That Warm, Sweet Sunlight

Late afternoon sunlight, warm as oil, sweet as childhood

~ Stephen King

A couple of posts back, I mentioned that there was one evening when the sunlight was gracing us at that golden hour. I had walked to Little Lake where photo opportunities seem to ever-so-kindly present themselves to me, most days. There's always something of at least mild interest to be seen in Peterborough. Come join me on this walk and see for yourself.

Pleasure is wild and sweet. She likes purple flowers. She loves the sun and the wind and the night sky.

~ J. Ruth Gendler

I pass by this little garden of phlox (and at that time, tulips) almost every time I head to the lake but this time, the late-day sunlight really intensified the purple colours.

I think it pisses God off if you walk by the color purple in a field somewhere and don't notice it.

~ Alice Walker

Here's a close up view from directly above.

A wild goose never reared a tame gosling.

~ Irish Proverb

The goslings are growing up very quickly - no longer little goosebumps. However, Mother and Father Goose are still very protective of them. Here, the mother is shooing them along, out of possible harm's way.

The family is one of nature's masterpieces.

~ George Santayana

They paused by the water's edge for a little nibble of grass and tiny, wild violets.

Family means no one gets left behind or forgotten.

~ David Ogden Stiers

After giving it some thought, Mama figured it would be safest to bring them into the water where the Dad was waiting.

Families are the compass that guides us. They are the inspiration to reach great heights, and our comfort when we occasionally falter.

~ Brad Henry

And they casually moved along, soaking up those warming rays.

I would rather sail and hit a rock than sit and rot in dry dock.

~ Lester Roloff

Elsewhere on the lake, this odd sight was approaching - like an oversized wooden alligator.

I've learned .... That when you harbor bitterness, happiness will dock elsewhere.

~ Andy Rooney

I've never seen anyone move a dock like that but these folks did not appear to be having any difficulties with it. They transported it a fair distance, slowly and steadily.

I have great joy in the tulips and lilacs which make my garden 'look like the waking of Creation.'

~ Helen Keller

On that day in May, the park's tulips were in full bloom.

Every flower is a soul blossoming in nature.

~ Gerard de Nerval

There were different colours sported in various areas but I quite liked the oranges, yellows and whites of this collection.

To me sometimes a mute sky is more expressive than the roaring sea.

~ Munia Khan

The boats had only begun to gather at the marina for the season. Just a week later, it was quite full - but that's for another blog post.

Life doesn't get easier or more forgiving, we get stronger and more resilient.

~ Steve Maraboli

There are two of these Survivors Abreast dragon boats filled with women wearing pink PFDs, who row to raise awareness and funds for cancer care in the community. Each of these women has had a diagnosis of breast cancer.

She made broken look beautiful, and strong look invincible. She walked with the Universe on her shoulders and made it look like a pair of wings.

~ Ariana Dancu

Here are the pink warriors on their return trip, an hour and a half later.

I worry about kids today not having time to build a tree house or ride a bike or go fishing. I worry that life is getting faster and faster.

~ John Lasseter

This poor fish had a rough go of being caught. It was rather battered against the rocks and then endured the wait while the kid wrestled the hook from its mouth. I'm not so sure that it survived its release back to the lake, but the kid sure was proud of his catch.

Pit bulls are famous, in circles of knowledgeable dog people, for the love and loyalty they bestow on anyone who shows them a smidgen of kindness.

~ Linda Wilson-Fuoco

Some of the sweetest dogs I've ever met, and heard about (I'm thinking of you, Roy Boy!) are pit bulls. And this handsome boy was no exception. Ontario has a very unfair and biased ban on pits. The ban should actually be for people who raise them to be aggressive. Of course, that or even educating the public about responsible dog "ownership" is the more costly and tougher task. This dog is only part pit bull but looks like he's a pure breed. He belongs to his human companion's daughter but was enjoying a lengthy, possibly permanent visit with "grandma" due to family circumstances. The dog tends to bark encouragement when excited, in a very non-threatening way, and a neighbour recently decided to make a call to police about this woman owning an illegal dog. The officer arrived, got down and cuddled with the pooch and got nothing but gentle affection from the dog. Still, she had to reluctantly make the report, and give the woman two weeks to get the papers from her daughter, in order to prove that the pit bull in him was truly watered down with another breed or two. She can and will get the papers, hopefully within the required time (which would be long passed by now). According to the woman, if she could not prove it, this beautiful soul of a creature would have to be destroyed. That's just unthinkable. Our province is very backwards with this law. I hope to see this duo out on a walk soon, so I can know for sure that all is well.

