A warm fall day to celebrate

 

Some days are too nice to stay inside and today was one of those day. A perfect fall day. Warm but not humid, breezy but not windy, and all-in-all just plain inviting.

And so a very happy seven-year-old hit the street skipping and laughing as she headed off to inspect the Halloween lawn decorations to be found all about her grandparent's neighbourhood.

At Halloween skulls are decorations

 

It's Halloween and skulls are popping up like mushrooms in neighbourhood lawns. With COVID-19 still raging, I was concerned most folk would pass this year on Halloween. Nope. The decorations are out and the number of displays is growing daily. I'm thinking lots of kids will hit the streets for trick or treating and virus be damned!

No raspberries to be seen thanks to the squirrel

 

If you don't see the red of ripe raspberries, thank the squirrel. 

My granddaughters love picking the ripe raspberries and by this time of year the bushes are loaded. Well, this year the low hanging fruit has been spoken for by our neighbourhood black squirrel.

Oh well, the kids are generous and after a little thought have decided they don't mind sharing the bounty.

Location is not just important in real estate

 

I ran a photo of this scene yesterday. After shooting yesterday's image, I began walking back to my car and noticed a second picture. It was arguably a better shot than the first.

What grabbed my attention was the way the three bushes, viewed from this new angle, lent themselves to a cropping accenting the three distinctive falls colours. 

The lighting shifted with the changing location. I liked the change. The leaves had more of a glow with the light coming through the leaves rather than being simply reflected.

To force the three bushes to appear visually close, a longish lens was used and a slow shutter speed was teamed with a small aperture. Doing this maximized depth of field, keeping all three bushes in tight focus.

And so, in the interest of accenting the medium, photography, forgive me but I'm running a second image from yesterday's shoot.

Burning Bush is well named

 

My wife calls this a Fire Bush. I believe it may actually be a Burning Bush. Whatever is correct, it is spectacular in the fall. I have three of these and did not realize that my trimming was what was keeping them small and bush like. Let them grow wild and they become veritable trees. 

There may be a Halloween Inspite of COVID-19

Many folk are wondering how we will handle Halloween this year. As decorations appear everywhere throughout the neighbourhood, it is looking more and more like folk are going to celebrate. Guidance has been promised by both the municipal and provincial governments. My grandkids want to go out trick and treating but their mother has doubts. "Mom's overly protective," according to the kids.

iPads are also for homework in COVID era

iPads were once mostly for fun. Today, in an era so coloured by the presence or threat of COVID-19, iPads are now for school, for doing homework, for learning. But as soon as the educating wraps up, the games come out.