Happy Halloween

Pumpkins on Bridge, Martintown, Ontario

A Halloween Story

Once I was walking through an old part of Guelph that had been the centre of the Italian neighbourhood when there was still a lot of discrimination against them in the 1920s. A door was open to an old apartment building and there was a long wooden staircase that I could see going up inside it to the second floor. I saw something moving at the top of the stairs. It was a baby, floating in the air, bobbing up and down. I took a step forward and two yellow eyes watching me came into view. Another step forward and I saw they belonged to a black Labrador that was wagging its tail at me. It was holding a very realistic doll it its mouth.

 

In Cornwall:

Optimist Halloween party

Eyes OK, flu vaccine, but not the new COVID-19 vaccine.

 Tried to get the latest COVID-19 last Friday but contrary to what the US CDC recommends, the pharmacist showed me Health Canada guidelines that said someone should only get the new XBB vaccine six months after their last Covid vaccine, so I could only get a seasonal flu shot. And right afterwards went to get my eyes examined. My mom had wet macular degeneration so I do the drops in the eye (ouch) and then photos of the retinas - they looked OK and the ocular pressure is good as well. Couldn't drive for hours and walked to Starbuck's to wait. The barista handed me my cup from the counter as I could not read my name on it. Feel a bit fluey, that's about it.

Moon rise

Tonight's moon - unfortunately I was too far west to see the partial eclipse!

 

Lewiston, Maine

Lewiston, c. 1915, via Wikimedia commons

 I know I've been to the LL Bean store in Freeport, Maine, but I think I went past Lewiston on my way to or from there. The name sounded familiar when I heard the news about the mass shooting there today. 19 people dead including suspect.

The late Chris Wilson's house.

Church converted into a home. It had a different design on the transom over the door in 1975 - as I recall it was sort of the silhouette of a glowing person. Chris Wilson was a very flamboyant gay man who taught at St. Lawrence College and who put on film festivals with Fellini, Bergman, Kurosawa, sci-fi. He gave me my first job, as a projectionist, and I showed Pink Flamingos at the age of 14! My parents should have been more attentive. This is where I took my first girlfriend on my first date. The interior had this amazing collection of things - thousands of LPs on the wall, crystal chess sets, posters, and Persian cats.

 

Early Halloween, Dollarama Store

I was very impressed that they arranged themselves into this composition for the photo!

 

MV Hamburg

Cruise ship MV Hamburg passes Stanley Island in St. Lawrence River bound downstream. Ship is on round the world cruise, including stops in Antarctica. PA system audible from shore, I think it's in German, English and French.

Punaise de l'érable négondo, Boisea trivittata, Boxelder bug

 

Punaise de l'érable négondo, Boisea trivittata, Boxelder bugs swarming trying to find somewhere to overwinter

Shadow Profile, Second Street and Augustus, Cornwall, Ontario

 

Bald Eagle

Bald Eagle looking over the St. Lawrence on a tree branch. Haliaeetus leucocephalus,  aigle à tête blanche, Pygargue à tête blanche

 

Wooly Bear caterpillar Pyrrharctia isabella

Wooly Bear caterpillar Pyrrharctia isabella forages in early autumn