of the trusses and equipment that it takes to put on a show, on several different stages such as this one?...






Metalworks Production Group sets those stages, keeps light and sound equipment running smoothly, and takes everything down again at the end of the event. My son, Alex is on their team and was working long, hard hours throughout the event. It was with Metalworks Institute that Alex learned all about the industry. When he graduated, they hired him on production staff and he's been enjoying his career ever since.






Toe-tapping music got people dancing in their seats.






Others were encouraged out of their chairs to dance. I believe these two were strangers to one another before this moment.






But not afterward.






Canadian band Scott McCord and the Bonafide Truth put on a great performance.






The lead singer was very high energy for such a hot day and he had a hard time keeping his feet on the floor.






Even our Mayor Hazel McCallion had trouble keeping her dancing feet still.

And so, a good time was had by all. That's it for the South Side Shuffle. More photos coming up soon.

Colourful

I'm up at the new place for a few days before getting down to the business of packing up and moving out for good. This means that blog visits are sporadic once again or still. Thanks for bearing with me.

As promised, I have more images from last month's South Side Shuffle. This time I've focused on some of the more colourful aspects of my surroundings - aside from the people, of course.

The blues festival takes place on the shores of the Credit River in Mississauga, Ontario. Depending on where you've parked, you might have to cross a bridge to get there. This lovely painting of a trout in perpetual jump caught my eye, when we did cross the bridge. The reflection of the water on the concrete added to the effect of fluid motion in the drawing.





The many vendors around the venue had colourful items for sale. These totes dazzled my eyes.





There were blankets in case you needed a place to sit and listen to music.





Of course if you were thirsty, you only need buy a drink and grab a straw.





Cute, whimsical figures made of metal were on display.





I was tempted to get one of these comfy looking dresses but the day was hot and long, and I wasn't keen on carrying around anything more than my camera.







The beautiful colours of these beaded bracelets put me in a nostalgic mood as they reminded me of the kind of beadwork crafts my sister and I would engage in as children during our summers up north.

More photos coming up soon.

People Watching

I have a few series of images that were taken at last month's South Side Shuffle in Mississauga. It's an annual blues festival but this was only my second time attending. The music was wonderful but I got more of a kick out of wandering around with my camera snapping photos at vendors' booths and especially of people.

Here are a few from my people watching series.


For most it was the music which drew them out there. For many, the food.



I thought this guy with his golden locks and grim expression looked like he walked right out of an action movie. I couldn't say which one. Maybe you could?






There were munchies being enjoyed everywhere I looked.






And many different onlookers sure had the music in them.






Some folks were greeted with great enthusiasm.






And others wore their corny "dance with me, baby" expression.






Hazel, the mayor of Mississauga was there. She's been running our city for 34 years and during that time, I've seen her on numerous occasions attending various events. She loves her city.
She also loves to pose for pictures.






So it was a treat for me to keep my camera on her from a bit of a discreet distance and catch her at an unposed, pensive moment.

More photos from the South Side Shuffle coming up soon.

To Be at Home

I long, as does every human being, to be at home wherever I find myself.

~ Maya Angelou

Thank you all for your many wishes of good luck, good energy, crossed fingers, prayers and positive vibes about my house selling quickly and for a good price. They worked!

It was on the market for the fifth day when two bids came in. We took the second one which offered exactly what we'd asked, with no need to secure financing and a quicker closing date (November 12) than the first one. Three days later, their offer was firm when an inspection of my home revealed nothing of deterring concern.

It was important to me that the new owners fit in well with our neighbourhood. We're a close-knit group as many of you may remember from my posts about our planned street parties, impromptu barbecues and New Year's Eve get togethers. We're much more than neighbours - we're friends, and the proof is in how despite several of us having moved through the years, we maintain our friendship and party together. My real estate agent, Janette lived on our street a few years back and she continues to be a regular part of the group events.

Once the offer was signed and accepted, we chatted extensively and I feel quite certain that this couple will soon be a regular part of the gang. They're warm (we hugged to seal the deal), friendly, interesting and they love animals (jokingly suggesting that my Skitty might be thrown in with the house) and are nature lovers (looking forward to walking around the very pond that inspired a huge part of my love for photography).

Welcome to the best neighbourhood on the planet, Christine and Aaron. You will be coming home.

And I'll be going home. If our new neighbours are half as wonderful as the ones I leave behind, we will be truly blessed.

Most of the work I have left to do is legal stuff, make phone calls to cancel utilities, advise businesses of my change of address - oh and pack up the rest of my stuff to move. My 14 year-old cats are not going to be happy about such a long trip (about three and a half hours) and they'll deeply miss my son, Alex. And he'll miss them terribly as they've been in his life since he was nine. Of course he will visit us and the cats will have Benny to keep them crazy entertained. Alex will be in search of his own apartment but still has his Dad's place to stay at if he needs to for a while.

