bebe, il fait plus froid

Bundling up against -11C doesn't really seem to work. And with the sun out and melting some of the snow, the sidewalks are best navigated at a slow slidey sort of gait. But! I made it to Chinatown, 

and to Old Town for the Christmas shop. Voila~the 2019 ornament for my tree.

Some spicy pho to counteract the carb heavy meals and to make sure that scurvy isn't setting in.

No, I didn't go into the Golden Arched place, but was surprised to see these on their menu.

in which we discover cheese curds

It seems that my arrival coincided with 19 cm of snow and a -13C wind chill.

Since many places are closed today, I bundled up and walked to their Notre Dame. 

Another birthday prayer in another city; many hopes for the second fifty years of my life. Perhaps it ought to have been one of the bigger candles? But I only had enough change for this size.

Bummed that they only do organ tours during the summer as I would have loved to gone up into Casavant organ. I'm still hoping to hear a bit of it before I leave.

My candle burning brightly as I left.

Transformation a la neige.

The snowy courtyard of a charming auberge~at least in the summer months. I need to come back here for the city-wide jazz festival.

There are two vegetarian joints that serve poutine, but they don't seem to be open today. Thinking about trying to create my own concoction of pomme frites/gravy/curds.

another adventure

Made it to Dulles with what I thought was plenty of time to get to the gate. Except there was no one at the counter for check-in for over thirty minutes. Made it to a very snowy Toronto~I guess I've never flown international and then, domestic immediately because when I got the tickets, I thought an hour layover was plenty of time for bathroom/lunch.

I didn't know that you had to go through customs, retreive your checked bags and then go check in and go through security again. I don't know if it was flying on a holiday, or this specific airline, or Canadaians are more laid back~but I barely made my connection. Fortunately, Cadbury is for sale every where, so I kinda had lunch. 

Puzzled by all the used needle boxes in the restrooms in both Toronto and Montreal airports.

Managed to buy the right ticket and catch the local bus into the downtown area and then sludged through road construction on foot to find my little loft.

Did a stroll around the 'hood after dropping the luggage~lots of stone and charm. Looking forward to a longer walk in the daylight. 

Found some fresh baguette and herbed butter and am all tucked in for the night.

just a moment

of light & beauty.

Twelve hours until I am at the airport. SO beyond time to travel.

another batch

of Scrabble fans was created today.

And now, I have TEN blissful days with no alarm clock.

slants of light

I love staring out the windows right now. Currently, the vacay clock is at 23 hours! While I am anticipating the joy of long city rambles in a new place, I think I am most excited about: no alarm clock/traffic/donning office attire.

"there are moments on the brink, when you can give yourself to a lover, 

or not; 

give in to self-doubt, uncertainty, 

or not; 

dive into a different culture, or not; set sail for the unknown, 

or not; 

walk out onto a stage, 

or not...

Resist then, and there is only what might have been." 

~Ackerman

delight

After a rainy slog homewards, was happy to find my first birthday card in the post. I look forward to using the enclosed gift on my next city ramble.

November roses

Happy to see this as one of my first exercises this morning, as I am mere days away from VACAY.

A bit of a bumpy day as I drove off to work sans wallet and, during that drive, the check engine light came on and we herked and jerked our way to work. Had to leave work early to catch the technician, so wasn't v. happy about that.

But I made it home to my license and then safely to the auto shop. Which is nicely about a mile from my home, so I got to walk home in some afternoon loveliness.

This shoe appeared by the mail boxes~there has GOT to be a good story behind this.

one perfect leaf

one perfect moment

of pausing & exhaling

gorgeous autumn zen

lady bug, lady bug

The perfect autumn day~helped le pere remove his gardens as the HOA has some rules about when plants should be removed.

We harvested quite a few tomatoes who were pretending that it was July.

The cutest lil' lady bug.

And they've turned on the posh fire pit in my parents' lobby area.

The littlest Little prepping for some Halloween tping fun.

Some autumnal brillance to end the weekend.

how did this happen?

Came home from an energizing day of teaching to find a legit invite from AARP to join their ranks. I do not know how I hit a half-century mark as I still feel 19 most days.

Since there was still a bit of daylight, walked around the block to enjoy the few leaves that endured our latest storm.

“Spring passes and one remembers one's innocence.

Summer passes and one remembers one's exuberance.

Autumn passes and one remembers one's reverence.

Winter passes and one remembers one's perseverance.”

Yoko Ono

“I cannot endure to waste anything so precious as autumnal sunshine by staying in the house."

~Nathaniel Hawthorne

swirls of change

When I fell asleep on Halloween, it was a sulty 79. When I woke a few hours later, it was 30. Mother Nature finally slammed on the brakes on summer. (We hope.)

Some times there are shades of grey about things, but eating pumpkin pie properly is a solid black/white affair. 

Hard to believe that a couple of weeks ago, Dad was having a brain procedure. Nice that he's out/about

 My new gratitude journal~without planning, I used up my old one yesterday. 

The row of trees in my work parking lot, 

and the trees outside my bedroom window~a lovely symmetry to this Friday.