Yep! It's Officially Fall Around Here!

The weather has changed. And so have the trees! It sort of happened overnight while I was sleeping, I guess! Until now I thought we would have summer right into January. It's been so hot! But what a difference a day can make!

Last night the temperature went down close to freezing! When I got up the sun was shining and I decided that if I was to get any photos of our beautiful fall colours, I would have to take my camera and go out this morning.

By the time I got to the park, clouds had moved in, but I decided to forge ahead with my leaf photo quest. There would not be many days left in this short autumn season.

The first place I went to was Bluffer's Park. I have always loved this place and today was no exception! It looks so rugged. This photo really doesn't do it justice! A bit of sunshine would have been helpful. But there wasn't any and the temperature was very chilly down there by the lake. The thermometer in my car read, "7C". Brrr! I could see the waves of Lake Ontario breaking on the shore. Sorry, no photo. It was too cold to get out of the car and walk along the beach! Besides, I probably would have fallen and not been able to get up! Not a good thing! I decided to stay close to the car and parking lot.


There were lots of geese down by the boat landing area.

Someone was feeding them. I wish people wouldn't do that! Those geese will likely spend their winter half frozen in the cold waters of the lake, instead of flying to some nice warm place down south.

The trees in the park were almost devoid of leaves. But there were still a few nice specimens along the bottom of the bluffs. I guess the winds are stronger down near the lake and the temperature is much colder! So cold, in fact, that I decided to leave Bluffer's Park and drive to Morningside Park instead.

It was not much warmer there either, and there were not many leaves left on the trees.

Most had fallen, making a nice leafy path to follow through the trees.

I stayed close to the paved areas in order to make walking easier. It was a great experience to wonder around in such a natural setting. I hadn't realized how much I had missed doing that lately. I will try to get out more often now that my daily pool exercises seem to be working!

There was no one else in the park! I was alone with the squirrels and geese! It just doesn't get any better than that! I could actually hear the leaves as they glided through the air and landed softly on the ground.

I found some nice purple coloured maple leaves. They reminded me of the time when I was still working in a Special Education class and we were discussing fall colours and the changing leaves. One boy insisted that the leaves turned purple. I let him have his say, but I was skeptical because I didn't think that I had ever seen a purple maple leaf! But here was proof! I wish I had some fabric in this lovely colour! What a gorgeous quilt that would make!

On the way home I drove past a fruit and vegetable market. The pumpkins were piled high on top of each other. Huge mountains of pumpkins! Their bright orange colour pulled me and my camera towards them. "Come", they called to me. "Don't you just love our bright orange complexion? Come and photograph us." I just couldn't get enough photos, but I will only bore you with one!

I thought about buying a pumpkin to take home with me - a sort of souvenir of my morning outing. And, after all, Hallowe'en is only a few days away. But when I saw the price tags - WOW! $19.99 for a pumpkin? I think I will get mine at Loblaws. I saw some rather small, misshapen ones there last week for only $1.99. Who needs a perfect pumpkin for a Jack-O-Lantern anyway? The odd shaped ones make the scariest Jack-O-Lanterns! Don't you agree?

When I arrived home, the sun had still not come out! In fact, it didn't make an appearance until late in the afternoon when I was in the pool at the Y. Too bad I didn't have even a small ray of sunshine to help me take my photos. But, oh, well. The sun reflecting off the waves of the pool water was nice too. I pretended I was on an island, far from the late days of autumn, enjoying the warm waters of a tropical pool.

A small urn of purple verbena greeted me when I arrived back

home. Soon these too will wither and die. But for now they provided me with some colour. And along with the colours of the beautiful leaves I saw today, will provide me with energy to carry with me through the long winter that is definitely ahead of us.