Where Roads and Rivers Meet

If you like the title of my blog post, you're not exactly in the same boat as most of Peterborough. "Where roads and rivers meet" was the proposed new tagline for the city but it was widely rejected recently. Despite it being a rather accurate description, I think its irony comes too soon after the great flooding we experienced this and previous springs. Social media spots and other various online publications have suggested a contest for a new slogan. Some of those suggestions as well as previous slogans, and those for the Trent and Kawartha area in particular will appear with my images below.



Slogan: Electric City
These are the churning waters of the London Street Generating Station.






Slogan: The place at the foot of the rapids
This woman was fishing closer to the shoreline at the base of the generating station.






Slogan: City of bridges
A small show of defiance on the nearby walking bridge.






Slogan: It's just around the way
Regardless of water levels, many locals have kayaks and canoes, and enjoy getting around town via the waterways.






Slogan: Heart of the Trent-Severn Waterway
A twenty minute walk or a three minute drive from the above scene, we found ourselves at Lock 19 where some of the same boats were now in action. This group really got around on that day.






Slogan: Gateway to the Kawarthas
The watery gates were soon opened and they continued on their way.






Slogan: Bright waters and happy lands
A few boats having a bit of a rest near the lift lock.






Slogan: Marine highway
And here is the lift lock in action. A couple of boats (including the Lift Lock Tours boat) in the left chamber are about to make their ascent.






Slogan: The land of shining waters
Almost at the top, they'll continue their journey north along the Trent-Severn Waterway. The caisson on the right was full of smaller boats including some of the kayakers we saw in previous photos. I told you they really get around.






Slogan: Popular Peterborough for progressive people
Peterborough has dozens (it would seem) of these Little Libraries around town.






Slogan: The participaction city
A little more graffiti on the way into Jackson Park expresses sentiments like "the whole earth is our hospital" and "resolute kindness."






Slogan: Nestled in nature
It was a beautiful early summer day with puffy clouds scudding across the sky. This Jackson Park meadow was very inviting with its long grass undulating in the wind.






Slogan: Where land and nature nurture us
A male Downy woodpecker was working hard at this one tree. His rat-a-tat easily caught my attention.






Slogan: Is there anyplace you would rather be?
This pole pretty much disappears behind the vines.






Slogan: Your life right here
Step back in time with this beauty parked near my place. Something tells me that it's from 1956.






Slogan: It's a natural
One of the many pretty spots seen while out walking one day in May.






Slogan: The wide awake city
A litte more graffiti because who doesn't love bees? And cake!






Slogan: Come share the magic
And finally, let's close this tour with a rainbow - a double one, in fact. This one illuminated our view on my birthday while my younger son was visiting and we were both on speaker phone with my older boy. Life is good!

Beneath the Trees

The morning woods were utterly new. A strong yellow light pooled beneath the trees; my shadow appeared and vanished on the path, since a third of the trees I walked under were still bare, a third spread a luminous haze wherever they grew, and another third blocked the sun with new, whole leaves. ~ Annie Dillar

Can you guess that what this post is about, you clever people? Of course you can. So there's not much of an introduction required, is there? Let's go look at some trees.

The tree is more than first a seed, then a stem, then a living trunk, and then dead timber. The tree is a slow, enduring force straining to win the sky. ~ Antoine de Saint-Exupery

This interesting cluster of trunks was found along the the northern shore of Chemong Lake, leading up to the causeway which crosses over the lake and into Bridgenorth, just northwest of Peterborough

All our wisdom is stored in the trees. ~ Santosh Kalwar

The sad remains of a felled soldier in one of our parks.

If trees could scream, would we be so cavalier about cutting them down? We might, if they screamed all the time, for no good reason. ~ Jack Handy

Here's a closer look at its beautiful texture.

Rest is not idleness, and to lie sometimes on the grass under the trees on a summer's day, listening to the murmur of water, or watching the clouds float across the blue sky, is by no means waste of time.

~ John Lubbock

A friend and I took a walk around town, one beautiful late summer day and we sat for a while near the waters of Little Lake.

But down deep, at the molecular heart of life we're essentially identical to trees. ~ Carl Sagan

The tree ahead of us was leaning ever so elegantly toward the water.

The true meaning of life is to plant trees, under whose shade you do not expect to sit. ~ Nelson Henderson

Elsewhere, this gentleman sat himself beneath the shade of the trees so that he could enjoy the company and sweetness of ducks - and a couple of gulls.

Plant trees. They give us two of the most crucial elements for our survival: oxygen and books.

~ Whitney Brown

Same park, different day and a little bit closer to the water and to nightfall.

Trees indeed have hearts. ~ Henry David Thoreau

They say you're not supposed to shoot directly into the sun. But who are "they," anyway?

Let's take our hearts for a walk in the woods and listen to the magic whispers of old trees. ~ Unknown

This photo is actually from five years ago. It resurfaced when I was looking for something else and I thought it would want to join all of the other trees in this post.

Trees are poems that the earth writes upon the sky. ~ Kahlil Gibran

As the sun made its way ever closer to the horizon, the scene brought a photographer into view. Along with the trees, he made an interesting silhouette against the gold of Little Lake

It is not so much for its beauty that the forest makes a claim upon men's hearts, as for that subtle something, that quality of air that emanates from old trees, that so wonderfully changes and renews a weary spirit. ~ Robert Louis Stevenson

So come and have a seat with me among the trees, and we can watch the sun go down. There will Be more photos to take tomorrow, and I'll share those with you another day.

Cast in a Golden Light

First thing we'd climb a tree
And maybe then we'd talk
Or sit silently
And listen to our thoughts
With illusions of someday
Cast in a golden light
No dress rehearsal,
This is our life

~ Rob Baker/Gordon Downie

There truly is something bordering on magical about that time of day just before sunset (or just after sunrise). The super saturation of colour. The lengthening shadows. The depth of texture. They all make for an especially enjoyable time to be behind the lens. These photos were taken at various times during the past couple of months, at that wonderful hour, late in the day. I hope you enjoy them.


Flowers in the park seem exceptionally proud of their brilliant colours in the late-day sunshine.






Hopefully some rain will bring more water into the nearly-dry Jackson Creek. I'll bet that something interesting lives amid the roots and rocks at the base that tree.






Let's have a closer look. What do you think could be hiding in there?






A young artist was enjoying the lingering daylight while painting the lake in front of her.






This was a bit earlier in the day, in Omeeme, Ontario. There was still a slight amber hue to the light.







A few fuzzy berries basking in the sun's warming rays.






Saturation (whether by rain water or by golden sun rays) really adds drama to tree bark. This stand of trees in the park seems to be appreciative of that.






Colourful canoes look positively brilliant in this light.






A gardening crew are all ready to take on the next project.






I'm glad I'm not allergic to goldenrod as my mother was. I find it quite attractive. So do all of the little bugs you'll find if you look closely.






The sun sets on the city of Peterborough, and you'd think that would mean that the day is pretty much over.






But not if the date is August 20, 2016. And you're in Canada. And you know that this is the night that movie screens are being set up all over the country to simulcast The Tragically Hip's final concert.






Have a seat. Welcome the night. And see 'the constellations reveal themselves one star at a time.'
Thank you, Gord Downie. 'You are ahead by a century.'