Remembering Our Heroes

Today is Remembrance Day in Canada and several other countries around the world. My son, Jeffrey, along with his Squadron from Royal Military College (RMC) will be in our Nation's Capital to participate in the ceremonies. He has worked hard to organize their involvement in two separate parades and is proud that his Squadron, which currently holds the right of line position (top Squadron) was chosen to represent RMC in Ottawa on this day.

The main parade will be held at the National War Memorial and the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. The second one will take place at the National Military Cemetery. My son will be the Guard Commander for the latter parade. He will be wearing scarlets and a pith helmet, and will carry a sword. He and his Squadron will also have the honour of being the first marching contingent behind the Veterans in this parade. It's uncertain if this will be televised but I'll be watching for him anyway. You can view a live feed on the CBC website at 10 am Eastern Time. Just click on "Audio & Video - Lest We Forget"

At the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month, please pause to honour those who have given their lives so that we can enjoy the freedom we assume as our right. Two minutes - it's a mere pittance of time.

The background of this song and video can be found here.

97 Canadian soldiers have been killed in Afghanistan. They are:

Sgt. Scott Shipway, 36 • Cpl. Andrew Grenon, 23 • Cpl. Mike Seggie, 21 • Pte. Chad Horn, 21 • Sgt. Shawn Eades, 33 • Sapper Stephan John Stock, 25 • Cpl. Dustin Roy Robert Joseph Wasden, 25 • Master Cpl. Erin Doyle, 32 • Master Cpl. Josh Roberts, 30 • Cpl. James Hayward Arnal, 25 • Pte. Colin William Wilmot, 24 • Cpl. Brendan Anthony Downey, 37 • Capt. Jonathan Sutherland Snyder, 26 • Capt. Richard (Steve) Leary, 32 • Cpl. Michael Starker, 36 • Pte. Terry John Street, 24 • Sgt. Jason Boyes, 32 • Bombardier Jeremie Ouellet, 22 • Trooper Michael Yuki Hayakaze, 25 • Cpl. Etienne Gonthier, 21 • Trooper Richard Renaud, 26 • Cpl. Eric Labbe, 31 • Warrant Officer Hani Massouh, 41 • Cpl. Kevin Megeney, 25 • Sgt. Donald Lucas, 31 • Cpl. Aaron E. Williams, 23 • Pte. Kevin Vincent Kennedy, 20 • Pte. David Robert Greenslade, 20 • Cpl. Christopher Paul Stannix, 24 • Cpl. Brent Donald Poland, 37 • Master Cpl. Allan Stewart, 31 • Trooper Patrick James Pentland, 23 • Master Cpl. Anthony Klumpenhouwer, 25 • Cpl. Matthew McCully, 25 • Master Cpl. Darrell Jason Priede, 30 • Trooper Darryl Caswell, 25 • Cpl. Stephen Frederick Bouzane, 26 • Pte. Joel Vincent Wiebe, 22 • Sgt. Christos Karigiannis, 30 • Capt. Matthew Johnathan Dawe, 27 • Master Cpl. Colin Bason, 28 • Cpl. Cole Bartsch, 23 • Pte. Lane Watkins, 20 • Cpl. Jordan Anderson, 25 • Capt. Jefferson Francis, 37 • Pte Simon Longtin, 23 • Master Warrant Officer Mario Mercier, 43 • Master Cpl. Christian Duchesne, 34 • Major Raymond Ruckpaul, 42 • Cpl. Nathan Hornburg, 24 • Cpl. Nicolas Raymond Beauchamp, 28 • Pte. Michel Levesque, 25 • Gunner Jonathan Dion, 27 • Cpl. Paul Davis, 28 • Master Cpl. Timothy Wilson, 30 • Pte. Robert Costall, 22 • Cpl. Matthew Dinning, 23 • Bombardier Myles Mansell, 25 • Cpl. Randy Payne, 32 • Lieut. William Turner, 45 • Capt. Nichola Goddard, 26 • Cpl. Anthony Boneca, 21 • Cpl. Francisco Gomez, 44 • Cpl. Jason Warren, 29 • Pte. Kevin Dallaire, 22 • Sgt. Vaughan Ingram, 35 • Cpl. Bryce Keller, 27 8 Cpl. Christopher Reid, 34 • Master Cpl. Raymond Arndt, 31 • Master Cpl. Jeffrey Walsh, 33 • Cpl. Andrew Eykelenboom, 23 • Cpl. David Braun, 27 • Pte. William Cushley, 21 • Warrant Officer Frank Mellish, 38 • Warrant Officer Richard Nolan, 39 • Sgt. Shane Stachnik, 30 • Pte. Mark Anthony Graham, 33 • Cpl. Glen Arnold, 32 • Pte. David Byers, 22 • Cpl. Shane Keating, 30 • Cpl. Keith Morley, 30 • Pte. Josh Klukie, 23 • Sgt. Craig Gillam, 40 • Cpl. Robert Mitchell, 32 • Trooper Mark Wilson, 39 • Sgt. Darcy Tedford, 32 • Pte. Blake Williamson, 23 • Chief Warrant Officer Robert Girouard, 46 • Cpl. Albert Storm, 36 • Pte. Braun Woodfield, 24 • Cpl. Jamie Murphy, 26 • Cpl. Robbie Beerenfenger, 29 • Sgt. Robert Short, 42 • Cpl. Ainsworth Dyer, 24 • Pte. Richard Green, 21 • Sgt. Marc Leger, 29 • Pte. Nathan Smith, 26

