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Walktober 2022 – Parc de la Freyère

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“I’m so glad I live in a world where there are Octobers. It would be terrible if we just skipped from September to November, wouldn’t it?”
― Lucy Maud Montgomery, Anne of Green Gables

Taking the time to write has been most difficult. Taking the time to go out for a walk has been nary impossible. I exaggerate, of course, because we can always choose how to spend our time outside of work. It’s been a tiring time so the want was there but the energy was not.

And finally! Weather, time and energy were all in cahoots this past Tuesday (October 18th) giving me a week to put this together and link up to Robin’s annual Walktober fun. I have a weird schedule where one day I work 9-5:30 and the other 6:15-2:45. Tuesday was the early day and the weather was ridiculously perfect. I stopped off at home, did a few things, changed my clothes, grabbed my camera and off I went. Where would the colours still be beautiful? It had been a very long time since I went to the Parc de la Freyère, and even though I did go there for part of my 2018 walk, it was worth a return. I cannot see anyone complaining. Right? Right. I was out from 4:30 to 6:30 pm. and managed to take about 500 photos, give or take. While I joked that it was impossible to take a bad picture, I took more than a few that were immediately chucked as I uploaded.

“October had tremendous possibility. The summer’s oppressive heat was a distant memory, and the golden leaves promised a world full of beautiful adventures. They made me believe in miracles.”
― Sarah Guillory, Reclaimed

On my way to the park, I had to stop and capture the three trees below. Could they more represent?

I decided to park on a side street, giving me the option to walk along Marie-Victorin Blvd which follows the St. Lawrence River through at least four towns – probably more but I’d have to check. That means walking by these gorgeous mansions with view spectacular.

As far as boulevards go, this one is rather intimate, shall we say…

Entering the park, I feared, Are the colours already over?

No, but we are definitely at the tail end, I should think.

I had to walk down this pier to see just what was frolicking in the water. Don’t those clouds look like a distant mountain range?

Herons and egrets and ducks and seagulls, oh my!

And a autumn walk would not be complete without some sumac – the first, along with vines – to show off their colours

“What the light looks like in the pear trees, in October, is a hundred teardrops of gold, the whole orchard weeping.”
― Carole Maso, The Art Lover

There may be no pear trees here, but the light was just so beautiful.

I was not alone to take advantage of this autumnal perfection. This gentleman was flying his drone, surely taking breathtaking pictures, himself. Was a tad annoying when it flew above me like an oversized mosquito, though. (Hey, maybe he captured me capturing him!)

I had to include these for you, Crispina 😉

At this point, I figured I’d stick around and await the sunset, which was scheduled for 6:04. I continued walking around clicking away because it was all just so gorgeous. No editing is necessary because the light is just perfect!

The sun was starting to make its descent and the air chilled rather quickly. I did curse those clouds that were going to hide most of the sunset!

The sky was so soft (another for you, Crispina! 😉 )

I’m enjoying the quiet when I hear in the distance “Midnight Train to Georgia”. I film it, not knowing where it comes from (apologies – I thought I was going slow!) because for some strange reason, it just fits!

The culprit:

It’s starting to get rather cold so I decided to head back, but not before capturing this little seagull making his v-pattern.

The herons drying their wings and the egrets just relaxing caught my eye.

Suddenly the egrets took flight and were circling, trying to decide where to spend the night. Something was disturbing them so they would turn around and look again. It was getting harder and harder to focus and capture them.

As I also circled towards to road and my car, I watched them – all eight! – land in the trees and try to settle. My camera is not equipped for such low light and I had no tripod but I did manage to rest on a the bridge rail and sort of get a half-assed decent shot. Only by manipulating the photo can you see I managed to get 7 out of 8 in the shot. I, for one, am pretty pleased.

I declared myself done but as I got to the other side of that little pond, I figured, I’d try once more, this time leaning on a guard rail. And again, only by manipulating the photo can you see I got all eight. Joy!

I think I have more than abused your time for this year’s Walktober. I hope you enjoyed my walk as much as I did sharing it.

Tunnel Gift

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I haven’t written anything since the FF two Wednesdays ago.  I dunno what’s up… I was looking at my blog and found that I had twenty-one (yes, 21!) drafts!  Seriously?  I do this to myself like all. the. time.  I start something, get side-tracked, go back, don’t feel it, put it aside and next thing I know the story is too old.  I decided I’d do a clean-up but not before getting my steps in, which, being a non-running day, can prove difficult.

For those who don’t know it, I have challenged myself to do 10,000K steps per day for a whole year.  82 days left to completion! (And I cannot wait for that day to arrive without making time go any faster, if that makes any sense whatsoever.

I finally convinced myself that I could sacrifice an hour of my time (on a beautiful day, no less) to “git ‘er done”.  I made the decision to walk towards a park that I thought was not too far. Right. Wasn’t too far by bicycle!  No matter. I wanted a new path today because no matter how much joy I find in taking the same path over and over again and discovering something new, today was not that day.