The most affectionate creature in the world is a wet dog.

~ Ambrose Bierce

All this sweetie wanted to do was dive into the lake to retrieve the sticks which his person was tossing, shake off the water and go back for more. Over and over again. He kind of reminded me of a crazy little JRT I once knew. ♥

How come everyone calls me 'Crazy Eyes'?

~ Uzo Aduba as Suzanne 'Crazy Eyes' Warren

And speaking about Crazy Eyes.. it's almost time to binge-watch season four of Orange is the New Black. Who else will be watching?

Sunlight, Shadows & Reflections (and Designing Covers)

If you've been reading my blog for at least a few months, you've probably noticed that I don't do memes, tags or follow-ups on all of the kind awards I've received over the last year and a bit. It isn't that some of them don't intrigue me. It's just that I like to keep my blog content my own for the most part, and so even though I love reading what everyone else has to say and show in their respective meme posts, I opt out of participating in them. Until now. Sort of.

There's one interesting meme which plays on the creative aspect of putting together a CD cover by going here and there for various components. For lack of a better idea, I'd like to take that meme a couple of steps off the beaten path, and offer to make either a CD or a book cover for you. I'll be using my own photos (as randomly selected by you) for the images. If you'd like to see how your musical or literary creation might look, please leave the following information in the comments section below:

1) Tell me if you would prefer CD cover or a book cover.
2) Give me a number from 1 to 65

I'll acquire the book and CD titles from the Quotations Page. The musical artist name will be generated by Wikipedia. Author's names will tumble out of Behind The Name, a random name generator. Artwork will be from my own Photobucket pages. I'll play around with them all in Adobe Illustrator and post several selections at a time. How many blog posts that turns out to be will depend on how many requests I get, and I'll probably post them more frequently than I usually do.

In the meantime, here is an example of each, followed by a few random photos which were taken recently.




My son, the author. Here's Alex's bestseller.




And of course, he's already my favourite musician in real life, but here's his randomly generated CD cover.




Speaking of CDs, this one was sitting on the dashboard of Frank's car when we were driving back from his place a couple of weeks ago. I liked the way the sun was hitting it, creating its reflection in the windshield. In order for it to appear in a photo as I saw it with my eye, I needed a dark background for contrast. This sign, announcing that we were nearly home did the trick. In case you're curious, the artist is Jo Stafford.



I was watering plants this morning and happened to catch the wall shadow of the empty pitcher as I brought it to be refilled. I liked how the sun shone through it to cast its ghostly shadow.




This goofy-looking guy is one of Frank's yard sale finds. It's a carrot. In short pants. And striped stockings. Don't ask. I don't know why he has those tiny springs on his shoulders, but I use them to hold feathers - a Mallard feather on the left and a Blue Jay tail feather on the right.




Early one morning, the sun was shining through from behind those feathers and the beautiful colours caught my eye.




Late afternoon sunshine caught this Mallard dipping his head into the water for a drink.




The little Wood Duck seems to have won his Mallard mate over. Here's the happy couple sunning themselves late in the afternoon.




The bare bones of early spring reflected in the pond below. Trees have begun to sprout buds since this photo was taken.




We see and hear these little cuties almost time we walk around the lake. One of them barks non-stop, guarding his home and his people valiantly. The other one sports a jaunty, green bandana around his neck, and he watches mostly-silently with tail wagging, hoping we'll come up and offer a hand to lick.

Please remember to:
1) Tell me if you would prefer CD cover or a book cover.
2) Give me a number from 1 to 65

And check back in a few days!