May we never forget.

On With the Show

This past week has been unseasonably warm. This is November. This is Canada. We're supposed to be bundled up in layers and walking with hands in pockets, and heads lowered to brace for the brisk north winds. Instead, we spent the better part of last week in t-shirts, with hands free to enjoy the beautiful, balmy breezes which still carried that unmistakable scent of autumn with them.

It has cooled down again since then, and November now feels as it should. Summer has had its last hurrah. Soon I'll be focusing the camera on frost and other white reminders of the season, but for now, please enjoy these images taken over the past few weeks.

As with the previous post, there are movie quotes which accompany them. How many of them do you know? Answers can be found at the end of the post.

9) “The shadows are just as important as the light.”

The grass behind this fallen leaf was casting shadows, courtesy of the autumn sun. (please click, and then click again to enlarge)

10) “Don’t miss the wonders that surround you because every tree, every rock, every anthill, every star is filled with the wonders of nature.”

This is one of my favourite spots along the path which surrounds my neighbourhood pond. No matter the season, it always looks beautiful to me. The little bird on the lower right branch thought so too. (please click, and then click again to enlarge)

11) “What we take for granted might not be here for our children.”

This heron had been wading in the pond to the left of the path when he decided to check out the fishing in the creek over on our right. Without a moment of concern over the two of us and an active dog, he just strolled in front of us, over to the creek. (please click, and then click again to enlarge)

12) “Nobody takes a picture of something they want to forget.”

Some of these photos were taken a couple of weeks ago when autumn hues were much more prominent than they are at this time. (please click, and then click again to enlarge)

13) “Always look on the bright side of life.”

Standing here, looking out over the water, there's a bench behind me where we almost always stop to sit and maybe sip - no matter the weather. This was a rare view of the lake set ablaze with the season's finest colours. (please click, and then click again to enlarge)

14) "Heres looking at you, kid."

A robin absorbs the sunshine while watching cautiously from the safety of a still-leafy branch. (please click, and then click again to enlarge)

15) “The photograph shows only the reality. The painting shows not only the reality but the dream behind it.”

This photo of chicory growing in front of a backdrop of vivid, autumn hues did not turn out as sharp and crisp as I had hoped, so I played around with it in Photoshop, giving it a "water colour" effect just for fun, and to avoid hitting the delete button. (please click, and then click again to enlarge)

16) "The trees are strong, my lord." (quote continued below)

This is the view we see from across the creek on our late afternoon walks near Frank's place. No matter how many times we stop there, it always seems photo-worthy. (please click, and then click again to enlarge)

16 continued) "Their roots go deep."

This is a close up of the roots seen in the above photo but taken on a different day. The two quotes go together.


Answers to movie quotes
9) - Jane Eyre
10) - Mr. Smith Goes to Washington.
11) - An Inconvenient Truth
12) - One Hour Photo
13) - The Life of Brian
14) - Casablanca
15) - Harvey
16) - Lord of the Rings