if it makes you happy or baby how you've grown

We had no camera when she was born, not really. This is compliments of a friend who did.

Holding her new cousin - big smiles, from her at least.

Imagination soars - growing into an excited young girl.

at the beach with her aunt

at a local airshow with me and her papa

fashion!

happy, jacket, and the park

who says you cannot swing in the winter?

Oh baby, how you have grown...

She would be the best thing that ever happened to me. Looking forward to the next decade or so of watching her grow.

toronto bound

Spent the day on Sunday wandering around downtown Toronto. Here is the result, in pictures.

toronto's elephants

Toronto had some. But they were moved last week to a sanctuary in California where the climate, and I assume the space, is more suited to their needs.

But wait.

What is this?

Elephants?

In Toronto?

With their young?

Downtown? With all the traffic?

Clearly, mommy better keep an eye out...

ai weiwei - forever bicycles, 2013

Ai Weiwei is a Chinese artist and political activist. His sculpture, Forever Bicycles, was installed in Nathan Phillips Square in Toronto for Nuit Blanche in 2013. It is made up of 3144 bicycles.

I will let the pictures of it speak for themselves. It was an amazing thing to see.

The sculpture at a distance.

3144 real bicycle frames...

All the wheels are real, laced up bicycle wheels. They also spin freely and it is possible to play with the sculpture a bit.

Depending on how you look at it, the sculpture is a real eye bender. I was not the only one chuckling though at the irony of this particular sculpture being outside city hall, what with a mayor that openly hates cycling.

photo roll

A rare double post from me today.

After coffee this morning, I judged it a good idea to wander about the place with the camera. I was specifically seeking out scenes which would display a conflict between different seasons. Right now, Southern Ontario is experiencing a bit of a cold snap. Our trees still have some colour - not all the leaves have fallen - but our precipitation is falling as a mixture of very wet and sticky snow and rain. This can, if things go well, create some interesting and uncommon photographic opportunities. Photographs can look almost desaturated, except for vibrant splashes of colour. And the best part of it is, the landscape actually looks like that.

So here are some pictures for you to look at from today's hunt for photographic opportunities.

on family and being alone

My wife and I have a curious relationship. We are best friends. We like to spend a lot of time together, and often go on dates, even after 15 years of marriage. We are not, however, codependent. Neither of us feel the urge to spend every waking minute in each other's company. Guilt trips about "alone time" are simply not on. That is not healthy living in our eyes.

She needs her time to write, and I need riding and photography time. That is just the way it is.

She is a member of the local group for the Society for Creative Anachronisms, the SCA, the international medieval reenactment society. They are a lot of fun, love history, and love dressing up and role playing. I get that. Sort of. What I cannot wrap my head around though is the dressing up in pseudo-medieval stuff and hanging out in a gymnasium. I tend to approach things with an "all in" approach and would not do this sort of thing unless it was completely authentic. I am a bit Sheldonesque that way.

I mention this because my wife and daughter are away for the weekend at an event for the SCA and I have the house to myself. No one is home but me and the cat and the rat. Periodically, she does this. I get a "bachelor" weekend, and she and the kid get some them time out playing with their friends. It is good and healthy. It gives us time to decompress. We miss each other, but also enjoy the alone time.

Normally, this means I can take a couple or few days riding my bicycles with no hard end on when I need to be home. While I don't mind long rides, and often take them, I do mind when I get carried away and take too long. Balance here is the key.

Her weekends away also free me up for a lot of time with the camera.

But this weekend is strange. 

It is full of the missing, and the alone is not wanted.

oh really weather, you think so?

It is October. This should not be happening. I mean, really...

Snow? Enough to stick to the front of the car and create actual visibility problems? In October for crying out loud?

This was the side of the car after hanging out at my parent's house for a bit eating home made muffins and drinking coffee. This shouldn't be happening in October where I live.

Mind you, the presence of snow and fall colour at the same time can make for some really gorgeous partial colour photographs which don't require photoshop. This is something to be thankful for. One thing I do look forward to is the diffuse, even light which envelopes everything once the snow starts.

Also, horses be frisky in this kind of weather. This guy was just motoring. Not when I took the picture, but just after. Honest.

This morning, though, the sun was out, the sky was blue, and any snow present came while we were all asleep and was therefore less offensive. It was also melting like crazy which was encouraging.

Coffee though was warm and good.

And seeing as this is Canada, the beer store is open seven days a week...