A fall day in Edmonton | October 2014

I'm busy preparing for departure to Australia in a couple of days, and taking advantage of the supreme fall sunshine to put away the garden. It could be cold when I get home...brrrr...so on Sunday I thought I'd stroll a bit. I have a new camera to get to know, and I thought the best way to build a lasting relationship would be take some pictures--a lot of pictures. Here's a taste of fall in Edmonton captured on my new Sony Alpha 6000. I think I can even smell it.

It was a busy day at the Muttart Conservatory with pre-Hallowe'en munchkins everywhere but I was more interested in the orchids in the feature pyramid.

 A chorus line?

  Cirque de Soleil perhaps?

 Left click on this one to open it in a new window and look for the spiders web stretched between the two flowers.

 An amazing lady slipper, but nothing like this one that follows.

I had to stand on my head to get this shot, but I got it. Isn't she a beauty--like a plum cake in fall.

Coffee time. So through the park and under Connors Road, into Mill Creek ravine to the fork in the road. This is one of my favourite walks in fall, a wonderful pathway (watch out for speedsters on wheels), leading south to Avonmore and the Velodrome, but for me it was up and over to my favourite cafe.

 It was warm enough to sit outside at Wild Earth cafe and this is October! So after a bowl of chile and slice of their oh-so-good gluten free bread and my usual cafe latte I was ready to resume my photo shoot. As  I headed back down Scona Hill I stopped for a visit with a fellow photographer out walking and looking and shooting (wiih a monopod--not a bad idea!) and we sat lazily on the bench at the bus stop, talking photography while I searched my past for a memory of this person. I recognized the face, the smile, the eyes but I could not put my finger on a place or a name ... oh now I remember. 

So, with my head in the clouds and my heart in the pit of my stomach,  I continued down Socna Road past the Old Timers Cabin.

I couldn't resist checking out the architecture along the bank of the river, and the views across to downtown. Oh to live here. Can't imagine what that might be like, looking out every night across the river to downtown, from one of those balconies.

They sold that one before I had a chance to put in an offer. It's easy to get under the low level bridge and over to Rafter's Landing from here, and that's where I found two families playing about the River Queen, their boats anchored along the bank below. Imagine. Boating  on the North Saskatchewan River in October. Where do I sign up?

 It's definitely fall, and the carpet of leaves is everywhere in the valley, and in my garden. I'm struck by the light in these photos--so fall, so not summer.
My own garden is now minus four junipers that created the perfect hedge between my home and the neighbour's house, so I'm feeling a bit naked, but come spring there will be something new there to nurture and enjoy.

A beautiful day, a slow-andante of a walk, a new travel partner to get to know. I think it's going to be fine now that I know what all the dials are for and how to find the menus.  Next stop, Adelaide Australia!