Leaves Up and Down

On a dull day, we took Jake to the park. As soon as I was out of the car, I was taking this photo of the distant orange tree along with the carpet of leaves and the lady and her dog. It was a dull day, but I liked what I saw, regardless. The first photo is at normal zoon, and the second at 4X zoom. The entire park is covered in fallen leaves, which was a main point of the shoot for Sue although she did wish for better light.

After we walked around the path off to the right of the above photos, I took another of the same tree using the path in the photo.

Later, I captured the same lady, staring back at me while I took her picture.

There is a stand of very red maples at one end of the park, so Sue took some angled shots, possibly for an upcoming leaf prompt although I suspect that we shall be returning on a sunnier day. I like today's duller photos well enough, however.

Jake's Timetable

Jake came with his own bed that we keep on the floor in the bedroom. Otherwise, he very much likes the cat bed on the couch, exactly where it used to be for Lacey. More often than not he rests his head on the edge.

In point of fact, he is down there now while we are upstairs, just around 9am, after both of us being forced to rise at 6.

I had been awake since 5:30, hoping to get him out back quickly and quietly and allow Sue a little extra sleep when Jake would arise at 6. Yes, he is very punctual. In the event, I did take him down, but when he came in, he was not content until Sue got up too. Once both of us were up, he went o the cat bed for a nap.

His alarm also goes off at 7 in the evening for his supper. As the clock struck 7 last evening, I thought that he was going to sleep past his time, but then his head popped up.

We were told about the 6 and 7, and they were right.

On our last evening walk, I was able to find less sinister Halloween decs, that some of your seem to prefer. I guess you can thank Jake for them.

And just around the bend as we neared home, is a prettily decorated porch, more Thanksgiving than Halloween. I posted it last year, but this years' photo didn't expose well. I blame the dog.

Winding Down

Autumn is winding down, but as is my October habit, I will likely keep on shooting colour until there is no more. I will make hay while the sun shines, so to speak, because bleak November is creeping its way toward us.

The first three photos are from Riverside Park on Monday. Sue and Jake are in the first photos.

On Tuesday morning, Jake insisted that I take him on a walk while Sue was out for coffee with a friend. I took him around the corner to the neighbour hood park. I sat on the bench beside the pond for a little bit and took this photo. The tamarack in the centre will continue to change and then drop its needles. Tamaracks (also called Larch) are conifers that drop their needles will be the last trees to change and drop their leaves (needles are leaves btw).

Come Wednesday, we offered out bare arms to the pharmacist for our annual flu shot in one arm and the COVID booster in the other. We then indulged ourselves with coffee and sandwiches in the car by the park. We have only done that once this summer, but come winter, we will likely do that every three weeks or so. It’s a cheap treat for us, and there is something satisfying about repeating a familiar and pleasant event.

This ↓ was our view of Riverside Park to the right of our parking spot near the boat launch after which we went for a park stroll in the cool but sun-heated day.

And if you don’t already know that fall is winding down and that winter is approaching out the back window, here is a reminder that one truck food vendor is shutting 'er down until sometime in May 2027.

Finally, the service guy made his annual fall servicing of the furnace to make sure that all was tickety-boo. It was, but we told him to go ahead and leave the heat on. I am sure that we could have lasted longer, but there comes a point when a few extra days wouldn't make much difference, and the nights are going down to freezing.

A Few Halloween Decorations

My nightly walkies with Dog are continuing, usually sometime around 9:30. A few more Halloween decorations are appearing in the hood. When I wish to take a photo, I lay the leash down and step on it. I throw my gloves beside the leash, and pull out my phone. I take a quick photo.

Our neighbour has added a few decorations to the very full display from last year. This is the neighbour with the motorcycle ghouls. It's a helluva ornament, so to speak. Straight photos today, no fancy AI-ing.

From up the street, you have seen the tall red dude at the top of the street before, but the rest of the display was lit better one night, so I took two more photos.

One night, I took a very short clip of the highly stylized house that I previously showed in a photo.

I have already done some more spooky AI, but I have to keep some things in the queue until we get a little closer to Halloween.

Shoes and Jake

My running shoes, or most of them, are about to go into a dark recess until, probably, May. So, I thought we should have a little primer on AC's runners to commemorate their imminent winter fading.

Stay until the very end to see why I typed, Poor Jake.

kidding — emulating typical clickbait 😁

More than 40 years ago, I had a pair of red running shoes, but then my footware became quite ordinary. For many years, they were always white — those were my tennis years. After that, in my more senior years, my casual shoes became a basic brown — functional, but blah. 

