Something To Brighten Up The Wet Weekend

We've been breaking daily rainfall records here in southwestern British Columbia, which pretty much spelled the end of the fall foliage photo-ops season. Here are two shots taken on the afternoon of October 22, 2006, before the rains, of a maple across the street from where I live. Had I an ultrawide angle lens, the first picture below would've been a spectacular fan of yellow and blue.



What would nature be without decay? Here are some rotting leaves lying on the street against the curb. An occupant of a nearby house said hello and asked if I was checking out my new camera. He was leaving for a fishing trip.


If one takes the time to dig a little deeper, even the mundane can take on a new life. I spent much of that afternoon collecting leaves. It turns out that there are no fewer than three types of maples lining the street—Sycamore Maples, Norways, and what I take to be Sugar Maples. This would explain the different colours and why certain trees shed their leaves earlier. It's taken me 12 years to realize this, far too long. My profound lack of knowledge about trees [I have to keep reminding myself that they too have DNA] prompted me yesterday to order this wonderful book, The Tree, by Colin Tudge.

Because I've been saving up for a digital SLR—right now it looks like the Pentax K10D—the book buying has calmed down significantly. However, I did drop by an A&B Sound store, a deserted one, I might add, to pick up a Neko Case DVD, and a Madeleine Peyroux CD. This disc, Officium, of ancient choral music (some dating back to before the 12th century), accompanied by a saxophone, has been spending some time in my CD players lately.