Who's Seen You!

On the Owl Tour we all wanted to see the owls - we saw some and didn't see every single one in their homes.  They all saw us, though.  Our guide told us that we've each been seen by hundreds of owls in the wild.   I got to wondering about cars.  Where are cars going?  We're told to follow Tesla, Google, Apple and Amazon rather than GM, Ford or Toyota on the future of cars. We know about driverless cars, as they are being tested now. So there won't likely be 'tests' for driving skill.  Could we have 3D printed cars? The prediction is that this is possible and in 20 years will be used at F1 races for replacement parts. A big question is fuel - the best possibility is the electric powered car. Car connectivity will happen with 'vehicle -to-vehicle' and vehicle-to-infrastructre' communication providing real-time vehicle data. Car ownership is expected to diminish and car access to become the normal approach. And there we have it.  All those driveways in front of residential homes will be rendered obsolete.  More room for gardens!

Fly the 150th Flag

The celebrations of Canada's 150th birthday have begun.  TIFF Bell Lightbox's series Canada's Top Ten Film Festival gets going this month. and will include a number of classic Canadian titles as part of TIFF’s year-long programme celebrating Canada’s 150th birthday. I checked out the long list at ToDoCanada for January in the GTA area. I hadn't realized that the 150th birthday symbol contest was controversial when it invited students to participate and a 19 year-old student's design was selected. The professional design community wasn't complimentary about the design.  It seems to have morphed into a number of versions by 2017 and the Canada150 site logo below is red and white rather than the multi-colour original.  Here's the official word on the logo: The logo is composed of a series of diamonds, or “celebratory gems”, arranged in the shape of the iconic maple leaf. The four diamonds at the base represent the four original provinces that formed Confederation in 1867: Ontario, Quebec, New Brunswick and Nova Scotia. Additional diamonds extend out from the base to create nine more points—in total representing the 13 provinces and territories. The Canada 150 logo will become an evocative symbol and an enduring reminder of one of Canada’s proudest moments. The maple leaf motif is recognized at home and abroad as distinctively Canadian, and it fosters feelings of pride, unity and celebration. This unique and colourful design is simple enough to be drawn by children, and versatile enough to appear in color variations. The possible uses of the symbol are as unlimited as the spirit and imagination of the Canadian public."

Skywatcher's Month

October is a sky-watching month according to National Geographic with Zodiacal Lights from October 1-15 "Starting about an hour before sunrise on Saturday, October 1, and lasting the next two weeks, keen skywatchers in the Northern Hemisphere can hunt down one of the most elusive astronomical phenomena visible in the sky: the zodiacal light.  This pyramid-shaped beam of light is easily mistaken for the lights of a far-off city just over the dark horizon in the countryside, and has also been called “false dawn.” But this light is more ethereal; it is caused by sunlight reflecting off cosmic dust between the planets. Amazing to think that today we’re peering at billions of dust-sized particles that were left behind after the planets formed about five billion years ago."

Dahlia Harvest

While dahlias would bloom a lot longer, we'll soon get frost and the dahlias will be finished for the season.

Here's a dahlia farm near Rockwood Ontario with 4 acres of dahlias for the floral trade.

The Chrysanthemum and Dahlia Show Today at the Royal Botanical Gardens, Burlington - Sep 21 2014

Hi everyone,
One of my favourite flowers to photograph is the Dahlia.  I seem to also photograph a lot of Chrysanthemums.  So today is a good day for me - the Chrysanthemum and Dahlia Flower Show at the Royal Botanical Gardens in Burlington Ontario.

Here is one from master grower, Ralph Suttell, in his competition growing garden.

I am pleased to say that most of these beauties are from Ralph's garden.  They are in the "Dahlia a Day" portfolio on Redbubble.