Then about, let's say, 7 years ago, I saw pair 1 ↓ advertised on sale by Merrill. They are quite dingy now, but they were spiffy then. I liked wearing them, and I got a few notices and comments.

Traditionally, because I have a stupid gait, I tend to wear my shoes down in short order, so it has been good practice for me to replace them regularly. While I still have the original orange pair, they have been at the back door all season, and I have probably only slipped them on about four times. That has been their only function for years. I really should part with them.

Pair 2 was also on sale by Merrill. In fact, all of these shoes have been purchased online and were all on sale, so I haven't spent a fortune. Like the previous orange shoes, some people noticed and commented favourably.

You can hardly see the number 3 on the red pair. Also Merrill's, they have not been my fav pair because, although they are red, they are a dull red. However, they are the one pair that will remain at hand during the winter, for they are more or less waterproof and useful for the wetter days on either side of winter, or even in winter on a day when I don't require boots.

Like the previous 3 shoes, 4 are also Merrill shoes that have received public notice and comments. They are much like shoe 2 except maybe even a bit spiffier. But when it was time for new shoes this year, Merrill seemed to have jettisoned their bold shoes, and I didn't know what I was going to do. 

Failing with my standby Merrill's, I came across 5 for sale on a Skecher ad. I figured that, with the yellow and green trim, they would give me some pizazz. Sadly, no one oohs and aahhs over them. I shall return to these shoes again in a bit, but let us move on for now.

6. After I received pair 5 this year, I saw these on another online special. At their price point, I realized that they wouldn't be great shoes for walking, which my poor feet require, but they could serve me well for a few hours to go out for coffee. In fact, one server raved to Sue about these very shoes, assuming that Sue must be dressing me doing. However, she is not at fault, for all of this is strictly on me. 

7 My favourite old shoes were probably the orange number 1s. When I saw these lululemon beauties on sale, I purchased them for next year. I have worn them only twice this year, very briefly each time.

So that it the story of AC and his remarkable running shoes.

Well, almost. But I must return to pair 5, the Skechers, before we are done here.

Although I haven't loved their looks, I have loved the feel of these Skechers and also how they slip on. I have perused the whole Skecher site and eventually found a spiffy-looking orange pair. They were not on sale, and while I already have the 7 orange pair lined up for next year, I will be very tempted to purchase these orange Skechers if I ever see them discounted.

Meanwhile, winter is coming and I have come to learn that Skechers makes winter boots. My present boots are a pain in the unowhere to lace up, so I may be forced to break down and purchase Skecher boots, but I doubt that they will be on sale as winter draws nigh.

Now  . . . TaDa! back to Jake. Poor Jake.

I have told you that Dog has very poor vision, I think much poorer than his owners thought because he probably was getting around very well in his familiar home territory. But, while he is generally doing well enough here, the poor fellow lost the awareness of the steps when my shoes were on them. Unfortunately, he stepped off the deck just to the left of the steps, hit air, and had quite a tumble. He was shook up for a few minutes and came close to vomiting. I was quite concerned, but fortunately, there seem to be no lingering effects.

Speaking of Jake, Sue tried to make him a warm cover for our colder walks. It was once a Christmas tea cozy, but she hasn't yet figured out a way to fasten it. We all had a laugh, but Shauna is appealing online to see if any of her friends might have a suitable coat for poor, old Jake.

Ghoul Riders

The neighbours across the street have quite a Halloween collection in their yard, some of which I dropped on you last year.

When I went out with Dog to get a pic of the two motorcycles one evening, I was disappointed to find that there was no light on them.

The next day, on yet another dog walky, I thought of trying to shoot them in the daylight and just lowering the exposure in post to make it look like night.

The Original

After Adjusting

I think it worked pretty well.

AI Version

I extracted the subject from the original and asked for the elements that you see in the photo.

To be clear, I did the two edits in reverse order: AI first and my normal edit second. The AI version is impressive and fun, but I like my own plain version quite a lot. It has a different mood.

Maybe I will be able to do something similar with some of the other figures in that yard.

More Bits of Colour

Autumn continues, and I saw photo-worthy bits here and there Saturday, yesterday. I took the first three photos at Riverside Park. Yes, that would be Sue and Jake in the third photo.

This is the trail (the OVRT if you ae familiar with the area) that extends a long way north out of town. It is used by snowmobiles in winter and buggies in other seasons. In fact, two buggies zoomed by me on their way north right after I squeezed this photo.

This ↓ is near the Yard Waste Depot where I dropped off two bags of leaves and clippings on Saturday morning. (Leaf pickup won't occur until November, and we don't want bags hanging around for two more weeks.) The path on the left extends into the St James Woods. I should like to go for a walk there sometime soon.