When is IV IIII?

Do you ever panic when you see the end of the movie scroll and you can't read the Roman Numerals?  Yesterday's clock tower in Kingston had Roman Numerals to mark the hours.   Names of monarchs and popes use what is called regnal numbers which are Roman Numerals  Generational suffixes - you could be John Smith VI Year of production of films - and was the story goes was started by the BBC News "in an attempt to disguise the age of films or television programmes" Hour marks on time pieces where the traditional IIII rather than IV is prevalent as in our picture yesterday Buildings - the year of construction  Page numbering of prefaces and introductions Book Volumes and chapter numbers Outlines that use numbers to show hierarchical relationships Occurrences of a recurring grand event - none other than the Olympic Games Then there are uses within specific disciplines - music, astronomy, chemistry, computing, theology, and so on.  It seems Roman Numerals show up in many places. So we might be presented with the issue of how to represent zero.  It does not have its own Roman numeral.  And fractions seem to be complicated.  The Romans used a duodecimal system for fractions.  And then what did they do for large numbers? The system Apostrophes was developed for these. So while the system declined, it has remained with us in quite a few small ways. Our Autumn pictures come from last year - there's little colour to see this year so far - the wind has swept many leaves away.  There was no show of colour as we drove down the road past Morningstar Mill at Decew Falls in St. Catharines.  Just down the road is Decew House where Laura Secord ended her 32 km walk from Queenston.

Lake Effects with Autumn Gold

It was 'Lake Effects' day yesterday.  There was so much mist and moisture in the air, that the sun was a great orange ball in the sky at 8:30am. Then it disappeared into the clouds and the hazy mist. Dezi and I went for a walk at Beamer Park - that's the park on the brow of the escarpment where the hawk watch occurs in Spring and Fall.  There was no view to 'soak up' - but there was the intense golden colours of the maples.  Predominant are Sugar Maple and Red Oak.  We met a few fellow photographers, and one metal detector enthusiast who showed me a coin dated 1847 that he found last week.   The hay bales in the first picture will go to Andy's farm - Our Gate to Your Plate - and will feed his cattle.

The Last Leaves are Lasting

I am so impressed with the colours of the Japanese Maples this year.  My own mature tree is a Versicolour, and the leaves range from intense orange-red to yellow to green.

Here are a few shots from this week:

Leaves into November

Most of our native trees lose their leaves by mid-November.  However, there are trees that keep their autumn colours long into November.  I was reminded of this when I visited RBG last week,  and spotted the Japanese Maple Osakazuki tree in the courtyard garden at the Main Building.  It is next to the Mediterranean Greenhouse.  It is a mature specimen so about 15 feet tall and holding its leaves extremely well.  The show was extraordinary.  I visited my great nursery, Cole's, on Saturday.  And now I have one of these beauties of my own.

Niagara Roads

It's autumn - October - in Niagara.  We've got some perfect colours, and I found these in the Fonthill area.  I went in search of autumn trees and road scenery and found it.