After two weeks in the US and Canada, the whole auto-flush thing still takes me by surprise every single time.
Canada
Oh, Canada #2
Oh, Canada.
I don’t want to leave you.
It’s too soon. I want more.
I don’t care about cold, or snow, or wintery pictures.
I’m not done loving you yet.
I promise you, I am coming back.
This is not goodbye. This is “see you later, eh!”
Wait for me.
Quebec #4
Philipsburg, St Armand… Finally.
I have wanted for so long to be here.
It’s a small, quite old-fashioned village. It’s late afternoon on a cold day, so there is nobody about. The crisp air bites at my face as I stand at the shore of Lake Champlain. My mind sees the images of the lake in different seasons that I have looked at so often, taken from this same vantage point.
Today my photographs are of the frozen lake, still deep in its hibernation over winter. I now have a complete set.
The Canadian Legion branch 82 is closed today, but I know what it is like inside anyway.
The church nearby is also closed, but in my mind I see a happy couple and a proud father on the steps, smiling for photographs and enjoying their special day.
I know a number of the locals, although they do not know me.
I take photographs for the memories, but I know I will return. Part of my heart remains here. I’m never really far away.
Quebec #2
Canton de Bedford.
I’m walking down the Rue Principale.
It’s a pretty town, in some ways quite rustic. Charming.
The lady in Boutique Micheline is very friendly, and we chat about the scarf I have chosen to buy.
I wander back down the street, past Cafe Rouge to Metro where I buy things for dinner. I think we got the one slightly grumpy cashier in the place. Everyone else is delightful.
I like Bedford and would quite happily come back.
Oh, Canada.
Even in the stark near-nakedness of winter, you are breathtakingly beautiful.
Roadtripping #2
Today is bathed in sunshine.
There are still drifts of snow by the road and in the fields, thickest under the pines and cedars where the sunlight has not yet penetrated. If this weather keeps up, that won’t last too much longer. Canada might actually get the spring weather she has eagerly awaited for so long.
We’re driving on Route 401, heading for Ottawa.
Late Winter in Canada #2
I am so glad I got to experience Canadian snow.
Cold hands, cold feet, cold face.
Very warm and happy heart.
Mid-flight musing #1
I’ve written about ten notes in a new app while flying, and they keep disappearing. It’s a pretty app, but it just got deleted. Frustrating. Who needs that? Bye bye Weedo. Don’t tell me it was me screwing up, either.
An Aussie Maple Leaf, adrift on the wind... 