BREAKFAST OUT FOR A CHANGE, A GODERICH TOUR, & AN AFTERNOON SPIN AROUND THE TRAIL WITH REBECCA & RICARDO

A bit nippy this morning but just fine for planting some new Daffodil & Tulip bulbs. Lots of pine needles to rake up & I don't mind doing that. Most needles will go into the utility trailer to be hauled off to our recycle area in a few days. But, a few piles I always save for a campfire while working outside. Pine needles give off a lot of smoke & it's really groovy for making big whampum smoke signals. Plus, I like the smell of a campfire when I’m outside at this time of year.

 

IF THE GOLDEN COLORED PINE NEEDLES WOULD STAY THIS COLOR I WOULD LEAVE THEM ON THE GROUND BUT ON OUR RETURN IN THE SPRING THEY WILL ALL BE A SCHMOOZY DARK BROWN YUKKY MESS IF NOT RAKED UP IN THE FALL

While contentedly raking needles this morning I couldn't help but feel again how fortunate we are to still have a sticks & bricks house. Four years ago I was ready to give it all up & hit the road full timing. I'm sure we would have been fine, enjoyed it to the max & had ourselves a great time. I'm also sure, knowing Kelly & I as well as I do, that by now we would have been anxiously chomping at the bit thinking of ways to have other things to focus on & do besides being in our Motorhome every single day of the year. I sensed our subtle unrest over the past couple winters & suspected a change was probably headed our way again. I knew we needed more of a challenge than just driving from point A to point B, staying for a couple weeks & then moving off to points C,D, & E. That change came in the form of our Congress house. We now have something to focus our interest & energy on. Big work challenge of course but I'm looking forward to that. How better could it be for someone like me, with a short attention span, to have a challenging project to focus on while in the South-west, & still be able to travel around to neighbouring scenic areas in our Motorhome. Not everybody's cup of tea of course, but it sure works great for Kelly & I.

As most Snow Birders know, much of the pre-trip packing & loading is done in the last couple days before departure. Don't like the rig sitting for a long period of time with all that extra weight in it so I wait to the last couple days before adding more water to the fresh water tank etc. Groceries are saved for the last couple days as well. Because of our cold nights now I don't load up anything with small batteries in them until we're ready to go.

ALL THIS IS GOING IN THE MOTORHOME, RIGHT:((  WRONG, THIS IS ALL GOING BACK TO CAMBRIDGE WITH REBECCA & RICARDO:))

Rebecca & Ricardo came over about 11 this morning & we all piled in the Santa Fe & headed to the BAYFIELD BERRY FARM for breakfast. From there it was off to have a look around Goderich with emphasis on the August 2011 tornado damage & reconstruction, plus a look at the beach & harbor areas.  Checked out further tornado damage still visible in & around Ben Miller on our way back.  Upon returning home we all took Pheebs for a walk around our morning trail. 

BREAKFAST AT THE BERRY FARM

WALKING OUR MORNING TRAIL IN THE AFTERNOON

Nice to see the enthusiasm & interest of younger folks & how impressed they are with our area. Coming from downtown Vancouver, or downtown any large city, I can certainly understand their excitement at a whole different way of life here in the rural countryside of Huron county, south-west Ontario.

COLD & WINDY IN THE GODERICH HARBOR TODAY BUT DID MANAGE A QUICK PHOTO>>>

Commenter Alice had a question about one of my photos in Tuesday's post. "Any tips on how you get the dark background would be welcomed". One of the easiest ways to do this is first find a transparent subject such as a leaf, flower petal, blossom, etc. In the case of my leaf, the sun was behind it. This is called 'backlighting'. Next, look for a darker area behind the subject & try to position your subject in front of the dark area. Could be a tree trunk or simply the dark shadows of the forest. Does not have to be black or super dark. Just darker than the object you are photographing. I generally place the subject in the center of the frame & move as close to it as my lens will allow. I often take these types of photos with my 300mm lens which easily blurs the immediate & far background blending the already darker shades together. I have my Nikon D-40's light meter set to read only the center portion of my screen. It is not set, like most cameras, to average the light for the whole frame. The center weighted light meter in the camera adjusts itself to give the brighter lit subject the correct exposure. By doing this it automatically closes the lens down (old photo term) & in doing so makes the already dark background, darker. Use the same method with the sun shining directly on the subject as well, just like the green leaf below. If you can, fill most of your frame with the lighter subject, let the camera's light meter adjust for that lighter subject & you should be fine. This can all be done manually as well but for most folks, just let your camera make the adjustments for you. The exposure, to a certain degree, can also be fine tuned in one's photo editing program later on.

THIS LEAF HAS A STRONG LIGHT SOURCE SHINING ON IT INSTEAD OF THROUGH IT

And remember, don't let all that new camera technology frustrate & get you down. Yes, it's important to understand your equipment but it's even more important to understand some basics of photography. All that mega tech stuff is great, but without a few photo basics, your photos may be technically correct, but still lacking something.  And, that something is generally, you…………….  Be creative:))

THE HAPPY WANDERERS

GROANER'S CORNER:((  I know it isn’t Halloween yet but here’s a Halloweeny just to drive y’all nuts anyway………………………..

A man is walking home alone late one foggy Halloween night, when behind him he hears: BUMP...BUMP...BUMP...
Walking faster, he looks back and through the fog he makes out the image of an upright casket banging its way down the middle of the street toward him. BUMP...BUMP...BUMP...
Terrified, the man begins to run toward his home, the casket bouncing quickly behind him.FASTER...FASTER..BUMP...BUMP...BUMP.
He runs up to his door, fumbles with his keys, opens the door, rushes in, slams and locks the door behind him. However, the casket crashes through his door, with the lid of the casket clapping. Clappity-BUMP...Clappity-BUMP....Clappity-BUMP...
Spinning around on his heels the terrified man runs. Rushing upstairs to the bathroom, he locks himself in. His heart is pounding; his head is reeling; his breath is coming in sobbing gasps. With a loud CRASH the casket breaks down the door bumping and clapping toward him. The man screams and reaches for something, anything, but all he can find is a bottle of cough syrup! Desperate, he throws the cough syrup at the casket...and,
!
!
!
!
The coffin stops........................

---------------------------------------------------------------
- Tourists see the world, travelers experience it.
- Home is where your pet is:))
- "If having a soul means being able to feel
love and loyalty and gratitude, then animals
are better off than a lot of humans."
(James Herriot)
- The pessimist complains about the wind; the optimist expects it to change; the realist adjusts the sails -William Arthur Ward
- The only thing better than right now will someday be the memories of right now...AL.
- It is not so much having nothing to do as it is not having the interest to do something....AL.
- OUR PHOTO ALBUMS - .https://picasaweb.google.com/117858411710794543295/
stargeezerguy@gmail.com