YES, WE'VE ARRIVED

I'm writing to you from our new locale.

And it's a zoo! (As in crazy busy with bringing the last bits over from the house, unpacking here, and figuring our what goes where.)

But it's a zoo with a view!

I don't have the time to give you a full explanation of these pictures, except to say that the first two pictures are of the downtown riverbank area of our city, and the last picture is looking up the river valley (which runs north-east from downtown). BTW, what you can't see, to the right of the third picture, is our sprawling University Campus; another time.

By time we get fully settled in, I'm sure our sixth-floor suite will seem much less zoo-like.

PLUNDERED!! PILLAGED!!

 Bear's beloved Mountain Ash tree was stripped bare today by a marauding band of ravenous Bohemian Waxwings.

The foraging flock, numbering perhaps a hundred birds,

attacked the tree about 3:30 p.m. local time, 

wave, upon wave, upon wave. 
(Here is a close-up of one.)

By 3:45, only  a few scavengers could be seen,

cleaning up the few remaining berries on the ground.

The activity of the Bohemian Hoard had been reported 

in the local newspaper earlier. 

The onslaught was not unexpected.

J, our  Bear's  beloved spouse, quickly grabbed her camera, clicking photo after photo, mute witness to the onslaught. 

And where was Bear during the melee?

Hibernating in his Den. 

Proving once again that, "you snooze; you lose."

But he'll be delighted by the pictures when he wakes up. 

Very delighted.

After all, it was for events like today's that he planted 

the Mountain Ash in the first place. 

His simple goal — to attract Waxwings.

Report by Sadie B.; photography by J.B.

PHOTO OF THE DAY/Photo du Jour

Ou est la ville?/Where's the city?

Sadie and I went for our morning walk, as per usual today.

Normally when we get to the park where the sanatorium used to be, we can see right across the river to the buildings on the east side of the city.

Not today.

We've been having quite a bit or rain over the last couple of days. Sadie and I walked in the break between the showers. It's quite humid, and the temperature is only 4°C (39F). You can see the result.

SOMETHING COMPLETELY DIFFERENT …

 The sun is high. The sky is bright blue, with no clouds. 

The air is warm (about 10°C, or 50°F). 

The Elms and Poplars have lost most of their leaves. 

 Even the Larches are shedding their needles (leaves) on cue. 

(Larches are the only coniferous trees to loose all their leaves

at one time.)

While I can usually walk only about a kilometre at a time,

Sadie and I have done three today,

two this morning, another one this evening.

Too nice a day to be inside.

I hope you had a wonderful day, too!

PHOTO OF THE DAY/Photo du Jour

Les mots/Words

If a picture is worth a thousand words, how much is a picture of a book full of words worth?

 

Especially  it's a book full of words about how to use a camera to take pictures?

Life is so complicated. Sigh!

PHOTO DU JOUR/Picture of the Day

Family/La famille

It seems like our home is getting more like the Bonkers' house, inhabited by Exmoorjane and all.

So today's picture is of me, instead of by me. It's by our son, T. This wasn't the plan for this series, but sometimes you've just "gotta go with the flow."

This was taken at the family birthday party last night, which was held to celebrate my birthday (last Friday) and that of our thirtysomething daughter, M  (this coming Saturday).

The two youngsters featured are our grandchildren, the son and daughter of T and his wife, A.

And the birthday cake? Made by T for the occasion. A Bear cake for an ol' Bear. What more could I want?

PHOTO OF THE DAY/Photo du Jour

Behold! My new toy. (A birthday present.)

Well, more of a tool than a toy, perhaps. This is a digital Canon EOS Rebel T1i (for those who like technical data.) It replaces some very old Minolta film cameras. It is also an upgrade from my Beloved's Canon EOS Rebel G (newer, but still old) film camera.

The price of the new unit was a bit stiff: over $800 Canadian (€600).  But J and I have been saving money for a while to help with the transition into "retirement." (Most of you realize that Bear is not a "retiring" creature; the word "retirement" is a bit of an anomaly in this circumstance, except for the fact that I have turned 65.) Who knows; photography may become my fourth career (after pastor, journalist, and ethicist.) Well, perhaps not.

I'm not exactly a stranger to photography. I've had pictures published in some Canadian magazines. But I haven't done any "serious" photography for a long time, so there'll be some re-learning involved — especially with a new camera. (True, we have a pocket-sized Canon camera for "quick pics," — like these of the cameras — but I'm increasingly unhappy with the quality of those pictures.)

Why a Canon? First, I think Canon makes good cameras. (So does my brother-in law, a professional photographer.) Second, the lenses on J's camera are completely interchangeable with mine. So why buy a different kind of camera, and then buy a whole new series of lenses? Doesn't make sense.

So, to help me get back into more serious photography, I've set up this new series on my blog: "Photo of the Day/Photo du Jour." Not that I'll publish a picture every day — even though that's the goal. (I know myself well enough to understand that a daily photo just isn't going to happen, unless I get "ultra-serious" — and that would ruin all the fun.)

So please, adventure along with me; add your thoughts, too. I'd love to hear from you.

Footnote:
About the name of the series. Canada is officially a bilingual country; we use both English and French. That's because we were a French colony before we because an English colony in 1763. Still, today, about 20 per cent of our population has/have French as a first language. So to use both official languages is a bit patriotic on my part, and a bit romantique. Mais, c'est moi — et c'est ça. (But that's me — and that's it.)