"I'm so glad I live in a world where there are Octobers. It would be terrible if we just skipped from September to November, wouldn't it?"
― Lucy Maud Montgomery, Anne of Green Gables
Taking the time to write has been most difficult. Taking the time to go out for a walk has been nary impossible. I exaggerate, of course, because we can always choose how to spend our time outside of work. It's been a tiring time so the want was there but the energy was not.
And finally! Weather, time and energy were all in cahoots this past Tuesday (October 18th) giving me a week to put this together and link up to Robin's annual Walktober fun. I have a weird schedule where one day I work 9-5:30 and the other 6:15-2:45. Tuesday was the early day and the weather was ridiculously perfect. I stopped off at home, did a few things, changed my clothes, grabbed my camera and off I went. Where would the colours still be beautiful? It had been a very long time since I went to the Parc de la Freyère, and even though I did go there for part of my 2018 walk, it was worth a return. I cannot see anyone complaining. Right? Right. I was out from 4:30 to 6:30 pm. and managed to take about 500 photos, give or take. While I joked that it was impossible to take a bad picture, I took more than a few that were immediately chucked as I uploaded.
"October had tremendous possibility. The summer's oppressive heat was a distant memory, and the golden leaves promised a world full of beautiful adventures. They made me believe in miracles."
― Sarah Guillory, Reclaimed
On my way to the park, I had to stop and capture the three trees below. Could they more represent?
I decided to park on a side street, giving me the option to walk along Marie-Victorin Blvd which follows the St. Lawrence River through at least four towns - probably more but I'd have to check. That means walking by these gorgeous mansions with view spectacular.
As far as boulevards go, this one is rather intimate, shall we say...
Entering the park, I feared, Are the colours already over?
No, but we are definitely at the tail end, I should think.
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- Love the double bridge
I had to walk down this pier to see just what was frolicking in the water. Don't those clouds look like a distant mountain range?
Herons and egrets and ducks and seagulls, oh my!
And a autumn walk would not be complete without some sumac - the first, along with vines - to show off their colours
"What the light looks like in the pear trees, in October, is a hundred teardrops of gold, the whole orchard weeping."
― Carole Maso, The Art Lover
There may be no pear trees here, but the light was just so beautiful.
I was not alone to take advantage of this autumnal perfection. This gentleman was flying his drone, surely taking breathtaking pictures, himself. Was a tad annoying when it flew above me like an oversized mosquito, though. (Hey, maybe he captured me capturing him!)
I had to include these for you, Crispina 
At this point, I figured I'd stick around and await the sunset, which was scheduled for 6:04. I continued walking around clicking away because it was all just so gorgeous. No editing is necessary because the light is just perfect!
The sun was starting to make its descent and the air chilled rather quickly. I did curse those clouds that were going to hide most of the sunset!
The sky was so soft (another for you, Crispina! )
I'm enjoying the quiet when I hear in the distance "Midnight Train to Georgia". I film it, not knowing where it comes from (apologies - I thought I was going slow!) because for some strange reason, it just fits!
The culprit:
It's starting to get rather cold so I decided to head back, but not before capturing this little seagull making his v-pattern.
The herons drying their wings and the egrets just relaxing caught my eye.
Suddenly the egrets took flight and were circling, trying to decide where to spend the night. Something was disturbing them so they would turn around and look again. It was getting harder and harder to focus and capture them.
As I also circled towards to road and my card, I watched them - all eight! - land in the trees and try to settle. My camera is not equipped for such low light and I had no tripod but I did manage to rest on a the bridge rail and sort of get a half-assed decent shot. Only by manipulating the photo can you see I managed to get 7 out of 8 in the shot. I, for one, am pretty pleased.
I declared myself done but as I got to the other side of that little pond, I figured, I'd try once more, this time leaning on a guard rail. And again, only by manipulating the photo can you see I got all eight. Joy!
I think I have more than abused your time for this year's Walktober. I hope you enjoyed my walk as much as I did sharing it.
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