Random Photo Friday: Fall

It's not one of my best pics but I thought I'd throw this one out there anyway as my first Friday Photo since we're now definitely into Fall. I love the blaze of golden leaves and the sun streaming in from a much lower position in the sky, such as it is this time of year.


Queen Elizabeth Park, Vancouver

I've always been a big fan of Autumn and its refreshingly crisp mornings - especially on a sunny day. It's also the time of year that, every year without fail, makes me terribly nostalgic and homesick for England...well, Europe in general....though it's definitely a beautiful time of year in England. Especially when coupled with the smokey notes of old stoney houses with a fire going, or even leaf piles burning out back. It's also one of my favourite times to go horseback riding, for all those same smells and many wonderful memories of cantering through the woods and across the fields of Northamptonshire in the couple of years before I emigrated. (Horses and riding gear - another of my most favourite smells in the world.)

Blaze of Glory - West 11th Ave at Ontario Street, Vancouver

While we don't see a huge amount of the changing leaves here, for which places like Montreal and Vermont are so famous, we nevertheless get a few vibrant displays of magnificent fall colours, such as we did outside the house where we lived the past 4 years. People would literally stop in their tracks to admire the striking display of reds and take lots of photographs. See what I mean?

As a child I always loved 'splashing' through the layers of leaves carpeting the sidewalk, kicking them high, as my mum walked us along Bargate towards the nursery/daycare we simply called "Aunty Maureen's".  Sixteen years later, I did the very same thing all over again, walking along that very same street, past Aunty Maureen's and on to the college at Nun's Corner, which was then Grimsby College of Technology. (It's called Grimsby Institute of Further and Higher Education now, where my brother is doing a fantastic job as Programme Leader of the degree course, BA (Hons) Games Design. Go Graham!)

That said, I think this year is one of the very few times where I've actually felt a little melancholy at the approach of autumn, mainly because we've just enjoyed such an outstanding summer in Vancouver. The best since I moved here in fact. Hard to see it come to an end, knowing that it's not often we get a summer quite THAT beautiful!

Anyway, this was only meant to be a short post with one photo. But, since I've blathered on, I might as well add one more picture to the mix, just for good measure.

And now it's time for me to get out there and see if I can't find myself a nice pile of leaves to wade through. Old habits n'all.