The Puddle Incident

While walking in the park, I wondered if I could find a reflection photo with this puddle, for I have said that one should always investigate the photographic potential of a puddle. Of course I seldom do, but I was beginning to look when sue placed her coffee cup on the edge.

I took the shot, I don't think the cup added much if anything.

So, I moved the cup closer to the centre.

Eventually, I got one photo that is okay. Just okay, but very us. The green is all reflection of tree leaves.

So, remember to have a look next time you pass a puddle. It could be worth it. If not, you could have fun trying.

↑↑ THAT ↑↑ was the post, BUT since we encountered another puddle on the next day, I might as well expand the post.

Once again, there was nothing significant to be seen in the puddle, but I did put Sue there, and since Tim's is in the background, I can talk about that a little in the process. Here is that photo, for no particular reason.

Once we got inside to order our coffee to take on the rest of the walk, there was a longer lineup than usual. 

When the gentleman on the right heard Sue and I talking about the drive thru
being the faster than coming inside, he reminded us the time when
a rider rode his horse through the drive thru.

At Tim's the cars in the DriveThru get served more quickly than the customers inside. Although, they have just added two of those new-fangled order kiosks inside, I wasn't in the mood to experiment. I know that the kids prefer them to an actual human cashier no matter how short the line, but I am not there yet. \

When I travelled recently with Shauna, however, she saved us quite a bit of waiting time by using the kiosk. Sue says that at busy roadside restaurants, Sha will order from the car via her app. I do have that app for payments, which saved me on coffee in each of the last two visits for a total of $4:50 because I had accumulated points, but I haven't used it to order ahead of time. I have resolved to try it next time I have coffee with the boys — that is if hell frees over, and I happen to remember.

Anyway, the length of the line was deceiving because four of the old people were together, so it didn't take very long to be called to the counter, and we were then served by a pleasant young lady who asked if we were having a nice day. We continued on our walk through The Junction and found a bench to sit on by the play structure. We didn't take any more pictures, which is really quite remarkable. Not even a selfie. What is the world coming too‽

Father Goose

Fear not. I do not intend to report on every little bicycle ride that we take, but Sue thought of me as Father Goose on this one.

Although Sue and I did get on one ride without company, L was out to greet us as soon as opened the garage on the next day. Then, he got his brother, J out too. With me being followed, single file by two boys and Sue riding shotgun, she thought of geese out for a promenade.

At one corner she had us all make the same gestures for her post of the day: stop, left and right.

I liked the right signal best for photo purposes.

A little later, on a long section, I sprinted ahead, got off my bike and took a video clip of the three of them approaching.

Caturday 93: Sabine and Sarnia

We visited and spent time with Sabine twice this week because her humans have decamped to Southwestern Ontario for a week. Shauna takes the kids there to visit old friends in the place of her youth. They stay with her school friends who always take care of the kids well, and they have a pool, so the kids like to go too. At their present ages of 17 and 19, I am not sure how much longer these visits will be feasible, but they are enjoying them while they can.

Sabine is always quite happy to see us, and both Sue and I invariably snap a picture or two. I have two that I like. I took them with with the phone, of course, and I processed this first one right on the phone, cropping a lot. Ideally, both eyes would be in focus, but these, like most now, are just fun snaps, and I like the result quite a lot.

I also edited this next one on the phone, and I thought it looked good, but when I saw it on the computer, I didn’t like it, so I scrapped the phone edits and processed on the computer. Once again, I cropped, and in this case, I also asked Photoshop AI to fill in a nicer background (its choice, not mine this time), for I had shot while prone on the floor, and other than Sweet Sabine the scene was pretty sketchy. I like how Sabine looks, though.

One thing that I miss about Sarnia is chips under the bridge where the water is blue and when day is sunny and warm  A visit to the waterfront is always on Shauna's todo list when she visits  

And . .  . just so you all know, that is the St Clair river at Sarnia with Port Huron, Michigan on the other side. Before 911, we would cross regularly without hassle, but then everything got stupid. Things are even stupider now. Shauna sent this photo to show us the painted stones at the riverfront: something that began during C19, apparently. 

Our Persistent Ancestors

I have come across concept this persistence hunting concept in various anthropology podcasts, and when I came acroos this article, I decided to write a little post. Despite the linked article, I am just writing from my general memory and not the article itself. This is my unscientific and very sketchy memory speaking. :)

Furred animals don’t deal with heat as well as our furless species. This was very true in the African heat of ancestral times. It's hard for furry bodies to dissipate the heat. They largely adapt by laying low during the highest heat. Our ancestors, however, lost their fur and were able to cool themselves by sweating, and so they could actually be active during the day.

