Photo-Finish Friday

Autumn has a lot to offer.

Gratitude Monday --New Fall Colours

I love the changing of the seasons. How else can one know how good a season is unless there's something with which to compare it?
Each must be assessed on its own, but to do it there must be a point of demarcation.
I am blessed to live in a land where the change of the season is both obvious and beautiful.
Autumn arrived officially on Saturday. No one told the leaves to wait so they began donning their new fall colours a few weeks earlier.
For as much as we may lament the turn toward winter,  we appreciate the final burst of joy from Nature as she quietens for the cold.
I am grateful for the changes of my world, grateful I can see it and smell and it feel it on my face, and grateful for what each new seasons brings.

***

Regular visitors may find the photo familiar. I take pictures of this train trestle archway each year. Th e above photo was taken yesterday.  For me, it is the portal to the new season.

Photo-Finish Friday --Mountain Mood

Socked in along the Columbia Icefields Parkway.

The Chartreuse Challenge

Today I rise to the challenge. My chartreuse socks:

It was not so much a challenge as request from Bag Lady in yesterday's comments.
The challenge comes about in trying to show chartreuse as it reflects yellow or green depending on its surroundings and how the light hits it.
The top shot has some yellow bias to it according to my eyes.
The bottom shot shows more yellow-green when set beside proper green socks.
Opinions?

Fashion Criminal

Lime socks, because my chartreuse socks were in the wash.

Summer ends soon. This is your last week to inform the Fashion Police about me.
I wear socks with sandals. I always have. It wasn't until a few years ago I learned this was a fashion faux pas at least as bad as wearing white in winter, if not worse.
This did not stop me.
It feels good. My feet tend to be cold and, even though I like to let the fresh air and sunshine on them, naked foot skin makes me uncomfortable.
I go out in public like this. I will continue to do so for as long as it works for me.
Neither am I alone. My husband does the same thing. It is is one of the many odd and unfashionable things we have in common and I'd consider it a blessing if I cared enough to worry about it.
However, I know the socks and sandals fashion scandal comes up often. If you feel you have to do your part to erase this scourge from the face of the Earth I offer myself up.
Come and get me.

Gratitude Monday --Garden Goodness Edition

Harvest is one of my favourite times of the year. It's when all the work of spring and summer come to fruition. It's a busy time for most of us even if you're like me and only have a small garden in the back.
The busy time doesn't last long, but it still comes.
Yesterday Mike dug out my carrots while I brought in the coriander to ripen. I like to leave it out, but he wanted to dig over the garden. I only had a few plants as they'd grown wild this year. I harvested enough from last year's planting that I had no intention of growing any more for several years.
A few plants popped up in the carrots and beans. I let them go with the idea to take a few cilantro leaves as needed. They smelled so good I decided to leave them in.
A few potatoes grew wild as well. Mike digs compost into the garden in spring and/or fall. Quite a few random plants come up with the seeded ones. I often let them grow.
Anyway, back to the carrots. I cleaned the first batch as he dug. He cleaned the next three batches. In they are photo below
three bath towels full worth are drying and resting comfortably, unaware of their fate. The first towelfull are on the table being quickly and humanely topped and tailed.

They waited in the fridge overnight. Today they're being blanched and frozen to be enjoyed during the cold winter months.

I am grateful for a great many things: the garden, the carrots, and all the work my husband did yesterday in bringing in our harvest.

Photo-Finish Friday -- Cairo

Cairo, January 2011. It is a beautiful place, when you can see it.

Fine, Thnaks. Yourself?

I make my share of typos. Always have. Can't see that changing.
Oh, sure, it might, but for today I'm sticking with what I just said.
Of all the finger-ups I make I'd have to say reversing the 'n' and 'a' in thanks is my top typo.
It's so common to me I don't even see it until later.
Spell Czech?
I rarely pay attention or even see it on Blogger and as for my private emails, well, the spell cheque there is set to French for hog-knows-what reason. I've tried to change it. It gives me choices of traditional or modern French.
Word has it in English. Why the emailer won't respect that I'll never know, but it doesn't. Unless my eyes actually catch the flip it goes out.
Later, I notice.

My point is I know I do it. I have tried to retrain my recalcitrant fingers. They're having none of it.

What about you? Got a finger-up that bugs you?
Comments? Concerns? Confessions?

Thnaks for reading.

Time To Wake Up

Spiritual awakening is great.
I'm all for it, but the manifestations of it can leave a lot to be desired.
Specifically No.11 on the above-linked list, the limited desire to do anything, is the one I'm struggling with right now.
Writing is how I define myself. It has been since I was five years old and put together what I knew in my heart I wanted with the word that described it.
I wrote on Monday and some yesterday, too. In fact I wrote a page before breakfast. I'm currently doing a massive rewrite of a manuscript duller than watching a TV channel with no signal.
I plug away, but the fun, the joy, the intense desire to bound out of bed and pound the keyboard is missing in action. If my desire to write were hot wax, then currently it would be long cooled into blocks.

Meditation and self-hypnosis (I am a certified transpersonal hypnotherapist. I know what to do.) helps, when I get around to doing it. This important part of my life is being held in abeyance. I choose to believe it's because I need a break.
As the link noted, one has to shut down to reboot.
A recent spirit message reminded me to go with the universal flow. That is, whatever's going on I should simply accept it for what it is and enjoy it as much as I can.
I try.  It is frustrating to know what I should do and what I want to do, and yet have no compelling desire to do it.

Certain of the ascension symptoms are happening concurrently. Again, this is great because I know it's going to end well.

Eleven years ago I quit my paid employment to write books.
I have done that.
I should have noted when I put it out to the Universe that I was quitting to write books to be commercially published and physically available on bookstore shelves.
Sign No. 9 of the second link talks about quicker manifestations.
Good.
How about it Universe?
I'm waking up. I'll be done with all these frustrating symptoms soon.
I put it out to You about commercial publication of my manuscripts, and thanks for all you do.

So tell me readers, what about you? Got the symptoms? How's it going?
Or is this the first you've heard of it?

The Other September 11

September 11 was a day of infamy long before the towers fell.

Read about it here,  and here where the US is thrilled with the work done by Augusto Pinochet.

That said, my sympathies to all who lost family and friends on this day.

Gratitude Monday -- Mountain Man Edition

The mountains offer many stunning sights and I am grateful for all of them.
Today I am grateful to have seen The Old Man of the Mountain.
We were out camping on the September long weekend and came upon him during a hike.
We'd camped virtually underneath him during the August long weekend, but I didn't notice due to the angle, and to not knowing he was there. A friend pointed it out after I posted a photo on Facebook that featured the fellow.
I confess I have no idea if I used to know he was there and forgot or simply never knew.
Now I've seen him. Now I know he is there, waiting patiently for who knows what? and I am grateful.

Photo-Finish Friday -- Athabasca Glacier

Athabasca Glacier, Columbia Icefields

Walking up the hill toward the it last Saturday. The glacier is at the bottom of the other side of this hill.

The glacier started here 30 years ago. Photos two and three by Mike Mayrl.

This photo I took in June shows the hill I climbed and the glacier behind it. The snow on the hill is seasonal as opposed to glacial.

The hill was part of the glacier in 1976.

Please note the vehicles and lake at the bottom of the hill in the second photo. Compare with the lake and vehicles at the toe of the glacier in the bottom photo I took 36 years ago.
When you enlarge the top photo you'll see the chalet and the Jasper -Banff Highway. In 1908 the glacier was nearly at the highway.
It's going fast.
I hope all who want to see it get to see it.