The Beauty of Fall

I'm not sure where the time has gone as the end of September draws near.  It's been quite a lovely September and I'm grateful for that.  Summer was an amazing journey of transformation for me and I will be forever grateful.  It's time to harvest all we have planted as we move into winter in a few months time.

I went for another ride on Thursday and it was amazing to see that fall has indeed arrived as the leaves are changing color and falling down to the ground already.  Nonetheless, I do enjoy this time of the year, even though I am sad to see summer officially go on September 23.  But all great things come to an end.  Such is life.

Get out while the weather is good because before you know it, it will be time for cocooning during the cold winter months ahead.  Savour the beauty, enjoy the weather and the light before the darkness comes once again.

I feel blessed to be able to get on my bike whenever I can and to go on small journeys into nature.  There is so much beauty all around if we just choose to see it. 

On the path close to Foothills Hospital.  The view is amazing from here.

View from Foothills.

Beautiful grassland close to Foothills Hospital on the pathway.

I'm amazed at how close the water is to the shore.  No room for walking any longer.

Around the reservoir the leaves are wonderful shades of green, red, orange and yellow.

North Glenmore Park bike pathway.

Standing on the bridge just before the big climb comes up.  Again, the water is close to shore.

The view from the other side of the bridge.

A kayaker by the name of Alek is enjoying himself and goes out kayaking almost everyday.  He is very adventurous and loves the outdoors.

South Glenmore Park.

The clouds and lighting were amazing that day.

Blessings to you all.  Happy fall!

Farewell Summer

It's hard to believe that summer is coming to a close.  I was surprised the other day to go riding and to see dead leaves on the ground.  I could smell that particular smell of fall, the smell of things dying.  In particular those leaves.  Each season seems to have a distinct smell to it.

The shift in the change of seasons from summer to fall always feels too swift for me.  It's like someone has flicked on a switch and the season has changed.  Alas, summer, I bid you farewell and look forward to your return next year.  But, I'm sure, we will still have a few "Indian" summer days left!

In August, we went for another wonderful ride to Springbank Road in Calgary.  I hope you enjoy some of these shots whilst on our journey.  Blessings and keep you "posted"!

A wheel on display in front of someone's entranceway.

Someone else's entranceway above.

The weather started to turn a little but it was still nice.  We made it home just in time before it started to rain.

A patch of field where I decided to take a rest and enjoy the quiet and solitude.  Only a few kilometers out of the city and it's surprisingly quiet.

We saw three grown deer jump up and run off.   I think they were taking a nap and were startled by some noise.

Two beautiful horses on someone's property that said hello.  The one in the back was more shy than the black one.

Summer and then some...

"....So throw off the bowlines, sail away from the safe harbour. 

Catch the trade winds in your sails. 

Explore.  Dream.  Discover." 

Mark Twain

To me, sometimes this means simply getting on my bike and going on an adventure.  Today, my friend and partner in life Rick, took me on a cycling adventure, not far out of the city (about 25km).  But it was far enough for me to feel like I was away for even a little while from the craziness of city life.

I caught the "trade winds" riding down the rolling hills of Springbank Road as we headed out West.  Surprisingly, it didn't take long to find some quiet moments out in nature.

I find beauty in the simplest of things sometimes.  Nature can be simplistic and yet complex at the same time.  And always, there is beauty.

A wooden fence against tall grass blowing in the breeze.

 

Pretty pink flowers against the backdrop of a weathered fence. 

Artwork painted on aluminum canvas mounted on a gate of the local residence.

A rundown house with character and with a little love could be a gem. 

The rolling hills of the prairies. 

Flowers native to the area. 

And a house small enough for a child to play in (but did someone actually live in it?).  Who knows?

 

If you never make the time for adventures, they won't happen.  Make time.

Explore.  Dream.  And, discover.



Summer Goddess Altar

I enjoy the changing of the seasons.  And, in order to celebrate, I have gotten into the groove of creating a "Change of the Seasons" altar (including a Christmas altar for December).  Here are some photos of my Summer 2011 altar.

You can find beautiful things in surprising places like used stores or vintage shops.  But you may have things lying around already.  It's about getting the creative juices flowing and trying things out to see how it can be put together. 

You may need to play with the altar, putting things in different spots to see how it will look.  Go with the flow and trust your instincts.  Creating beauty takes practice but it's possible.

This is one of the first things you see when you walk into our apartment.  The cloth underneath is a silk scarf I use as an altar cloth which is a perfect size for the bookshelf.

 

This lovely swinging fairy card I picked up on a trip to Drumheller in a store that is closing out.  I framed it and now it's on my altar.  On the left, shells in a crystal bowl, some pieces I picked up in nature in a vase and a white filigree candleholder I picked up in a used store.

 

On the right, a wooden box with more shells.  A round sunflower candle and a "Laugh Out Loud" doll made out of a tiny ceramic pot I picked up "premade" by someone lovely.

Creating an altar doesn't have to be difficult.  Women tend to naturally do this by displaying their crystal, ornaments, etc. around the house. 

You can create all types of altars.  I have many different ones around the home.  Have fun and enjoy!

Eating for Life

"And the fruits will outdo what the flowers have promised."

