in the coffee shop

I like coffee.
Yes I do.

The sight.
The smell.
The taste.

The variety.
The warmth.
The cup.

The ponies.
The quirky.
The space.

The people.
The chair.
The table.

The food.
Oh yes, the food.
Some Yum.

And last.
The atmosphere.
Oh baby, the atmosphere.

Coffee.

The stuff of passion.

in quest of landscapes

We went on one such quest this afternoon. The day was blustery, windy, and generally blown about. Thankfully, there was no rain to be had, although the sky was overcast.

The quest started, as so many of them do, with a stop in the local coffee shop. This place is a lot like the TV show Cheers, with people yelling "Norm!" all the time. Well, not quite, but there is a good chance of seeing a friendly face each and every time the shop is entered. In this case, we bumped into a good friend of ours who was taking a pause in his day to enjoy a coffee and get some writing done.

There is a lot of pedestrian traffic in the Uptown. Today, through the window, an animated conversation was taking place.

After we left the shop, we sallied forth in search of our landscapes of the day. This is what we found.

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...

more night, good night

more spring madness

I managed to get out with Martin today for some photo work and coffee. We travelled from Waterloo to Paris (Ontario, not the one in France) and took some pictures along the way.

Here is a selection of what we got on our travels today.

Found in the river at Glen Morris - this area is usually not under water at all. With the usual springtime melt, coupled with the heavy rains over the last few days, the river is running very high and much along its edge that normally is dry, is submerged.

Shot from the sidewalk, this collection of things out front of this stuccoed house struck both me and Martin as being worthy of a photograph.

The light today was that very muted light that comes with rain and heavy overcast.

Most of the bright colour came from unnatural sources thanks in large part to our delayed spring.

The barest hint of green is all that is out there, even along the shores of the river where you would expect to find more of it.

Excellent advice here - driving to the left of the sign would be a messy and rather wet experience.

Running high and not dry. Lots of water today over the dam in Paris.

a busy few days

It has been a busy few days.

On the surface, not much has been going on. I have gotten up, gone to work, returned home, worked some more, and slept. Rinse, lather, repeat all week long.

But a few things came to an end this week, ushering in as they did some new beginnings. Firstly, the Friday I have been waiting for finally arrived.

the new bike leaning against one of my daughter's many book cases

I was finally able, after long last and much saving, to pick up my 2013 Kona Jake the Snake cyclocross bike. This thing looks to be a beauty, and I am really very much looking forward to riding it. Lots of pictures of it and a mini review will come later when I can get to it. It is still very salty outside - left overs from winter - and I refuse to ride it outdoors until the salt is washed away.

The pick up of the new wheels happened on Friday.

Saturday, I had a pile of errands to run, a birthday party for my nephew to go to, a birthday party to drop my daughter off at for her friend, and a visit with a friend of mine. We went out walking for a bit around Uptown Waterloo and I shot a couple of pictures.

sign outside a local restaurant

inside a local bike shop

Besides a very good coffee and some light refreshment, one of the things that was accomplished was that my friend picked up his new bike.

There is a lot of that going around it would seem.

He needed a new commuter, and settled on a pretty sweet basic Brodie to help him cart his carcass around the city. Nice bike. Good colour. And a very happy friend. I don't have a picture of it yet, but that is, I assure you, coming. You see, this friend of mine wants to do more biking, and wants to use the new wheels as a car and we can both foresee our collective families getting together for many rail trail rides this spring and summer. Should be good fun.

Today? Busy as well. More work, a bit of play, and some furniture moving.

I almost look forward to getting back to work tomorrow so things can settle down a bit.