To obscured moments

I could try and describe this
This coordinates, compass points, the quick step of contour lines
Slip into these karst cave holes in our memories of moments
That occurred here
And here

But a forest of metaphors only obscures the trees
So lie down now
Belly spooned to dull stone spine
The collected seductive sedation of sediments

–  Excerpt from Tanis  Rideout’s Reclamation

I like her beginning. I could try to describe this.  (Whatever this is.) But my metaphors only obscure the trees. Or in this case, the Lake. And the sky. 

I was looking for poetry about Lake Ontario (there is not enough. If you know of any, please direct me to it!), and came across the name Tanis Rideout (poet). I could only find this video, of her performing the piece “Reclamation” on Sarah Harmer’s (singer-songwriter) “Escarpment Blues” tour/documentary film. “Escarpment Blues” promoted the protection of the Niagara Escarpment and protested proposed quarry development.  (I’m only learning about this now, so I’ll have to do more research, and look up Rideout’s and Harmer’s other work!)

To autumn colours

I live a short distance from my flower picking job, and therefore cycle to work. Lately this trip has been made quite gorgeously meditative with beautiful sights!  Autumn is visiting the Niagara Region in full force at the moment, and with the escarpment* to the south on my left, and Lake Ontario to the north on my right, the road I travel is gorgeous.

The road

Looking north (toward Lake Ontario, though it’s not visible here)

Looking south (toward the Niagara Escarpment)

These photos were taken on my phone, so they’re not grand, but I couldn’t help but stop to snap a few pictures.  There was an especially beautiful, derelict little orchard along the way.   The picture (below) doesn’t do it any justice. It was magically eerie. Had I a blanket, a good book and an afternoon to read in the cool sunlight, I might have been visited by faeries.

The purple flowers contrast the greens, yellows, oranges, reds, and whites of autumn very well.

Some sort of purple aster. Unfortunately I’m not great at wildflower taxonomy (or any taxonomy for that matter).

I think I’ll have to start carrying my actual camera (an ancient Nikon Coolpix) more often. It doesn’t take grand photographs, but it’s more serviceable than my camera phone (Samsung Galaxy Ace).  Though my phone takes better macro photos than my camera. For some reason I can’t get the macro to focus… *sigh*.

I hope you all had a fantastic Thanksgiving and are enjoying the beautiful fall weather!  (And if you aren’t Canadian and don’t live in a part of the world with four season, I wish you fantastic and beautiful days all the same!)  Stop and take a photograph. Stop, daydream, and breathe the wild air!

*”An escarpment is a steep slope or long cliff that occurs from erosion or faulting and separates two relatively level areas of differing elevations” (Wikipedia, 2012a).  “The Niagara Escarpment is a long escarpment in the United States and Canada that runs predominantly east/west from New York state, through Ontario, Michigan, Wisconsin and Illinois” (Wikipedia, 2012b).  The Niagara Escarpment was designated a World Biosphere Reserve by UNESCO in 1990, which, while it doesn’t mean ALL that much, is pretty exciting because it signifies that the area of land is ecologically unique and important within a global context.  There are 580 biosphere reserves in 114 countries. There are 12 in Canada.