I walk past the golf course and know that soon, I will be off this loud and noisy and dirty boulevard.

I see there is graffiti in the tunnel and decide to go take a closer look-see.  This is where part of this post turned into an hommage to Resa’s Graffiti Lux Art & More blog.  What a find!  It started off with a quote that translates to mean:  “Yesterdays follow me and ressemble me less and less”.

A lovely and colourful ’50’s style scene unfolds.  The first frame feels like it doesn’t belong and was created by a totally different person.  Or actually, like a commercial before the main event.

First one side:

And, then, the other side:

Truly amazing work.  It took me three tries to film this without interruption from cyclists and golf cart drivers. It finally worked when I went backwards. Apologies for the movement. It’s hard to walk and hold a phone!

Time to keep moving as my destination was still a ways away.  I went another block or so and turned onto a street, getting away from the boulevard.  At the end of the street, I looked left and ta-dah!  I could see the park.  Two blocks away.  Finally.  I couldn’t find an entrance so I cut in, knowing I would eventually catch up with one of the many trails within.  I chose one that is used for mountain bikes in summer and snowshoes in the winter (note to self:  definitely must come back with snowshoes this winter).  I had lost interest in exploring this park more fully (Michel-Chartrand) knowing I had a good trek back. I shall definitely return but will take my car to get there and give myself that two hours completely in the park instead of wasting most of it on a sidewalk.

FYI, I totally busted my goal, getting over 13K steps.  Woot!

Glorious Autumn

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dVerse spoke to me today!  Kim from Writing in Norfolk is hosting and today’s theme is:  Haibun Monday: Being But Human – what is it she is asking? This:   to write about a time when you last watched stars, a storm, the sea, an animal, or something else in nature that left you with a sense of wonder or awe. Aim to write no more than three tight paragraphs, followed by a traditional haiku that includes reference to a season. Hmmm. Here goes:

 

 

As I walk along in an autumn woods with no sounds save the crunch of dried leaves beneath my feet, the wind rustling the leaves above me and maybe the occasional trill of a bird I find my heart slowing, my breath deepening, my muscles relaxing and my mind freeing itself from whatever worries I might have.  As this happens, I become more aware of my surroundings:  I marvel at the velvety, almost neon green moss growing on fallen trees.  I delight in the different kinds of fungi growing here and there:  white, bright yellow, striped greys, polka-dotted red.  I watch and smile at the antics of squirrels and chipmunks darting here and there, looking for nuts they will hide away for the winter.  The sky is a shade of blue not seen the rest of the year, which makes the yellows and reds and oranges pop all the more.  I am blessed to live through this season every year.

Colours brilliant
Fall into crispy ground
Joy is found in death

Walktober 2020 – Iles de Boucherville and St-Bruno National Parks

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“Fall has always been my favorite season. The time when everything bursts with its last beauty, as if nature had been saving up all year for the grand finale.”
― Lauren DeStefano, Wither

It’s here!  One thing we can count on, Pandammit or not!  Walkober is what I’m talking about. Thank goodness for peeps like Robin who keep the good things happening, don’t you think?

Mother Nature decided to be most generous last weekend and I went out both days with my bestie, Julie. First time I am accompanied during Walktober and it was lovely. The result? Over 500 photos.  No, don’t worry, I won’t post them all here!  But oh… how to choose…

On Saturday we met up around 2:00 pm at the St. Bruno National Park.  There are miles of trails and there were quite a few people so we kept trying to take the paths less travelled, so to speak. We “done good”, I think.

Getting up close and personal

We decided to search out some fungi, figuring there must surely be some, somewhere!  There were, indeed. Do not ask me to name a single one. I’ve zero clue.

I did not realise there are five lakes in this beautiful park.  We knew we wanted to make our way to the main one (in our minds, the only one) and tried to find a trail less populated without getting lost.  I’m assuming this lake was the main Seigneurial one! So beautiful and did not disappoint.

The colours are already muted
Hallelujah!
Through the reeds
Such a pretty dock

We found a lovely Salon de Thé that was open and were pretty sure would also have coffee, but if they didn’t, a nice hot tea would do.  They had the machinery necessary for us to each have a latte – would have been nice if it was hot and had more flavour but hey, it was something.  I do know that I would love to return post-pandemic to be able to sit for a spell.

Latte in teh making
Quarantined
Path to the tea house
Tea house

Coffee in hand, we continued our walk.  We both wished we hadn’t missed the reds of the season. It’s amazing what one week does in terms of autumn colour.  The oranges were beautiful and we could see the yellows were truly taking over but when we saw red?  How could we not stop?  Though bright green and white also got our attention.

