(Day 281 ) One-at-a-time bridge

On my travels around the countryside over the past week or so I criss-crossed the Rideau River a few times and I visited some out of the way places. Some of the roads didn't look like they had changed much from the pioneer days. Today I went back to a place that once was a thriving community built around a mill on the river, as so many communities were - Andrewsville, self-named by the Andrews brothers in the 19th century.

When the canal was pushed through in 1832, the road and bridge needed to accommodate only horse and wagon. I'm sure if the community had continued to grow, both the road and bridge would have been widened to handle more and larger traffic. When the railway bypassed Andrewsville, sealing its fate, the narrow road and single lane bridge continued to handle the traffic, which to this day remains light.

(10-22mm  f20  1/50 sec  ISO200)

(Day 280) Signs of the season

Thursday Oct. 7, 2010

Fall hasn't arrived yet in some parts of the northern hemisphere. The further south you go, the later you'll see the signs of fall. Here, however, there's no mistaking it. Some of the signs are obvious while others require more careful observation. Regardless, the season marches on, sometimes imperceptibly, until suddenly the next season intrudes on the current one.

I went for a drive this afternoon since yesterday's downpour had been replaced by a glorious fall sun, and I sought out some of the signs of the season.

(70-200mm  f11  1/160 sec  ISO200)

The maple trees are at their finest

(70-200mm  f11  1/200 sec  ISO200)

Canada geese are holding a last gathering before heading south

(70-200mm  f11  1/160 sec  ISO200)

bees are collecting the last nectar from wildflowers

(Day 279) Late bloomer

It's interesting how some plants, like some people, are late bloomers. Even though our dahlias have been blooming for a while, these pink ones, which I received from one of my daughters a few years ago, really put on a show as the days become shorter and cooler.

Today was one of those typical autumn days - some sun in the morning which soon gave way to gray clouds, followed a short time later by drizzle - and the early morning cheeriness turned to dreariness. While looking through the window at the pond to gauge how hard it was drizzling, I saw these pink beauties and hurried out to make some photos. As I've learned, timing is everything, for soon the light drizzle turned into a steady cold rain.

(18-55mm  f18  1/20 sec  ISO200)

(60mm  f3.2  1/25 sec  ISO200)

(Day 278) In the quiet of the evening

Tuesday Oct. 5, 2010

I will let today's photo speak for itself.

(10-22mm  f22  1/125 sec  ISO200)

(Day 277) River in fall

I drove to Merrickville this afternoon to see what fall along the Rideau River looked like. Of course it wasn't a direct drive there, since there was beautiful fall foliage along the way also, needing to be captured before it lost its richness. Sasha and I looked down on the river from the bridge, and it bore little resemblance to the river I posted back in early spring. We walked along the canal till we found a path through the undergrowth that led to the river.

Where in the spring we would have been swept away, there were now bare rocky ledges with only a small stream cascading over them. Fall seemed to be coming more slowly along the river than further away from it where most trees had already turned a fiery red/orange and had lost a lot of foliage. Here there were still a lot of green leaves, so I shall have to make a return visit soon.

(18-55mm  f22  1/8 sec  ISO200)