Mary Soderstrom's Blog, page 14

Saturday Photo: Busy Healing Etc.

This photo was taken about two weeks ago, but I hadn't posted it because I couldn't get near my computer for long enough to play around. Nov. 4 I had hip replacement surgery which seems to have gone wonderfully well, and for quite a few days I was not doing much.

But I'm up and around, even walking outside with a cane, despite snow on the sidewalks so it's time to catch up....
 

Saturday Photo: That Was Some Halloween Party!

 

Saturday Photo: Mangroves Protecting the Coast...

The photo was taken by friends in Jakarta.  It shows part of the remaining mangrove forest that once protected much of the coastline.  Replanting and safe-guarding these wonderful trees that thrive in brackish water sill be a key part of any battle on the effects of climate change.  

I talk about them at length in my new book Against the Seas: Saving Civilizations from Rising Waters that will be out in February from Dundurn Press.  Not a moment too soon...

Saturday Photo: The Beauties of Fall...

 A number of houses around here already have Halloween decorations up, some of which are particulrly ugly. And then there is this tasteful display on steps not far from here.  Very nice, I think!

Saturday Photo: Because It Never Hurts to Stop and Realize How Well off We Are

 

Saturday Photo:

 Just when you think that the flowers have quit blooming, the asters have their day.

Love plant that comes back every year.  I don't know why people bother  annuals in this climate go-around.

Saturday Photo: Stars of the End of Summer

This is the time for asters, whose name reflect how heavenly they are!
 

Saturday Photo: Queen Anne's Lace for a Time When the Monarchy Is in View

Seventy years is a long a time to stay at the same job, but that's what Elizabeth II did.  There is so much about her reign and her successor in the media this week that is hard to not to think about it and her.

My contribution is this photo of the perennial plant, Queen Anne's lace, which is just finishing up its reign as queen of wild spaces just now.  A member of the carrot family, it supposedly is named after Queen Anne, the wife of England's King James II. She wore a lot of lace ,it seems.  

The connection with the monarchy is clear, and so is the beauty of the plant.

Saturday Photo: Showing the Way

When you get to the end of the road at Kegaska, you can continue by going out to sea.  Manypeople must have considered doingtht, becausethe harbourhas many inukshuk, those Inuit cairns, that show the way.  

 

Saturday Photo: The End of Highway 138, a Great Trip

 I'm surprised that it's been so long since I last posted, but here is a photo of part of the reason: our trip to Quebec's Côte Nord.  

This is as far as you can go on a road up the north shore of the St. Lawrence river. To reach the small villages beyond, you have to take a boat, or fly in.

Kegaska is about 1300 km from Montreal, and we took three days to get there and eight days to come back.  Wonderful weather, great scenery and generally a good time.  

More photos to come, as fall approaches and the world closes in upon us.