Francois De Malherbe

Summertime! Summertime! Sum, Sum, summertime!!

Ah, yes, summer!  The heat and the sunshine.  Everything is in full bloom, bursting at the seams with color and aliveness!  Winter seems so far away now.  The days are longer and I enjoy days and nights sitting on the balcony, reading or just doing nothing.  Perhaps partaking in a summer beverage.

It's time to get out on my bike as much as I can now.  The paths and nature are full of life as people are walking, running, riding their bikes, fishing, boating, sailing, playing sports, hiking, camping, etc.

It's a time to relax and be, perhaps, just a little bit lazy from time to time.  A time to go on a romantic picnic perhaps with a blanket by the river.

Maybe it's time to go on a summer adventure.

Either way, there's just something about summer that I love.

 

I walk without flinching through the burning cathedral of the summer.  My bank of wild grass is majestic and full of music.  It is a fire that solitude presses against my lips.  
 ~Violette Leduc, Mad in Pursuit

 A perfect summer day is when the sun is shining, the breeze is blowing, the birds are singing, and the lawn mower is broken.  

~James Dent


If a June night could talk, it would probably boast it invented romance.  

~Bern Williams


Summer set lip to earth's bosom bare,
And left the flushed print in a poppy there.
~Francis Thompson

 

What is one to say about June, the time of perfect young summer, the fulfillment of the promise of the earlier months, and with as yet no sign to remind one that its fresh young beauty will ever fade.  

~Gertrude Jekyll

 

Oh, the summer night
Has a smile of light
And she sits on a sapphire throne.
~Barry Cornwall


In the depth of winter, I finally learned that within me there lay an invincible summer.
~Albert Camus


There shall be eternal summer in the grateful heart. 

~Celia Thaxter


The summer night is like a perfection of thought.  

~Wallace Stevens


In summer, the song sings itself.  

~William Carlos Williams

Deep summer is when laziness finds respectability.  

 ~Sam Keen

 

People don't notice whether it's winter or summer when they're happy.  

~Anton Chekhov


A life without love is like a year without summer.  

~Swedish Proverb

 

Rest is not idleness, and to lie sometimes on the grass on a summer day listening to the murmur of water, or watching the clouds float across the sky, is hardly a waste of time.  

~John Lubbock

Love is to the heart what the summer is to the farmer's year - it brings to harvest all the loveliest flowers of the soul.  

~Author Unknown

Then followed that beautiful season...Summer...

Filled was the air with a dreamy and magical light; and the landscape
Lay as if new created in all the freshness of childhood.
~Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

Summer is the time when one sheds one's tensions with one's clothes, and the right kind of day is jeweled balm for the battered spirit.  A few of those days and you can become drunk with the belief that all's right with the world.  

~Ada Louise Huxtable

Ahhh, spring!!

I love spring!  Especially after a long, long winter.  The grey and blandness of winter gets to me after a while and I'm living for the day of color, the light of day and the smells of blooms in the air.  The promise of spring to come is what I yearn for.  The day I can stop wearing so many layers of clothing trying to keep warm on those cold winter nights.  The day I will ride my bike again.  The mornings where I can enjoy sitting on my balcony enjoying my flowers while I drink my morning tea.  Spring cleaning and letting go.  I love riding my bike and catching a whiff of lilacs as I ride by.  Ahh, yes, spring!  What's not to love!!

Springtime is the land awakening.  The March winds are the morning yawn. 
~Quoted by Lewis Grizzard in Kathy Sue Loudermilk, I Love You

Spring is nature's way of saying, "Let's party!" 

~Robin Williams


Spring makes its own statement, so loud and clear that the gardener seems to be only one of the instruments, not the composer. 

~Geoffrey B. Charlesworth

April prepares her green traffic light and the world thinks, Go! 

~Christopher Morley, John Mistletoe

      

Everything is blooming most recklessly; if it were voices instead of colors, there would be an unbelievable shrieking into the heart of the night. 
~Rainer Maria Rilke, Letters of Rainer Maria Rilke

 

It's spring fever.  That is what the name of it is.  And when you've got it, you want - oh, you don't quite know what it is you do want, but it just fairly makes your heart ache, you want it so! 
~Mark Twain

      

I love spring anywhere, but if I could choose I would always greet it in a garden.  ~Ruth Stout

No matter how long the winter, spring is sure to follow. 
~Proverb


Spring is when you feel like whistling even with a shoe full of slush. 
~Doug Larson


Science has never drummed up quite as effective a tranquilizing agent as a sunny spring day. 
~W. Earl Hall

If we had no winter, the spring would not be so pleasant; if we did not sometimes taste of adversity, prosperity would not be so welcome. 
~Anne Bradstreet

 

The naked earth is warm with Spring,
And with green grass and bursting trees
Leans to the sun's kiss glorying,
And quivers in the sunny breeze.
~Julian Grenfell

 

I think that no matter how old or infirm I may become, I will always plant a large garden in the spring.  Who can resist the feelings of hope and joy that one gets from participating in nature's rebirth? 
~Edward Giobbi

If you've never been thrilled to the very edges of your soul by a flower in spring bloom, maybe your soul has never been in bloom. 

~Terri Guillemets

Spring Maiden