behindtheax

a sunny afternoon

O.K. now it is truly the eye of autumn. The air was so crisp this morning I felt like I could break it into smaller pieces. And the trees along our street are beautiful, rich in warm colours. Walking under them as I accompanied Monica to school they rained leaves on us the whole distance. They were falling so gently and so steady, coating the ground one leaf at a time. There were yellow leaves pretending to be parking tickets stuck under windshield wipers. Red leaves pretending to be forgotten velvet cloaks draped over drainpipes, burnt orange leaves pretending to be pumpkin skins along the curbs. And then that wonderful (although slightly late) sun came out and added a shine to it all.

Yesterday afternoon, I went for this very long walk and ended up walking along the shore of Lake Ontario. I wasn’t planning on walking quite that distance but the day had turned out so warm I just kept walking. Plus I was getting to a claustrophobic point and I needed to look out over an expanse of water. The lake is not the Ocean and I feel because of this I never quite give it a fair enough shake. It is a little less than what I crave or think I need. Lakes no matter how big feel tame to me and I want an ocean to stand next too. Don’t get me wrong it’s a great lake (had to say that) and it holds a blue horizon and it sounds lovely when the waves come in and I can gather the things I need from it. – space and calm and beauty – but I can’t store these. It is fleeting and I feel detached from it. I want salt and that edge of the world feeling the Atlantic can give me. Maybe I’m just homesick.

I sat for a while wishing I had my red journal. There were several haiku like moments I wanted to try to capture. This lady on the beach had this beautiful long legged grey, greyhound and it was running full out along the shore, its sleek coat catching the autumn sun and parallel to it out on the water was a sailboat with this brilliant white sail being pushed along by a pretty good wind. For a second it appeared the greyhound and sailboat were racing. It was a nice image.

There were also lots of couples holding hands, strolling comfortably under the afternoon sun. I keep trying to figure out which ones are the new couples and which ones are the veteran couples. I use to think the ones holding hands are new but in the city I find lots of couples hold hands regardless how long they have been with one another. It was a lovely walk and I was happy to have my crappy little camera with me but the battery died after a short bit.

posted by mary j. @ 10:10 AM