Happy 66th Birthday Neil!

You'll always be one of the best!

Heart of Gold - Calgary 2008

California - 1969

Harvest Moon and Look at Them Apples!

A pic of the lovely full Harvest Moon. 
It was taken this morning at 4:30. 

The Harvest Moon, also known as the Wine Moon, 

the Singing Moon and the Elk Call Moon, 
is the full moon which occurs closest to the autumnal equinox. 

It is often mistaken for the modern day Hunter's Moon which will occur Oct. 11.

A few fall images from my walk this afternoon...

When did this happen?

Most trees are still green, but not for long.

More apples :)

Days bright as a 'Golden Delicious',

nights crisp as a 'Granny Smith':

Apples make our favourite dishes,

tempt us as the serpent did.

- Old Farmer's Almanac 'September' 2011

This may have been a great shot,

if I'd had an opportunity to move in closer and bring it into focus,

but thankfully I noted the ground beneath my feet was spongy and slightly mounded:

looking down I realized I was standing on an ant hill

and there were already two scouts crawling across my shoe...

Gorgeous color!

When I returned from my walk, I turned on CBC Radio One and 

found out about another walk taking place in Edmonton.

The annual "Walk a Mile in Her Shoes" campaign.

Each year, an ever-increasing number of men, women and their families are joining the award-winning Walk a Mile in Her Shoes: The International Men's March to Stop Rape, Sexual Assault & Gender Violence. A Walk a Mile in Her Shoes® Event is a playful opportunity for men to raise awareness in their community about the serious causes, effects and remediations to sexualized violence.

Here's another link with some hilarious pictures from today's event in Edmonton.

That's all for now.

I just heard on the radio that we are looking at a low of 4C overnight,

with a risk of frost in low-lying areas.

I leave you with Neil Young's Harvest Moon :)
Enjoy!

Monday greetings! I trust your weekend was a good one. It was a soaker here, and at some points it poured for hours on end. Heavenly :) I've mentioned numerous times on this blog how much I love the rain. In fact, I distinctly remember as a child feeling quite dejected when the clouds eventually moved on and the sun reappeared. I obviously had issues, lol.

I am most contented when it gets right down to it and pours; a little thunder (I can do without the lightening) thrown in just sweetens the deal... and when it rains, I often play Neil Young Unplugged. Don't ask me why, it started when I lived on an acreage on Peace River and it had been raining for a week straight. Somehow this album's melancholy seemed the perfect accompaniment; fifteen years later and Neil is still the cherry on top of my rainy day.

To amuse myself Saturday afternoon (with Neil as my muse), I pulled out my new book The Sound of Paper, which I profiled last Monday (here) and completed the 'task' after the first chapter entitled Setting Off. Following the author's instructions, I gathered seven magazines (these were all freebies I've picked up here and there in my travels) and went through them pulling the images which "spoke to me". I was not to concern myself with why they connected. The second half of the assignment, I trimmed and arranged the images into a pleasing vignette. The author states that "the resulting picture it is a portrait of your consciousness at this point in time. What you see in your collage may surprise, delight, or even alarm you. Seeing is believing, and one picture is worth a thousand words." I was then to take to the page and describe my personal discoveries. (This is actually an exercise I used to do on my own in my late teens/early twenties. I had filled numerous journals, which I foolishly threw away years ago.)

While sparing you the details of my resulting epiphany lol, (I am not a psychologist, but I play one at home... just ask my family) I don't think it's too much of a stretch to guess at the issues I am grappling with. Aging, reaching my full potential (before it's too late... haha), possibly heading back to school and procrastination, to name a few.

A side note: the two men above are one and the same; (obviously many years apart) Michael Snow, one of Canada's most renowned artists. Michael now 81, is still going strong, creating art in just about every medium you can shake a stick at. I read an article profiling his life many months ago with great interest and was struck at the time by these two photographs.

In the end, I am quite intrigued by just how congruent the above images are. My subconscious is speaking - am I ready to listen? I challenge you to do this exercise for yourself and share the results - I'd love to see them :) If you send me a pic of your creation, I will post them next week - either anonymously if you are shy, or credited to you, if you'd like.

So there you have it folks, it's not all kittens and rainbows here at Jane's Jewels! I leave you with a track from Neil's Unplugged album and hope you have a great day :)

I never tire of Neil Young.

Like Neil, I must be getting old... because no matter how many new musical artists there are every year, I really don't think it gets any better than this. I hope I don't receive any scurrilous* comments from the under 30 set, but then again I doubt they are reading this sentimental drivel anyways!

Enjoy your day :)

I Love A Rainy Day

It's raining today, with a soft breeze and any leaves that are still left on the trees, along with everything outside, are glowing.  I know a lot of people find the rain depressing (we had a very long ten-day string of no-nothing weather in September which even got me down) but I love a rainy day.  These are the moments from my childhood which I remember most of all.  You had the yard, and in most cases the whole neighborhood, to yourself.  Remember when children could still go outside for hours on their own?  The wet leaves and bark, the sound of the raindrops and scents are all still so vivid to me.  As a child your senses are so intensified and when grown your mind remembers it the way you saw it.  When we lived on an acreage in Peace River for 12 years I reveled in stormy days, playing Neil Young Unplugged loudly while I baked.  Here's a pic I just took:

I caught Clint Eastwood on Ellen this week.  He turned 80 in May and I was struck with just how vital and engaging he is; still busily directing movies and amazingly not too hard on the eyes!  We all admire people who through luck, good genes, great zest for life and humor plow ahead into their 80's, 90's and in the rare case their early 100's, living life to it's fullest.  This coming week I plan to profile one extraordinary senior each day; they fill me with a joy I can't quite put into words. In the meantime, I am off to haunt the second-hand stores and promise to fill you in on any treasures I uncover.  Cheers!