CHANGES

It’s the last day of October ---  with changes on the clock, in the air, on the ground, and in memories. Our clocks get changed overnight. And it’s 28 years today since I took possession of the Toronto home. And Nov. 1 would have been my dad’s 104^th birthday…Thanks, Dad!!

Autumn is in the air with a mixed bag of fiery sunrises, heavy rain, and sometimes slashing hail. Cold nights coat the ground with frost, like powdered sugar on a green salad. Great Lakes freighters arrive with tonnes of road salt, then leave loaded with this year’s local grain harvest. 

A change in the garden is Pat’s first attempt at propagating milkweed plants. The pods are exquisitely packed seed heads that separate into a thousand parachutes looking for a cold moist landing to flourish. On the other hand, no change in raking and dragging leaves!  They’ll cover the fragile raised beds over winter. Anyone for a nice maple leaf blankie??

A change in the apple trees this year --- bushels of good size, scab-free fruit. And around the feeder birds are appearing out-of-season (robins), out-of-character (flocks of nuthatches instead of singles), late in migrating (goldfinches), and just plain late (young cardinal still in mottled feathers of summer). The most unusual was a sighting of a lark bunting --- normally found in the Rockies out west. The least unusual is the daily sighting of 20 or 25 turkeys vacuuming seeds like thieves grabbing gold coins.

For a change, we’re in the U.S. for Hallowe’en tonight! The whole gang from Star Wars --- Darth, Leia, Hans, Luke and a troop of Storm Poopers ---roaming their ‘hood for treats. Look up at this week's full moon; maybe those wookies and werewolves at your door were real??

J WINS, J'S LOSE, J5 WOWS

The blizzard of last Sunday did major damage at the neighbour's down the hill. Luckily the split trees didn't go through the front window!  The ferry Chi-Cheemaun seemed to take the hint and bucked the waves into port for the winter.

Great news for Canada in the election --- the 10-year nightmare of spiteful divisiveness at the top is hopefully over. Justin Trudeau is the youngest (43) PM ever, and the first son of a Prime Minister to ever himself become PM. New generation, new mindset. The next morning we were back in Toronto, revisiting our Beach neighbourhood. Snowfence going up for winter, rain garden ready for spring.

Got swept up in Blue Jays fever as Game 5 was in town. First time in my life, bargained with scalpers but worth it --- good seats and got the Rally Towel. (Also got to wear my vintage Jay's jacket, a gift from meeting the General Manager in their first year 1977...) The town was talkin' and the crowd was rockin' but the Jays took a beating, and then lost the series. :(  :(

Next night took in "Motown" the musical based on the unforgettable music of my era, of my hometowns Windsor and Detroit. To a guy who lived through it and actually met many of the singers, the show seemed overproduced and slicker than the gritty originals. For instance, where was the backup band The Funk Brothers??  Still, a high energy show with lots of amazing voices and dance moves. Best In Show? --- the kid who played the young Barry Gordy, young Stevie Wonder, and young Michael Jackson. With the Jackson 5 behind him, a real star.

That's it for today. Like the DeLorean from Back To The Future 25 years ago to the day, we're OUTATME.

WHAT'S RED, WHITE, BLUE, AND SCARY? (+UPDATE 4 HOURS LATER...)

Sunrises this time of year are dramatic and different every day. But the lower angle of the sun means all the reds come out for their last show of the season. Which one of these shouldn't be in your bouquet??

Things get a little scary these days, too. The pond has to be cleared out and the muck at the bottom is creepy. Frogs wonder what happened to their water level. Snakes crash the frog party. And over in Meaford the scarecrows do their annual invasion. The theme this year is Sports-Scares.  Lots of stuffed hockey players and tennis skirts --- even jalopy racing is a sport to get stuffed!

The blues fill in the gaps between the clouds. Sometimes it looks like the angels are offering wisps of cotton candy in the sky.

And the white?? You can see it coming on the horizon, and then BAM! the first snowfall of the season. Red car, red leaves --- they all get frosted. Indoors, the leftover turkey ends up in a yummy pie (white is the pie crust, OK?!). (That makes 4 pies in 48 hours --- apple, pumpkin, turkey, and pizza!) 

In Canada, what's red, white, blue and scary all at once going into Oct. 19? An election, more snow, and the Blue Jays are down 2 games to none in the Championship Series. Go Canada, or Oh Canada?

UPDATE 4 HOURS LATER:

Just after the first posting, a much heavier blizzard hit the hill. It's about 6" of wet snow at the moment (noonish) and still falling. We had a birthday in the family to host but it has been cancelled because nobody can get up the hill or down!! Maybe next weekend?? in the meantime, it's a winter wonderland...