a small rain

drawing order from chaos

beginning . . . again . . .

morning reflections

on my way in to set up my classroom this morning . . . .

quality time with sid . . .

late summer

in the hills of cavan . . .

by the canal

this is where sawer creek empties into the otonabee river at lock 25 on the trent canal . . .

mantis

to my son's and my absolute surprise and joy, this little beasty landed on a gift from a recently reconnected friend . . . . my dad always said . . . "animals cross your paths for a reason . . . ."

chrysanthemum

a beautiful gift from an old friend. 

chrysanthemums are one of the signs that my favourite season is on its way- autumn!

everything returns . . .

instructions for living a life . . .

“instructions for living a life. 

pay attention. 

be astonished. 

tell about it.” 

mary oliver

these little plants found a tiny crack in my driveway and rooted themsleves in the soil underneath . . . 

cool fingers . . .

the first fingers of autumn are reaching between the slats of the blinds 

and making their way into my home. 

a ride to millbrook . . .

a sweet ride down to millbrook for brunch at the Pastry Peddler.
beer and pastries with good buddies Drew and Kris . . . .

brunch for myself . . . !it was 11:05 a.m. perfectly legal!

and i worked off all the calories right afterwards . . . 

fish sitting . . .

while my daughter is away, i am fish sitting this colourful beast!

rain . . .

finally!

beauty in a drought

old habits . . .

sid dropped by late in the afternoon . . . 

it was pretty clear that he was in a less than sterling mood. 

he pushed past his moodiness briefly and took up his "guarding steven's porch" position . . . 

then suddenly, he got up and ran down the neighbour's driveway to terrorize a cat passing through . . . 

old habits . . . .

monday breakfast

under gorgeous summer skies . . .

under a summer sky

sitting by the river under a beautiful summer sky. 

the best place to be to remember - and be grateful for - all that is good and hopeful in my life.

intersections . . .

a hot ride

a super hot ride with friends . . .

creek pools

i spent time this afternoon by jackson creek at murray and bethune. i shared the experience with two old gentlemen who were sitting on big boulders enjoying beers in the shade provided by the trees. they were so excited to point out a muskrat, some small mouth bass clustered in a shrinking pool, and a wood turtle.

work underway . . .

my latest painting . . . maybe one-third of the work is done . . .

looking downstream

early morning reflections . . .

porch in motion

a night time photo of my front porch - i was playing with the camera as i took the shot of course.

my mum and i . . .

fifty nine

portraits of the blogger as a fifty-nine year old man . . .

a little spot

i had a beautiful bike ride this morning . . . here's a little spot i stopped at along the way . . .

the big fluffies

riding under the big fluffies as they admire their reflections in the river . . . .

this little flower

this little flower, growing beside my garage, (and i've never had a license let alone owned a car so perhaps this little structure needs to be renamed)), this little flower speaks as loudly of this place i call home as anything i can point to and share. 

the last three days i've been cleaning this home of mine, and reaffirming my relationship with it as a place i come to for sanctuary. (life is beautiful, and then also very very hard work and so i truly need this space). then also, i work to create and provide a safe, loving space for my children - yes, they are "grown-ups" but they love my Love in the same way i love theirs. i say "hey, my babies . . . let's share this Love that is us in a good (clean!) space!"

in this moment i honour this flower.

flowers in the drought

i'm so in awe of the plants that have survived, and especially those that have magically made flowers, in this long-lasting drought . . . .