Our forebears also became bipedal which is a very effective way of getting around. Bipedalism plus the ability to sweat and cool themselves enabled early hominids to become good at travelling distances. They were built more for distance endurance rather speed.

The belief is that they learned that they could chase a potential prey over a long distance as the prey, say a gazelle, would have to keep resting to not be overcome by heat. 

When our ancestors eventually caught up with the exhausted animal, they had their primitive tools to complete their mission. I have seen persistence hunting re-enacted in a modern video in which, as far as I know, they did not actually dispatch a critter.

Well, that is my very unsophisticated description and explanation from what I recall. Please do not forward this to anyone who can explain this in proper scientific terms :)

However, I will leave you with a substantiating quote from the article.

The San people of southern Africa still show how persistence hunting works: up to this day, they run under the scorching heat of the sun, sweating consistently to cool off, and tracking the footprints of their prey, until they find them collapse from heat stress.

These types of hunts are not about speed; they are not sprints but more like a marathon. It is a battle of endurance, stamina, and internal temperature control, which our species has millions of experience in.

Years and years of persistence hunting likely further developed some traits that predate it, like bipedalism. By using their two legs more, our ancestors were able to unlock the ability to cover more ground with each step, withstand the repetitive stress and impact of running, and have a larger, more efficient lung capacity, which allows more intake of oxygen.

https://webpreneurships.com/before-fire-or-tools-humans-outran-their-prey-to-stay-alive-a-survival-skill-known-as-persistence-hunting

Flamingo Lily in an AI Setting

Weeks ago, our neighbours passed this plant on to us. It sat in the sun porch and has now made its way up to my den to adorn what was Lacey's podium. I took this photo in great light, but what a terrible setting!

I'd had no idea of what the plant was, but Apple informed me that it is a Flamingo Lily, a type of Anthurium plant. It has remained like this, with one single flower, ever since the plant was passed onto us.

Anthurium plants are native to the tropical rainforests of Central and South America, where they thrive in humid, warm environments under the forest canopy.

Flamingo lily care requires bright indirect light, warm temperatures (60–85°F), and well-draining, chunky soil. Water the plant when the top 1 to 2 inches of soil feel dry, and maintain high humidity to keep the glossy leaves and bright blooms healthy.

However, the main thing for today is not so much to talk abut the plant but to reveal the before and after photos. You've seen the former ↑ and this is ↓ the after.

I removed all of the distractions, just keeping the plant and pot before asking AI to put the pot and plant on a nice desktop with a large window behind that included a lake in the scene.

I don't do a lot of AI generation, but it is fun to dip my oar in periodically. 

AC Transfigured

At a recent stop at the Dark & Deadly cafe, I did what I often do and took a snapshot of one of the characters. Without doing a before and after, I will show how the finished product looked after I added a hellfire background (AI) although I don't recall the exact descriptive term that I used.

I liked it well enough but then had the notion to replace the skeleton's skull with my own head.

While the fire was an AI interpolation, the head swap was completed via old-fashioned, manual photoshopping.

Back in the Saddle Again

I am not sure when we last got the bikes out, but I know we didn't bike at all last year and possibly not the preceding year either. My last cycling endeavour pulled a muscle in my leg, I think from going up an incline too rapidly. We've been out twice now, keeping to smooth roads for the most part while pedaling gently and avoiding inclines as much as we can.

On day 2, I recorded our route and mileage. It's not impressive, but it still felt good.

We've been riding with the cute neighbourhood boy whom we keep between us: me in the lead and Sue keeping watch at the back. So far, it is good to have him with us because kid-sized bikes can’t go as fast as big bikes although we wouldn’t be booting it anyway at this point in our lives. 

We have our phones mounted, and Sue managed some photos to take some photos.

Here's a larger version of one of the above pictures as we cycled through the neighbourhood park. 

It feels good to get back in the saddle again. In my early days of blogging I wrote about our rides periodically if not frequently. We enjoyed riding pretty fair distances. It's different now, of course, but it is still a pleasant activity. As we approach our 80s (we are both 79 or will be very shortly), we feel secure in our balance and hope that our bodies allow us to continue this activity in its present, reduced form.