I'm glad that this part of the process is done and that I'll be moving in to our new place before true winter settles in. Now, we'll just have to endure the rest of the renovations that have been taking place there since the summer. I guess I'll tell you more about that when I see it for myself.

This weekend, I'll head up to be with Frank for a little while before I get down to the business of moving. It will be nice to spend some alone time together and to enjoy the last of what autumn has to offer. We'll probably select some fixtures, flooring and cabinets for the new addition while I'm there. Maybe it won't be too long after that until our place is fully liveable.

For now, I'll leave you with a few random photos taken during the late summer and early autumn. I hope you enjoy them.


Just before the Labour Day weekend in early September, my son Jeffrey came in for a bit of business and a two week visit. We spent one day visiting my sister, Andrea who lives in Port Dover, Ontario - on the northern shore of Lake Erie. This was the view of the pier and lighthouse as seen from our beachside restaurant table.





Autumn leaves, lit by a small shaft of sunlight, early one morning.





This was snapped on my way across the city of Toronto early one evening. Every now and then the setting sun would illuminate the tracks.






This was the view I saw on my way to town from my new place. It was still early in the autumn but the leaves had long begun turning.





I've written about this heroic tree before here (third photo down) and here (third from last image). There's nothing left but its trunk now, and yet it still provides shelter for insects, which become food for the birds. There were several wasps going in and out of it's hollows on this sunny day.





Framed in between the wires, a small flock of geese make their way along the path cut out by the Credit River in Mississauga. We were on our way home from the South Side Shuffle. I'll have some more photos of that event for you coming up next.

Happy Thanksgiving to all of my fellow Canadians and to everyone else. I have very much for which to be thankful and I count your wonderful presence in my life among them.

I Hear Lake Water Lapping

As usual, I'm nowhere near my new place yet. 

Construction is going on without me. Fishing is happening without me. Autumn is evolving without me. And Frank is enjoying life up there without me. 

My city house has been on the market for less than a week. There's been a fair bit of interest and I'm hopeful that things will move along before too long. Please keep your fingers crossed for me. I very much want to go home.

The following photos were taken when I was up there in the summer. I hope you enjoy them.

I hear lake water lapping with low sounds by the shore. . . .

I hear it in the deep heart's core.

~ William Butler Yeats

Benny is enjoying his life at the cottage. As long as we can present a good throwing arm, he'll provide the fetches.





In the water, on one side of the dock, these weeds are growing tall.






They produce a pretty purple flower called Pickerelweed.






Other pretty garden flowers attract our beautiful hummingbirds. Of course they enjoy the feeders also.






This little guy must have been fed regularly around here. I bent down to tie my shoe, one day, and he suddenly appeared between my feet and rested his two front feet on my hand. He looked me right in the eye as if to ask where the munchies are. I had to oblige him, eh?






Of all strange creatures to rest upon the sliding door glass. This appears to be a miniature crustacean of some sort. He was clinging to the glass after a rainfall. It was about the width of a tomato seed and twice as long.







This is a late-day glimpse of the island across the bay.






And just a little bit later, the last reflective light of the sun paints the sky with a kiss goodnight.

More photos coming up soon.

Beautiful Reserve

I've been mostly absent from the blogging scene these past several weeks. It sure takes a lot of blood, sweat and tears to ready a home for sale. I've collected a lot of "stuff" in twenty-nine years and the house has needed a lot of work to get it up to snuff. But I'm just about there. I think it will be on the market before this week is over. And then it's a waiting game to see when it will sell.

I'm not looking forward to the constant care to keep it looking pristine, and then disappearing on short notice while the home is being shown. But that's all part of the game and it must be endured if I ever want to haul my behind up to our new place. And I most definitely do.

I've not had time to take many photos lately and even less time to put a blog post together but I did set a few up in advance a long while back. The following images are from late spring and early summer. I'm sure most of us would enjoy receiving flowers at this time of the year. These are my gift to you.

One of the most attractive things about the flowers is their beautiful reserve.

~ Henry David Thoreau

By plucking her petals, you do not gather the beauty of the flower.
~ Rabindranath Tagore





The smallest flower is a thought, a life answering to some feature of the Great Whole, of whom they have a persistent intuition.
~ Honore de Balzac





Summer set lip to earth's bosom bare,
And left the flushed print in a poppy there.
~ Francis Thompson





If you've never been thrilled to the very edges of your soul by a flower in spring bloom, maybe your soul has never been in bloom. ~Terri Guillemets






Happiness held is the seed; Happiness shared is the flower.
~ John Harrigan





Every flower is a soul blossoming in nature.
~ Gerard De Nerval




Loveliest of lovely things are they on earth that soonest pass away. The rose that lives its little hour is prized beyond the sculptured flower.
~William C. Bryant





The flower is the poetry of reproduction. It is an example of the eternal seductiveness of life.
~ Jean Giraudoux

More photos coming up... sometime.