day 347 - what is that?

the ground is covered in snow, the temperature is minus 15, all the trees are bare except for this one tree. what the...a flower or a leaf still? so i take a picture and upon closer inspection it is some plastic flower or maybe even balloons that got caught in the tree at some point during the last several weeks. eh, no, i don't need glasses yet.

day 313 - a beautiful autumn sky

it was a tad crappy today but at some point there was a golden sunshine that peaked through, which was all too brief and then the winds blew fiercer and the clouds rolled in again. this weekend, the forecast said, will be crappy as hell, rains, and probably sleet. i'm not ready for winter yet. i understand the earth is due for a polar reversal, ain't it happening yet?

day 308 - a Christmas centrepiece

here's a Christmas centrepiece being sold at Jerry's supermarket on the danforth. i think the price tag was somewhere along fifty-plus something dollars. it might be worthwhile for some who would prefer the scent of pines and logs and eucalyptus, the odd mints and apples (but that is a lot of scents, isn't it? i'm sure my nostrils will explode from so many scents to deal with), you know, outdoor fresh inside the home. but you can make this out of artificial materials from the dollarama, maybe between eight to ten dollars tops, and an air freshner (air wick or glade) for less than seven dollars with the tax, and voila! you got yourself a merry little Christmas centrepiece for cheap!

day 307 - Christmas on the danforth

there are Christmas trees everywhere on the danforth today. both sides, the whole stretch of danforth to victoria park on the east and after main street to the west. beautiful pine needles decorated with berries and cones. this one is in the front of canadian tire store.

day 301 - it's looking a lot like Christmas!!

we had our first real snowfall this morning - one that stayed on the ground for longer than two hours. in fact the sidewalks were quite icy when i went out to take pictures. the winds were bitter and really biting.

i saw this window planter at one of the townhouses in the block next to ours. i think the ball is made of some kind of leaves, but the rest are live plants, as well as the snow-ice that's collected on top. pretty little planter, i say.

day 299 - surviving the cold

walking around the neighbourhood, yes, in temperature of minus one with a windchill of minus seven, i saw this in the front of a house, and quite surprised that the leaves are still green and actually clinging to the branches still, with fruits! or berries? i don't quite know what plant this was but i was pleasantly surprised to see such vegetation in this super cold weather.

day 298 - moon at noon

if you can believe it, there's the moon at almost twelve noon. quite faint, mind you, but still visible. it was a beautiful day today, although this morning it was snowing a bit, but they didn't stay long on the ground; then the sun shone and the clouds lifted for a while. but there's no mistaking that old man winter is starting to move in, luggage and all.

if you place your cursor on the picture and right click it, you will see that that faint white spot is the moon itself. go.

day 284 - autumn flora

outside one of the shops on danforth, there is a little planter garden with very sturdy autumn plants and this is the end part of it. i don't know what kind of plant these orange thingies are, but they are very attractive and colourful. i should go back and take a picture of the whole planter.

day 281 - the last leaf

"the last leaf clings to the bough, just one leaf that's all there is now..." that is a line from the the last leaf, a song made popular in the 1960's by a group called the cascades who perished in an airplane crash. apparently they only had made one album and i used to know all the songs in that album.

there is this massive tree on one of the major routes of toronto's streetcar system; it is so ancient that i can only take a picture of it from half a block away to take a full picture, which isn't feasible since, as i said it is on major route which makes it busy with people passing by (which is fine) but also a lot of cars and buses ply the route. but the other thing that caught my eye was this one leaf hanging by a thread, which brought to mind that song by the cascades. ...and my last hope is with that lonely leaf...

day 280 - autumn leaves

these are leaves of a very young maple tree i found in the back alley of the townhouses near my building. the leaves were a tad diseased but i managed to find a few that were not which still looked good for photographing. the red colours really capture the essence of autumn's changing colours and i love this shade particularly.

day 279 - dew drops

it was foggy last night until this morning and the grounds were wet. at the little parkette on coxwell avenue, i noticed the reeds were the colours of faded gold. the bonus was they had beads of water hanging from their leaves.

day 278 - remember this?

i took a photograph of this tree 26 days ago when it still held so many golden leaves. this is how it looks now, nary a leaf on it. the next time there'll be snow on it!

day 257 - a hallowe'en garden

walking around the neighbouring streets on the danforth, i found this wonder fall garden. the colours i think are really attractive, so autumn...so...hallowe'en!

day 256 - autumn colours in full force

how i managed to take this picture from inside a speeding car is beyond me. it baffles me though that one side of the highway is almost red and yellow, nary a green leaf, and the other side is still a mix of colours, still with lots of greens. but with the winds being as they are today and yesterday, next week, when i take pictures again, i'd bet all those trees would be semi-bald. brrrrrr! it's getting colder.

day 255 - sunflower in the middle of autumn?

passed by a building on the danforth at the corner of broadview and there were these really tall sunflower plants. the other bigger sunflowers had all withered but this one still looks like it's in full bloom. and i had to really stand tippy-toes to get a shot of this sunflower because it was probably about seven or more feet tall!

day 252 - tree

"i think that i shall never see, a poem as lovely as a tree"...walking down the danforth with the grandsons, the youngest one, 6, said, "look at the tree, it looks beautiful with the blue sky! take a picture, please." and so i did. today was another beautiful day, with the sun shining and the sky so clear, even though there was some strong winds, taking a stroll was definitely a must.

day 251 - where's the GO?

this is the railway track that parallels the danforth and cutting underneath main street. you can see the skycrapers of downtown and uptown toronto on the west side of toronto. the greenery is still just sixty percent but today, with the magnificent sun shining brightly, i'd like to share the scenery with you.

day 249 - another one holding out

this tree as well as the surrounding bushes are still green, holding on to dear life, as if it can beat the season and continue being so green. but the hanging branch of the tree next to it reminds us all that autumn is in full force and the green leaves will eventually turn into yellow, then red, then brown and will fall on the ground and be swept away by the wind. and so the cycle begins again.

day 248 - autumn leaves

at the Playter Park, a teeny-weeny park at the end of Danforth just east of the viaduct, on the north side, the trees are still only 50% turning gold, but there are two trees whose leaves are solid red and provide a nice foredrop to the still green ones. the grass below is flooded with their deep red leaves.

day 233 - no mistaking about it

the leaves of this tree had turned completely red and it was a sight to behold around the neighbourhood. the temperature may still be a hold out, but there's no mistaking it, the cold weather is soon going to be taking over. as for me, as long as it's not icy, i'm okay with the cold.