A Breath of Fresh Air

Contemplating various things happening these days, some very good and some not so good, I decided I needed to get a breathe of fresh air ... away from my thoughts, my home, and the city.  So, I headed west out to Beaudry with Holly in my vehicle.  She was so excited when she saw me reach for my coat and her leash.

At this time of year, the rural scenery can be summed up by "brown on brown".  Everything that was beautifully green or colourful a month ago is now some shade of brown, maybe with the odd tinge of green here and there.  But, I took my pocket camera along with me, just in case something caught my eye.

On the way into the park, I stopped on the shoulder of the road to capture this image of some cattails.  Not too exciting, for sure, but I like cattails so ...

Holly, of course, was eager to 'hit the trails'.  She knew where we were and that I'd let her run free.  So, I parked the Escape in the usual spot and down the trails we went, through the woods and out into the prairie grasslands.  Holly seemed ecstatic, running all over the place, ahead aways and then back to me when I called.  This was repeated over and over and she showed no signs of tiring.  But, after awhile, I did.

I led her back along the wooded trail.  A bit bored with that, I left the trail to wander in the woods.  Holly, by my side, thought that this was new and great.  We kicked our way through a thick carpet of burr oak leaves ...

I took time to look at the bark of some of the trees, studying the patterns and textures.  I wished I had brought my better camera and macro lens along, for some close-up shots, but I took a few shots with my pocket camera to remind myself to do that next time.

Deciding that I'd lingered long enough and that I'd cleared my mind of some of life's detritus, I took Holly back to the vehicle and headed home.  But, I still felt I needed to see something more cheerful, more colourful.  So, I stopped along the way at one of the city's better garden centres and window-shopped ... again, with my camera in hand.

The staff were busy setting up Christmas displays ... every imaginable kind of decoration and many different styles of Christmas trees.

And, of course, in the greenhouse, there were hundreds of potted plants, some with just foliage plants ...

...  others with brazenly colourful flowers, like these gerberas.

To see all of these colours, after a heavy dose of 'brown on brown' at the park, was just what the doctor ordered.  I could go home now, happy, and think about making something different and tasty for our supper.