Leaf Peepers

Last weekend the weather was outstanding for the end of October and Bo and I decided to go for a hike. Sandwiches packed, we made it out the door before 10 am.

We headed for the nearest mountain, Mont St. Hilaire, about 45 minutes away. As we approached the entrance to the park we realized we were not the only city dwellers with this idea. Imagining the crowded and noisy trails, we retreated. We pulled over a few minutes later and took the following photos:



We decided to keep heading away from the city in search of just the right park in which to have lunch and a long stroll. We made it all the way to Sorel where there is a ferry that takes cars and passengers across the St. Lawrence river. We had our picnic in the car and enjoyed the sun and breezes on the upper deck.

We never did find a park to stroll in and we finally found our way back to the city a good four-plus hours later. But it was a beautiful day nonetheless. The scenery was wonderful, as was the company. After supper we did go for a hike...in our neighborhood.

Miam-miam!

Or, as we say in English...yum, yum!

I made a gustative discovery this week thanks to one of my students. When AJ is staying at his mom's, he comes to school with fresh-baked pastries and wholesome sandwiches and organic fruit. When he is staying at his dad's, things are less "gourmet." Recently, in addition to a sandwich, AJ had a bottle of diet iced tea and a bag of Ruffles. He was generous and shared his junk food with all of us...fortunately for his teacher because I discovered the glorious flavor of:



I've never seen this flavor before in the States. It is kind of like BBQ and salt and vinegar put together. (I notice a vinegar bottle, a red pepper, and a green onion on the packaging). Whatever the secret recipe is... they're darn good!

In my photo shoot for this blog entry I noticed that the flavor of these chips is not only glorious, but "simulated!" Oh boy! Betcha want to run out and get some now!



But seriously, they're delicious. If you're in a junk food mood the next time you're in Canada, stop by any neighborhood gas station and grab a bag!

Urban Arbres

This is a photo of part of the acre of land I own in New York State. (It, and the house that sits on it, are for sale, anyone?)

I love all those trees. Regal white pines and many other varieties shelter an array of wildlife. I regularly saw deer, great blue herons, woodpeckers (including twice a pileated woodpecker), ground hogs, squirrels (mostly of the flying variety), finches, blue jays, cardinals, turkeys, turkey vultures, bats, and of course, mice and crows.

The trees also sheltered the human and feline residents of said acre (that would be Bo and Chico and me) by providing a curtain of foliage between us, the road, and the neighbors. Such privacy...I was spoiled by it and able to walk around in whatever I pleased! Chico was in his birthday suit all the time! I had no curtains on any of the windows.

When I moved to the city, I figured that was all over. Curtains on every window, I thought!

What a pleasant surprise that Bo and I were able to find an apartment that is almost equally sheltered by trees all around! I haven't seen nearly as much wildlife though; only some alley cats, kids and your average city-dweller (montrealeris appartementocratus). (Surpisingly no link was available for this species. Stay tuned to further blog postings. I may spot one and capture it with my digital lens.)

Here is a shot from our back balcony:
A white birch tree and a sort of willow that provide a curtain between us and all of our neighbors on the right side of the alley (including one neighbor's above-ground pool). As you can see from the left side of the alley, we do actually have the need for some curtains...). This picture was taken in July, but the leaves today are still just as green and full (not for long I'm sure!).

The photos that follow were all taken from our front balcony (yes, we have two balconies!):




The last one is a look at our bedroom window. The trees in the front are ash trees and have almost completely lost their leaves. Soon the tourists in the tower of the Olympic Stadium will be able to put a quarter in one of those alien looking binocular things and monitor our every move.

In the first photo taken from the front balcony, notice the staircases...they will be the subject of a future posting.

The weather has slowly turned towards crisp and the sound of my feet rustling in the ash leaves as I head out curtain shopping tells me that fall is finally here. Enjoy the season!

Technology breakthrough for Bijou

OK, I have a digital camera. It is not perfect. I am not perfect. We're quite a pair.

First of all, I suffer from battery frustrations of all kinds.

Second of all, I lost a nice digital camera in February 2006 (right after my first trip to Quebec's winter carnival). My parents were nice enough to buy me a new one. That then left me with two cables with which to connect the camera to my computer to download the pictures. Well, both of my cables are in my storage unit in NY, so I have been unable to add any interesting personal pictures to my blog.

Breakthrough: I realized today that I can insert the memory disk from my camera into my printer which then imports the photos to my computer! Yay for me! Yay for the three or four faithful visitors to "la-la land" (as I like to call it)!

*This technology breakthrough was brought to you by HP, Mac, and the Staples USB cable that connected the two to make the following post possible!