It’s Friday of the long weekend which marks the Canadian Thanksgiving, a traditional time to celebrate the end of harvest. A transition of sorts towards the long cold winter that is to come. Somehow it seems so right that the transition is marked in nature by the changing of the trees, to a blaze of fall colours just before they fall off their trees which are preparing for their winter rest.

I’d like to be preparing for my winter rest, I’m not a winter lover. I do have to admit to admiring the cleansing effect of fresh fallen snow on the landscape. As long as I don’t have to drive in it. I’m fortunate in that I do have the freedom to be able to draw the line in the snow and refuse to drive when snow or sleet is falling. The only time I really get caught in it is if I’m away from home when it gets underway.

Back to the fall. One of the other hallmarks of the fall is the often mild days followed by cold nights. This morning I happened to step out my back door just after day break, the sun was just starting to rise up over the horizon. Just enough to catch the colour on the tops of the trees but not yet enough to fully hit the ground. Glancing over at my neighbours I spotted this in the field behind them:

Quite a picture with the fall colours surrounded by a patch of ground haze. As I turned back towards my house the corner of my own property caught my eye with the early morning sun again striking the fall colours of one of my trees:

Have a safe and happy Thanksgiving Canada. Even in these times of economic upheaval, we have much to be thankful for.