Autumn Walk

Autumn Walk, originally uploaded by susanvg.

Autumn is in a state of decay in Eastern Ontario. Many of the leaves are down, crumbling underfoot. Flowers have gone to seed, their feathery bits float in the wind like snowflakes.

Seed pods turn into fantastic sculptures as they dry out .
          

There is beauty in this decay as the colour palette changes to browns. In the plant world decay is temporary. Spring will bring rebirth.

Aug 25/10: Shakespeare

Aug 25/10: Shakespeare, originally uploaded by susanvg.

My parents first came to the Stratford Festival about the second year of the festival when it was still held in a tent. They brought me here for the first time in 1962 and I have been here a number of times since. I love the town; I love the theatre here. I first brought my children here in 1993 to see A Midsummer Night's Dream. My daughter was hooked and she and I have come several times together. This year we are here again and the magic of the place casts its spell over us.

We revel in the morning talks where actors share their stories or members of the festival wrestle with some of the themes of the plays of the season. We stroll along the river enjoying the tranquility. But mostly we are entranced by the quality of the shows.

The Stratford Festival is a repertory festival - twelve plays in four theatres share the schedule. Actors play in more than one play, sometimes playing in two productions in a day. Sitting through two is a mental challenge. Playing in two is both a physical and mental marathon. Today we only scheduled one play - As You Like It in the Festival Theatre. The brass will sound the fanfare calling the patrons into the theatre and I know I will have goosebumps. And then the show...

Just Resting

Just Resting, originally uploaded by susanvg.

My daughter and I adore Stratford. We soak in theatre, an intense spurt in a few days. Today was Two Gentlemen of Verona and Peter Pan. Both were excellent. The quality of acting here is outstanding. And Stratford has the money to invest in sets and costumes. In three of the four theatres, the stage is a thrust stage so the audience feels less separated from the actors. Sets are often less complex, but the staging is always creative.

Another thing we love about Stratford is the town itself - many Victorian houses and a river which widens into a lake with considerable park land. We strolled along the lake on our way to supper. Many swans were by the water's edge, either feeding in the water or preening on land. This one had obviously finished with its boudoir and was taking a rest. There are many ducks, more than I had remembered. By 6:00 in the evening, a number had installed themselves on the grass, head tucked in, ready for a good rest.

Aug 23/10: Shadows

Aug 23/10: Shadows, originally uploaded by susanvg.

Where does the bench end and the shadow begin? Which is real? Sometimes the shadow is more visible than the original.

I'm in Stratford, Ontario and will be seeing Peter Pan (along with four other plays). It occurred to me as I started to write this that the play is about shadows too. Though Peter lost his shadow, it is also about the loss of childhood and the unwillingness to give up that life. Do we become shadows of that essential time in our lives?

While it would be nice to go back to the innocence of childhood, it is nice to live life larger - to travel through the greater world and have the independence and life experiences to see and learn and keep growing.

Day 291: Russell Park Dry Stone Bridge

Day 291: Russell Park Dry Stone Bridge, originally uploaded by susanvg.

We read about it in the local paper and went to have a look - this is a dry stone bridge - a bridge put together just with stones - no mortar. You can learn more about the process here. The key - is the keystone - just as in other arches. You can see a detail below.

First they built a wooden structure or scaffold underneath and placed the stones on top. The keystone, once it was wedged in holds the stones together by the pressure they exert on each other. I find it amazing that people discovered this possibility long ago. Though most structures are built with mortar, it is the same principal of wedge shaped blocks of stone (voussoirs) leading to the keystone that creates an arch. There are arches built on this principal that still stand since Roman times. Ah - the ingenuity of man.

Day 151: On the road

Day 151: On the road, originally uploaded by susanvg.

A lot of driving over the last few days - a quick trip to Toronto and back - 500 km (about 300 mi.) each way. The 401 has to be one of the most boring highways around. Every so often there is something interesting so I decided to try "drive by shooting" while I was the passenger. One thing I love is when the scenery opens up and I catch glimpses of Lake Ontario. There is something amazing about the immense size of the Great Lakes - with water stretching to the horizon. The field, not yet planted, stretches to the water. Once vegetation grows it will obscure the tiny strip of water.
I am reminded of Jane Urquhart's book, Away, much of which takes place not far from here. I try to imagine the wilderness the characters in the book encountered and contrast it with what exists now. Reading the landscape I see farmland, cleared and settled, crisscrossed by roads and highways, a far cry from the dense forest in the early 19th century. The highway, straight, flat, cuts through it all, a twentieth century improvement for the cars and trucks to bypass the nooks and crannies of small town Ontario.

Day 113: Franco-Ontario

Day 113: Franco-Ontario, originally uploaded by susanvg.

I spend part of my time in a small community in rural Ontario not far from Ottawa. Here you often see the flag representing the French speaking Ontario people - part fleur-de-lis and part trillium. Canada is a complex country with two official languages not equally served across the provinces. With Quebec, decidedly French, the rest of Canada is predominantly English-speaking. Ontario has pockets of French communities, particularly near the Quebec border and in the north. In Casselman this large flag greets you as you come off the highway. Many homes fly the flag on their lawns. Pride of place - in a sea of English in North America.

Day 9: Horses

Day 9: Horses, originally uploaded by susanvg.

I'm a city girl, but because of my relationship, I spend time in a small town in rural Ontario. It was a cold crisp day - one of those beautiful days after a snowfall when the snow is perfectly white and the sun shines, showing every nuance of the windswept snow. I took a drive from Casselman to the next town, Embrun to get some groceries. My newly focused eyes, always on the lookout for something to capture saw these horses. Even they needed winter coats. But the sun was bright. I stopped by the road and took this from my car window - focus isn't great, but for a city girl, it's a novelty to see horses. Sometimes the picture is not about the great shot, but about the story behind it.