 

We headed back, passing by someone’s property, marvelling how people who lived in these areas were never outside to enjoy their own views.  Then again, when you have all sorts of people traipsing around your backyard, would you?  Once upon a time, those who lived here had found tranquillity. Now, they were smack-dab in the middle of a national park.  I might wait for after-hours myself, now that I think of it.

the wall surrounding the property
A small view of the house
Sit on your porch, you see this

Have I lost you yet?  No?  Oh my goodness. You are all so kind.  That was day one.  Now, onto day two and the Parc National des Îles de Boucherville…

“The magic of autumn has seized the countryside; now that the sun isn’t ripening anything it shines for the sake of the golden age; for the sake of Eden; to please the moon for all I know.”
― Elizabeth Coatsworth, Personal Geography: Almost an Autobiography

This time, we decided to get an earlier start. We didn’t stay long enough for the sunset the previous day and we couldn’t get to this park by sunrise, but still.  We didn’t want the same time frame.  We should have packed ourselves a lunch but that would have required either of us to be organised and honestly? It was Sunday. We have to be organised all week, let the weekend be more relaxed, eh?

We met, this time, at around 11:00?  Five little islands with 21 km (13 or so miles) or trails form this national park, it’s also a great place for kayaking, paddle boarding, picnicking, and you can even camp there – when life is normal, that is. Again, there were quite a few people. This is when I appreciate my time working on shifts. I could visit these areas during the week. Alas, those days are over. For now.  We set off, grabbing a map of the area.  We did take it out once to make sure we were going in the right direction and according to Jules, we were (I suck at reading maps.)  It was another spectacular day of golds and oranges with a few pops of red.  We were so hoping to see some wildlife – there are deers galore, but other than a frog, ducks, geese, a snake that slithered too fast to capture, and a few caterpillars – nuthin’. Sigh. But I have to say, it was pretty cool looking at my hometown from across the river. We had a perfect view of the old Ste. Famille Church.

Still flashy
Paddle boarding on the St-Lawrence River
Paroisse Ste-Famille
Not the red we were seeking

It’s amazing how two areas, a mere twenty-minute-drive apart, felt so very different. There were so many textures to enjoy.

Fluffy
Delicate
Sharp
Wispy

As we walked along, Julie reminisced about late summers spent working on her friend’s farm. (Actually, I also went to high school with Marielle – just didn’t hang around her!)  They were expropriated some time just after we graduated from high school and are now settled up the road from my childhood house. Julie was trying to visualise where it was exactly but we could not find any “remains”.  So we kept walking until we spotted an old barn and, without having to discuss it, started towards it, through a field that has been ploughed. How weird. Of course, once we crossed the uneven terrain to arrive at the said barn, we saw there was a sort of road that we could have taken. What’s the adventure in that? And what is so intriguing about old barns?

Once we were done exploring this old barn, we followed the “road” and it led us to three more abandoned buildings. One looked like a storage shed for, I’m not sure, grain for animals? It was very low to the ground. One looked like an atelier (workshop) of some sort and the main one might have been a stall for horses – I didn’t venture inside but there was a structure that looked like it might have been a well once, right beside it.

Well?
Barn/stall
Atelier
Storage for feed?
Inside the atelier

After taking a bazillion pictures, we slowly made our way back.  We ended up at a lookout point and found that as we watched the grasses sway like waves, and the few trees in the middle, it gave us a sort of African Serengeti Steppe vibe (okay, maybe we were both weird but you be the judge!

Why such ugly bridges in such beautiful surroundings
Standing out
African Serengeti Steppe Vibe
Trio

There is a golf course on one of the islands and the only way to get there is by ferry. How cool is that?

Ferry to the golf course
Floating
Beaver dam – no beaver
Aligned

Our feet were feeling the two days’ worth of walking and we were glad to see the parking lot.  Such great company and we are planning on making this a regular thing.

Solo
Glowing
Carpet

I wasn’t planning on going on and on but it’s all Robin’s fault. She said go big for this year. So I did!  Hope it wasn’t overkill. 🙂

Heck, I’m plumb tuckered out from creating this ramble, so I’ll be taking a week off starting tomorrow – completely unplugging.  Please note, if I don’t get to any comments right away, don’t think I’m dissing you, I’ll take care of them upon my return.

Weekend Writing Prompt #179 – Lucid

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A word prompt to get your creativity flowing this weekend. How you use the prompt is up to you. Write a piece of flash fiction, a poem, a chapter for your novel…anything you like. Or take the challenge below – there are no prizes – it’s not a competition but rather a fun writing exercise. If you want to share what you come up with, please leave a link to it in the comments. Should you want to play along, click here and leave a link in Sammi’s comments.

 

Wind and leaves create a symphony
in the crisp, autumnal air

Sun renders all it touches
with a lucid and effulgent glow

No deer, no beavers,
no racoons, to be seen

But loons and mallards
caterpillars, a frog

add to the luminescent day