Light and Reflections

Somewhat unusually, we found ourselves downtown by the bridge on Saturday evening. Sue was looking for an upriver photo, but what we found was incredible colour along with reflections in the placid river right by the bridge, all brought about by the light of a nearly setting sun.

Downhill is actually a dull beige and not this vibrant colour, but it was, indeed, orange in the sunset light of that night, and the reflections were also terrific.

The old Bolton Brown Mill, now condos, were also reflecting well, just a little to the left of townhall. 

Then, I concentrated on photographing  just reflections. Later, on the computer  I inverted them. I think seeing townhall this way is pretty darn cool. I have tried to do this inversion with other reflections in the past, but this one and the next, worked really well, or so I think.

Just, or mainly just, the reflected spire and flag look impressionistic to me.

Away from the water and reflections, the low sun lit up the steeple  quite wonderfully as we saw the spire peeking above the trees from where we stood on the bridge.

They say that photography is all about the light, and, quite unexpectedly, we stumbled upon it on Saturday evening.

Picking up the Pies

With it being Thanksgiving weekend, I made my habitual foray into the hamlet of Ashton yesterday to pick up two apple pies at the Ashton United Church. Although they usually hold this bake sale three times a year. it had been my first pickup since last Thanksgiving. For logistical reasons, they didn't run the sale last Christmas, and for weightloss reasons, I didn't make an order at Easter. While I am still  👀 my weight, I am no longer trying to shed more pounds, so I was very pleased to make this little pilgrimage once again.

As you are about to see, it was an overcast day, but some colour remained on some trees, so, of course I took a few photos. 

I hadn't taken this route into Ashton for some time, so the greeting on the silo was new to me. The steeple of the church where we obtain the pies is to the left in the distance.

I have shown pictures of the church more than once in the past, so I didn't photograph it yesterday. However, I did click on a little cluster of colour off to the right of the above photo. While the image could have used somewhat better light, I still found the colours to be very pleasant to view in person. I hope that  the pleasing, subtle colour comes across in the image as well.

I made a little detour on the way home to photograph trees beyond a cornfield in still overcast but still pleasant appearance.

I dropped the pies off at home and hit the stores for new phone accoutrements. I needed a new connector to use the phone in the car as well as new ear buds because my old ones won't work on the new device. I think I have endured 4 different apple connections over the years, and my supply of old cables and connectors continues to grow.

I also picked up a bottle of red for the festive weekend. It's a Canadian wine that makes a statement apropos to the unfortunate political climate: Don't Poke the Bear. I wonder if there is an Elbows Up wine as well.

I'm All Balled Up

Before we get onto the pre-written post, below, let me tell you about the latest — which fits pretty well with being :all balled up.”

Yesterday, my new phone came. That was planned.

What hadn’t been planned was both phones and internet getting a new consolidated provider. It was a last-minute decision from a cold call at our door. I am pretty resistant to sales pitches at my door, but I succumbed. 

Both the new phone and the new internet came on the same day which was a bit overwhelming. First, I had to get the new phone up to speed, which was relatively easy. Then, the technician came to get the fiber line into the house. He had trouble, and the job extended into hours, but he got it done, 

But the rest was up to us to configure or pay $150 for him to do it. This wasn't his fault. It's just how it is done. That "balled us up" a bit, but we managed to get it up and running. But I still have the old internet too, and I think some devices are on the new system while some remain on the old. My ex-BiL is very good at this sort of thing, so he will come by sometimes this weekend to help us get all sorted and “unballed up.”

"I'm All Balled Up." I said it one morning as I was changing back into my daywear lounge pants. They are the same as my nightwear lounge pants, except I wear black during the day and shades of blue at night. This colour scheme wasn't planned; it just happened. It helps me keep the two usages separate.

Digression aside, I was struggling to get my right foot through because the pant had become all knotted or tangled down by my foot. That is when I said it to myself: "I'm all balled up." 

I surprised myself, for this phrase is not part of my normal usage. However, I know where it came from although I hadn't heard it for decades. It was something that my dad would say when he got things confused. Maybe he would get his times wrong or some fact.

I looked it up for clarification. This is what Merriam-Webster had to say:

ball up
verb: balled up; balling up; balls up

transitive verb: to make a mess of : confuse, muddle

intransitive verb: : to become badly muddled or confused

I was also curious about the origin. According to dictionary.com: "This term may come from the fact that when a horse is driven over soft or partly thawed snow, the snow becomes packed into icy balls on its hoofs, making it stumble."

However, it also suggests that another meaning is possible: "that it alludes to the vulgar term balls for testicles." Apparently, that usage may have become common with American troops in WWI. I guess an alternative in that sense would be, cock up. 

It's earlier usage, however, seems to have been somewhat common with America colleges students.

