Hawkins/Olund Drive

 

Travelling around the valley looking for good Autumn photos is pure pleasure for me. I found a few prime spots for photos early enough in the day to catch a bit of fog and some good light. The top photo is into the sun and is not great, but if you have never driven down Hawkins Rd. and seen this winery estate, you simply must.

 

This is the horse barn on the estate of one of my clients across the street from the winery. I doubt it smells like manure inside.

 

Turning onto Olund St. offers some very nice views with Matsqui Prairie in the background, shrouded in fog.

 

 

I love where I live and never take the beauty and variety for granted.

Yellow

 

Our Angel Trumpets are very late this year but are really coming on strong now.

 

How you shoot a flower like this is you lie down in the mud and grass and dew and look straight up. Otherwise you do not get a nice blue sky in the background.

 

I walked over to the Garden Park towers one morning and caught some nice light coming through the trees. This looks like peaceful place to sit and contemplate, but it is immediately beside a very busy street with constant traffic.

 

There are nice benches, but I have never seen anyone sitting here.

 

On the North is the Garden Park Towers, residential on the top 15 floors,

 

And to the southwest is Clearbrook Village, a complex of low-rise and high-rise residences. The center piece of this little park is a memorial to the Russian Mennonite Immigrants who more or less founded our community after WWII.

More Christian Apologetics

 

It has been a number of years since I read an in-depth book on creation vs. evolution or naturalism so I picked up the "Holman Quick Source Guide to Understanding Creation." There have been quite a number of advancements in both science and the quality and quantity of theories on the subject in recent years. I have never been clear on where I stand and still am not, but I do have a better handle on the options when pondering such a weighty subject.

 

I finished the book tonight and found this review as I was searching for an image of the book. It really sums up the way I feel about what I read so I will plagiarize for a moment, if you permit me.

"I found this book extremely balanced, informative, and broad. It does a great job of briefly addressing almost all the common question that Christians interested in science may encounter. It does not deviate from a position of the Bible being the infallible Word of God, but examines all popular world views and exposes the strengths and weaknesses of each. You will probably learn some weaknesses of your own world view, as I did, but the authors do not intend to convince you of any view in particular. The book is strongest in its balance and educates impartially. An absolute must read for the scientifically minded believer."   

 

If you have any cut and dried ideas about creation, the age of the earth, the flood, evolution, ID (intelligent design) etc. you will probably come away from reading this book with either more questions, or a desire to seek more answers. Some things in life are simply not black and white. I am firmly in the camp of those who believe that God was the source of all creation, but really do not have a clue as to how he did it. But then, He is God and I am not. :) 

 

4 stars

 

More 2013 Colours

 

I have been out and about with my camera more this Autumn than ever before. I have had time but also I have been more keen since I have learned more about developing my photos. The above photo is taken from the parking lot of the Rotary Stadium with a 200mm telephoto lens. The photos look so much better large.

 

The following few photos are of a recent walk around Mill Lake Park.

 

I quite enjoy standing under the golden leaves and catching some direct sun in the lens.

 

Mill Lake again taken from a secluded little fishing spot on the south side of the lake.

 

A wide angle shot of Mt. Baker taken from South Parallel Rd. just east of Sumas Way.

 

Same spot, different interpretation.

 

The winery estate on Hawkins Rd. in the early morning fog.

 

A park bench behind city hall.

 

Grazing in the fog at the extreme north end of Townline Rd.

Still Fall

 

If you are my friend on Facebook, you may have seen some of these already. Our Angel Trumpets were very late this year, but with the continued warm sunny weather, they are coming into bloom again.

 

This is taken off my back deck. The sun hits these leaves from the south and the back light is fantastic. I love the red stems on this shot.

 

Mill Lake is a great place to contemplate life, if you don't meet 50 people you know.

 

A Great Blue Heron and his reflection as he takes flight.

 

The Maples are stunning this year.

 

And here is a much quieter place to contemplate life. You probably will not meet anyone here at all. It is the Friendship Garden behind the Clearbrook Library.

 

Passports

 

I took many photos of this fountain, from every conceivable angle, but I was not happy with any of them. Here is the best of the worst.

 

Our passports expired all too soon. It was time to take some qualifying photos and head to the Canada Services building, forms in hand, and renew them. The process for renewing is somewhat streamlined, if you know how to fill out forms on the computer and have an operating printer.

We went to Superstore to have the photos taken and discovered that due to renovations, that department is shut down. Next, we went to London drugs and although a bit dubious about the methods used, got the photos and paid for them. On the way home, busylizzy took a hissy fit and declared her photo unusable. I tried to reassure her that driver's licence photos and passport photos are supposed to make one look old and ugly. But, she was adamant that she get hers re-taken and at a different place. She did, and was suddenly relaxed and happy about the whole process. I am OK with old and ugly so I kept my London Drugs photo, which we have found out since, are routinely rejected by the powers that be and delays are experienced while new photos are taken.

You would think that the officers at Services Canada would have the qualifications to accept or reject a photo before the whole application was sent to Ottawa. Anyway, ours were accepted and now we are the proud owners of new chip technology 10 year passports, although it was lucky we did get them when we did.

The mail delivery was made to our neighbour and if we were not on speaking terms, and if he did not know us or cared about our mail, he could have thrown the notices in the garbage.

I do have one complaint. Politicians keep telling us that taxes are not going up, and as such, that may be true. But what keeps going up is all the fees and services that we are required to purchase. The 10 year passports cost us $320.00 about double what a 5 year one would cost. Now the government does not have to deal with our passport for 10 years, (the only difference between a 5 year and 10 year is the two small digits under "expiration date") but they got paid double. It is like the Vehicle Air Care two year inspection that cost double, even though you are only getting one inspection. It is a rip-off and clearly a form of higher taxation.  

International Friendhip Garden

 

Our city has a 'friendship' with a Japanese city and in honour of this friendship, a $million garden was constructed behind the library. It is only a few blocks from where I live so I like to visit at least once each season. I have rarely encountered another person there. Maybe it was built just for me.

 

Early spring and late fall are the best times to wander in this garden.

 

There is a lot of shade here and perhaps that is why the leaves get stalled in the pink colour on their way to red.

 

There is a rock wall and waterfall, not always operational, but when it is, it lends a nice backdrop of sound to drown out the traffic in the nearby street.

 

And, of course, it looks much nicer with some colour around it.

 

There is quite a bit of Japanese influence in this garden, from stone pagodas to Bamboo plants.....

 

 

Even a berry bush whose leaves turn blue instead of yellow.

 

 

 

A nice variety of leaves, freshly fallen.

 

And a park bench for the weary walker who does not mind getting a bit wet when he sits to rest.

The Faces of Fishtrap