Celebration

Let us celebrate the occasion with wine and sweet words. ~ Plautus

A few weeks back, I was suddenly presented with the opportunity to take a quick trip to and from my sister, Andrea's town of Port Dover, Ontario for the combined occasion of her 65th birthday, and my brother in law Bill's retirement.
My son, Alex and I were there and back within twenty-four hours for the intimate gathering and our time was filled with family, friends, food and fun. My lovely nieces, Jaime and Stephanie threw this joint part for their parents at the beautiful, old farmhouse where Steph and her partner, Jordan live. They also accommodated six of us with a place to sleep after the party.

I'm not including any people pics - just images of things which made my camera go click!


Along with lots of other goodies, these scrumptious celebration cupcakes were a huge hit.


 



A mini replica of the race car Bill and friends owned, back in the day.






My niece's home borders on a big old cornfield which spent much of the afternoon and evening illuminated by the sun.






What farm doesn't have a wheelbarrow parked on it, somewhere?






Colourful clouds gathered as the sun began its descent in the sky.






Before long, only a small strip of vibrant gold remained on the terrain.






Which was when the moon made its presence known.






That was also when the mosquitoes dictated that we take the party inside to toast the celebrating couple with champagne.

In the morning, Andrea and Bill kindly treated the family to a yummy breakfast out. As we arrived on the patio, a couple who had been enjoying their breakfast made a hasty exit. The waitress told us that the man was Sons of Anarchy actor Kim Coates who was in town for a charity promotion in support of Big Brothers - Big Sisters. None of us had ever watched the show, so he went unrecognized by our group. I think he saw my camera and feared getting caught up in an intrusive photo request. Little did he know that whether we recognized them or not, they would have easily finished off their breakfast uninterrupted.


After breakfast, Alex and I left for the drive back to Peterborough. Glancing out the passenger window as we crossed this bridge, I happened to see a boat doing circles in the water.





And this famous landmark greeted us as we drove along the Gardener Expressway in Toronto.






A closer, more tilted perspective of the C.N. Tower, complete with dashboard reflection.







And back home again, I happened to catch my beautiful little Zephyr's reflection in this small mirror. He was sitting to my right on my desk, when a glance to my left revealed his perfectly framed sweet face. I had to snap two shots and play with them a bit in Photoshop because there was no way I could get his face into focus along with the rest of the image.

And that ends our whirlwind trip into Port Dover. Thanks for your wonderful party hosting, Jaime and Stephanie, and your lodging hospitality, Steph and Jordan. And thanks for brekkie, Andi and Bill. Happy Birthday, my beautiful sister. And Happy Retirement, Bill.

That Flirty Sun

“The sun was as flirty as Scarlett O'Hara with the Tarleton twins, breaking through the clouds in spectacular bursts that seemed like personal favors and then retreating for hours, days, and making us all ache for just a glimpse.” ~ Lorna Landvik

In my previous post, I brought you along to a football game at Toronto's Rogers Centre. It had been a rainy day but by the time we were ready to head home, the sun had made a most welcomed appearance.


Since we've now met again at Union Station, perhaps we can ride the train together.





Lucky for us, we were able to get a window seat. The sunlight is barely peeking through the still-heavy cloud coverage but it's enough to illuminate towers and treetops and add a bit of drama to our journey homeward.





At various points along the way, we get a good view of Lake Ontario.






There's a lot going on here - sunlit shrubbery, trains at rest, a tower, tractors, lamp posts and the reflection in the window which offers a glimpse of the view through the other side of the train.





Another view of the lake before we reach our destination.





As we're pulling into the station, another train works its way westward.

 



There's a bit of construction going on at the station during the week. Although at rest on this day, the sun seems to have awakened the brilliant orange, yellow and turquoise of the equipment.





Just before we found our car, Frank pointed out the top of this bicycle rack shelter.

For some reason it makes me think of this scene from The Wizard of Oz.






You might as well get in the car with us. Doesn't Frank's beard look cool in the sunlight?





One last sight before we arrive home - the church Frank attended in his youth. The cross appears to be lit from inside but it's catching the last rays of this beautiful sunshine.

Happy Thanksgiving to all of my American friends. I think I can smell the sweet scent of turkey wafting up here, over the border. 

One more thing, please...

For those of you who may not know her, Laura is, among many talents, a spiritual director, poet, photographer and of course, a wonderful blogger. She has asked me to include the following Thanksgiving message in today's post so that you can share in her gratitude for life and perhaps be a part of her fine project yourself:

“The Mega Mobius Gratitude Quilt was an idea born in November of 2009 when I had an MS exacerbation that made it difficult for me to communicate through words. I did not know at that time if proper syntax and missing words would return, but I wanted to write something for my Thanksgiving blog post, because I felt so deeply grateful for the goodness in my life. I was concerned that I would not be able to write it myself, so I asked friends and family to be earth angels and help me out by sending me brief messages about what they were grateful for in the moment. Thus began an annual tradition, and thankfully speech and the ability to write returned not long after the first quilt was created. This year more than two hundred people came together to create the quilt with me! You can view the quilt on November 22nd, Thanksgiving Day in the United States by stopping by my blog Shine the Divine. Additional offerings are welcomed in the “leave a comment” box beneath the post.

Gentle steps,
Laura

Ps. It is called the Mega Mobius Gratitude Quilt because a mobius form never ends... may that be so for expressions of gratitude as well.”