happiness is a walk in the park

I posted this photo last week. It was taken on a dull day, but I still liked how the colour sat in the frame  

Our Sunday morning walk took us back to the park. It was a brighter day, and the tree called to me again although it was also evident that the tree had lost more leaves. I never know which focal distance I will like best once I see them on the big screen, so I often take several photos at different focal lengths. 

My focal preference changes from one shoot to another, but in this case, I like the 4x zoom the best although I probably should have taken another 4x shot from the spot where I took the 2x shot, without the other tree trunk in the way, but somehow I like it better with the tree in front. Go figure.

I do like the other two, though, but I wonder what dear reader may think. 

normal focal length

4x zoom
my fave of the three
among other things I think the orange leaves are highlighted best in this one

2x zoom

On the same walk, Sue was looking for bench photos for a prompt and took a few of Jake and me on a nearby bench.

Then, she took a selfie.

I guess, happiness is a walk in the park on an autumn day.

More Halloween Spookiness

We are getting closer to that Hallowed Eve, so it is time for AC to post some more spooky photos  

You might remember the two ghoulish motorcycle riders that began as a daytime photo that I converted into fun but scary night scenes with AI. Well, I have imagined two more from neighbours' display.

I followed the same procedure: extracting the subject from the original photo and then describing to AI the scene that I wanted.

The Original Daytime Photo

Using the above photo (with only the subject remaining in what I sent to Gemini), I wrote the following instruction: Put the grim reaper subject in front of a spooky house within a dark woodsy area but keep some spooky red light on the subject itself.

The Result

Next

The skeletal dog subject is facing a black cat with raised hackles plus a nasty witch behind the cat. There is a Frankenstein monster behind the skeletal dog subject. This all takes place on a dark path on a moonlit night with a full moon in the frame.

I had some fun, and there will be more, but I don't foresee too much of an AI future for me.But it is interesting for now and especially in this particular season.

My Four-Minute Siesta

When I opened my Sudoku app in the morning, I was surprised to see this screen of an incomplete game staring back at me. Of course, I quickly remembered what had happened the previous night and that I had awakened, after a surprising and spontaneous map, to this very same screen.

You see, I often play Sudoku as well as other games to help me fall asleep. Sudoku requires a lot of concentration, which can tire my mind.

Sometimes on my night Sudoku games, I nod off mid game, usually for only a fleeting few seconds. On one occasion, though, I nodded off three times but, oddly enough, resumed and completed the game without error. That was weird because I often make errors when I am ostensibly awake.

Usually however, when I come to after a brief nod-off, I simply close the tablet and roll over.  On the particular night in question, however, upon coming to I was shocked to see the game still open on my lap. It sure felt like more than the usual 30 second nap.

You can see that the timer had stopped at 8:56 into the game. In the morning, I timed myself, and it took me four more minutes to finish the game. Since I usually complete a hard level game within 9 minutes or less, I must assume that I had slept for about 4 minutes on the previous evening. Oddly enough, I continued to play an error-free game in the morning despite the sleeping and the gap between my two separate attempts with that particular puzzle.

A four-minute siesta in the middle of a game must surely mean that the game was doing its part to tire me out.

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.