I Am Grateful

I live in a loving, abundant, harmonious, universe and I am grateful.

~ Louise Hay

One day, between Christmas and New Year's Day, I decided to go out into the the freshly-fallen snow for a bit of a wander. The temperature was pleasant enough and I figured I would end up at one of my two usual destinations. I headed south for the river but while walking along the sidewalk, I happened to notice something which had somehow eluded me before. 


A lane. A simple lane which paralleled the streets on either side of it. A walking space between the fences of neighbourhood back yards. The fresh snow made it stand out to me and I decided to accept its unspoken invitation to walk it instead of my originally intended destination. An intense wave of nostalgia washed over me, bringing me back to my childhood in Montreal where so many of these back street lanes existed. We often walked much of our way home from school through one lane or another. I felt very grateful for this wistful memory, and now I know that I will have to explore Peterborough much more carefully from now on.






As I exited the lane, I decided to zig instead of zag. This brought me another gift on this lovely winter's day. A father and child were busy putting finishing touches on their snowy masterpiece.






The little girl was quick to advise me that she had done almost all of this creation herself. Dad stood back and allowed me to engage his sweet daughter in chitchat, and I learned all about the importance of having the right eyes, nose and apparel when planning to make a snowman.






I continued along the same street and came upon its apparent end - or so the sign said.






The sidewalk may have ended but the walking path did not. I have been walking in this area for nearly a year and a half but I never opted to walk in this direction along this particular street before. This brought me to gift number three.






This lovely walking path along the river's edge was leading up to one of Peterborough's many locks - #19 in Scott's Mills.






The locks are only in use during the warmer months but it still made for an interesting outing and an unexpected treat just a few minutes from my place.






Of course, picnics were also on hold for the winter. These tables were set up a little like dominoes.






On the way back, I stopped to admire a fallen tree dusted by the recent snow.






The day was warming up a bit and snow was beginning to melt despite new flakes gently adding to the landscape.






Hopefully the snowman lasted a few more days.

I returned to the locks again a few days later, and I'll have some of those photos for you, among others, before too long.

Thank you, Universe for bestowing these three gift upon me on that day.

I am indeed grateful.

To the Open Road

Afoot and lighthearted I take to the open road, healthy, free, the world before me. ~Walt Whitman

A few weeks back, my friend Dakshina and I decided to take a mini road trip to see how the autumn colours might present themselves to us. Most of the leaves had not begun to change in earnest but we still enjoyed the day which found us less than an hour from Peterborough. We looked around a few places and I'll revisit a couple of the others with you soon. Today's post will cover our first stop.


This is Young's Point where you can find one of the many locks which make up the Trent-Severn waterway.






The changing leaves were a nice contrast of colour against the blue of the sky and water.






This heritage truss bridge has been preserved for pedestrian use only. It was built in 1885, and remains one of the oldest metal bridges in Ontario.






As you can see, the autumn colours were only beginning to emerge.






This tree seems to be displaying every autumn shade there is.






Those colours reflected nicely in the water over on the other side of the lock bridge.






Also reflecting nicely were the simple vertical white lines of the gate - which took on a life of their own in the water.






I also couldn't help but notice the various weathered textures which were currently above water level.






This odd little collection of yard art caught my attention from the other side of the waterway.






The tones and textures of this tree bark were lovely.






Here, have a closer look.






We found this nice spot where boats could be moored and legs could be rested. It was a lovely day and a beautiful location.

On to Woodview and Burleigh Falls, next post.