The phrase "I'm all balled up" originated in American college slang of the 1850s, where it initially meant failing an examination or becoming thoroughly confused. While the precise source of the word choice remains obscure, possible connections include the image of a snarled ball of yarn or string, the act of crumpling paper into a ball, or a horse's feet getting clogged with snowballs in winter.

Dad wasn't a college student of any era, and he wasn't a soldier either. He never would have used it in the vulgar sense; nor would I although I wouldn't be quite as averse as he. He would just being using it as a synonym for confused — as was I.

So there we are. I'm am almost sure that I haven't used the phrase or even thought about it for a long time, but, suddenly, the words were back — as was dad . . . if you know what I mean.

Critters Encountered

The furnace battle continues. Partway through the night I moved from the bed to my chair in the den. Fortunately, I was able to get back to sleep, and I am grateful for that  But when I did wake up again at almost 7:30, I saw that Sue had covered herself with the second blanket. Since she runs very hot, this was quite a testament to how cold the night became. But we won and are so proud of our ancient selves for our steadfast resolve in this epic struggle, especially with the notorious Jack Frost joining the fray last night  

From various walks at various times, we've collected a few critter photos. There are a couple of cats too, but we will perhaps save them for a Caturday. We have two herons, both photographed by Sue from a distance, the first from the downtown bridge, the second from the trail near us. The second was photographed first, but Blogger was being Blogger.  (In point of fact, all of these were by Sue, who uses her nifty iPhone telephoto capabilities.)

The squirrel was posing in the park.

Woody the woodpecker was hanging out along the trail where someone has left a little collection of birdhouses. There was also a nuthatch and a chickadee flatting about, but they as I said were flitting and not posing. Apparently the woodpecker found this birdhouse good enough to eat. What a tasty treat!

I find the birdhouses to be a most pleasant addition, and I think the birds do to. 

The War is On

The October War, alternately the Furnace Battle, is on again.

At 7AM, I am wearing my sweater and am snuggled under an electric blanket as I huddle in my chair. I am toasty and warm under here, but I would likely be chilly otherwise with the outdoor temperature registering just a fraction above freezing. However, the furnace app app reveals that it is 17C/ 62f inside, which isn’t too bad, and it will increase during the day. 

We wage this futile tussle every October: resisting activating the furnace. I don’t know why exactly, but it seems like capitulation when we give in to the inevitable. We have made it all of the way to November 01 — exactly once! — but it felt like a victory. 

We shall see how and when the Furnace Battle of 2025 ends in inescapable submission. But it won’t be today. We shall hold the line, I tell ya. 

, , , Meanwhile, if I may shift the theme, I present you with an insight regarding my often unfortunate countenance. It has nothing to do with the cold but is simply, too often, my general reality. 

PS: I should have added that I did don my warm winter socks for the first time yesterday. They are long, so they help a lot. 

Early and Not Traditional

First off, I was early to rise yesterday. Through bleary eyes, I noticed a rather impressive sky and moon from the bedroom window as I stumbled out of bed. I grabbed the phone from the charger on the bedside table, et voila.

The phone automatically switched to night mode, which means that it wanted to take a long exposure and brighten the scene. I didn't want that, so I compensated by under-exposing by two stops of light. Although it was a long exposure, as long as I kept my hand relatively steady, it seemed to work out well enough. I am still figuring phone photography out, though.

After taking the second photo, above, I came into the den to make my early morning coffee and took another photo looking toward the den window and the light beyond. Actually, I took two photos: one in night mode and one not. The night mode version was too light but the regular photo was too dark. So, I blended them into one image in Photoshop.  (I don’t post these because they are exemplary images, particularly the next one, but as part of my experimenting and learning with the phone.)

That was early morning — very early morning. Close to noon. we drove into town for an early Thanksgiving feast. Probably my American friends recall that that our TG comes early compared to yours. (Actually, ours comes at the right time and yours comes late.) But we were early for our already-early Thanksgiving which will fall on this coming Monday.

We no longer hold a traditional, turkey and stuffing TG dinner for the family. It's a lot of bother for just the five of us. especially considering the two grands don't particuarly care for it. So Sue and I now usually drive into the city for the Swiss Chalet Thanksgiving Feast. We repeat the procedure for the Festive Special in December  

We paid less than the $18.29 each on a Tuesday two-fer deal.

It is not like mother, and then wifey, used to make it, but it is good enough, even though it is chicken and not turkey.

We shall do something or other with the fam on the weekend, but it will not be traditional, by any means.

On the Ground

As you are about to witness, there were a ton of leaves on the ground in the woods yesterday, but there was still some colour up high too although usually in the distance.

Full disclaimer: I played around with texture overlays with this lot. Although I don't think you can actually see the textures, they have, nevertheless, affected  the images.

My friend, Nick, talks about looking down on the ground for photo ops, so I tried to do this a little bit. While I don't put in the time and care that he does, I do think he is onto something.