Wednesday, October 10, 2007

A brief stopover in Autumn

Not a heck of a lot of spare time today. Unfortunately the reality of actually spending a holiday at home is a frantic rush to play catch-up with life when you return.

Nonetheless, I am glad to have finally taken the initiative to get home for Thanksgiving. I'm tired of pretending that there aren't certain days where family matters just that little bit more. It was refreshing to just relax and be with them, without the normal pressures of trips back, in which every one with whom you had a semblance of a relationship with at some point in your adolescence wants to do coffee.

The other pleasant surprise was a sudden envelopment in autumn. A rainy metropolis doesn't capture the spirit of the fall quite the same as does a small mountain town. Not only was this the first Thanksgiving I'd spent at home in six years, but it was the first time I'd returned home during the fall at all during that time. I'd forgotten the multicoloured streaks highlighting the hills, the crispness of the air that seemed to be that much more full of oxygen, the golden tint of the sunlight.

Fortunately, we were able to stay a day after the Thanksgiving hubbub and take a brief trip out of town to appreciate the outdoors. Unfortunately, my camera battery died soon after we left, though I was able to capture a few shots.







After a trip to a nearby small town, where the last two pictures were from, we went for a brief hike amist a giant cedar forest. The trees were so enormous that the four of us, with our arms outstretched, couldn't reach around them. The woods were scattered with dessicated devil's club.

This reminded me of how a childhood friend once told me you could only be pricked by a devil's club a certain number of times in your lifetime. Once you reached that exact number of stings, you would drop dead near instantaneously due to the poison's profound effects.

It then struck me how refreshing it was that the urban myths of my youth were more likely to be about aspects of the natural world than about kidnappers and other such predators.

24 comments:

curryegg said...

Hello princess..
Look like you've a good blog here. And you love to take photo don't ya?
I love the place. Nice vacation..!! Wish to travel there some day...

^^

david mcmahon said...

G'day Princess,

Thanks for visiting my blog and commenting. Nice work here, cool writing style and I like your penchant for photography.

My ABC Wednesday post from yesterday was a picture from Lake Joseph, Muskoka.

Take care and do keep in touch.

Cheers

David

Ant said...

Blimey - why did you move to the city? Your home-town looks amazing...

My sister used to come out with similar stories to frighten me as a lad: careful of the hogweed or it'll burn your skin right off! Actually she used to come out with all kinds of stuff like that ("don't bite your nails or it will all ball up in your stomach and scratch the lining from the inside out!") - we never fought physically (much) but she would exert all kinds of psychological torture on me. Maybe explains a thing or two...

Airam said...

Those pictures are awesome! You're really good at pointing at things and shooting them!

:)

captain corky said...

Amazing pictures! Can I have a copy of the first one? Nothing quite like Thanksgiving.

~**Dawn**~ said...

Linked over here from Davi's blog. Man do I miss Autumn...

UBERMOUTH said...

WHat Canadian town is this?

Crashdummie said...

Looks like an urban fairytale city... me love! agree with ant, who on earth would you ever wanna leave that place?

Hope you had a wonderful time!

Cheers!

Ashley said...

Oh wow that looks so beautiful! Its always nice to get away and go back home. :) glad you had a great holiday!!

Mim said...

Wow, that's beautiful..I might just have to move there.

Beth said...

How about that youthful urban myth, "Step on a crack, break your mother's back?"
Combined a bit of playfulness with a bit of horror.
I actually used to take care to avoid the cracks.

Beautiful pictures.

Anonymous said...

I love! Especially that first photo. It's so pretty.

That bit on every one wanting to do coffee... groan. I'm trying to dodge some people from way, way back, but I don't know how to do it without being rude.

Michelle and the City said...

lovely photos. i am so happy the leaves are changing colors! fall has finally arrived :)

Sheila said...

Sounds like you had a really nice time! Autumn is my favorite season, but I have lived in the deep south for so long, I barely get any glimpses of it.

Yoda said...

mmmmm roast duck!

The leaves are changing colors over here too, only that I have no time to take pics :-(

eric1313 said...

It's been such an unusually warm autumn here in Michigan the trees started to change three weeks ago, then we've basically had the last three weeks be around eighty Fahrenheit, so the bulk of the trees stayed green, and the leaves that did change dropped. Now it's starting to change again, but for a short time, everything was green again. Very weird.

I love the pic of the valley and river amongst the trees and small town. So idyllic.

Dessicated Devil's Club sounds awesome. That little factoid is a great detail for a good story or a poem.

Hope you get caught up soon.
Peace out.

di.di said...

Happy autumn! I hope the autumn stays longer, gives you more sun before you are subject to the grey and gloom of winter.... :P

X said...

I went home for Thanksgiving as well (the week before, but still...). I found it harder to be home since I was trying to catch up with all my old friends. Great to see them, but exhausting! It's awesome that you stayed an extra day...hikes always calm me.

Ultra Toast Mosha God said...

That first picture is beautiful.

All the urban myths from my childhood were about stalkers and paedos.

I am jealous.

Crushed said...

You come from the country then?

My childhood was a suburban one- so yes, all that 'Say No to strangers stuff'

My Dad used to go on about his childhood fishing and that, by streams.

Ours was more about street loitering.

Families can be a pain, but I find the less you see them, the more you appreciate them.

Anonymous said...

ouch. that plant looks uber painful. hope i never get pricked by it! haha. also the ducks crossing the street? too cute.

Anonymous said...

Wow. That does sound really refreshing. And those trees look beautiful. I think we all need a refreshing family holiday every once in a while.

Anonymous said...

ditto about the first pic. so beautiful!

Jocelyn said...

I so much like your closing observation; it reminds me of what I'm hoping to do with my own kids.

Me? I hate holidays and Thanksgiving in particular. But your joy is infectious, and I may step off my curmudgeon box now.