- you take the good and all the bad that comes with me -

It's good, sometimes, to remember that life is beautiful.

(I can say, authoritatively, that job hunting is anything but.)


So here's three kinds of beauty.

The mess to the left of this is (or more correctly, was, yum) my very first poutine. Somewhere in my teens, I came to the realization that I'd never had poutine before, and neatly managed to avoid it until I could get to Montreal and try the real thing.

(Plus - cheese curds plus gravy plus fries, while awesomely delicious, is not something that one can eat all the time!)

It turned out that on our trip to Montreal for the Osheaga music festival (and to visit N and P), M and I stumbled across a little place called Frite Alors! ... and promptly sat down, ordered a pint and a glass of Boreale Rousse, and what turned out to be about five pounds of fries. We went for the 'Frite Alors! poutine', which had mushrooms and onions and red peppers, so it wasn't traditional per se, but it was delicious - and impossible to finish.


The next shot looks like it belongs in a bright video game - almost like the fire flowers from the Mario franchise. I think it's a type of thistle, and Mom and I came across it near Lake Manitoulin, in Saskatchewan, where we had detoured en route to Central Canada. (I have to learn not to call Ontario "Eastern Canada" near anyone who was born/raised here. ^^;;)

You might not be able to tell, but this thing is HUGE. I'd say that each blossom was at least two inches in diameter, and the stalks came up past my knees - fortunately, their spines were easy to see and avoid.

It's a curious corner of the world - in so many ways, forgotten by time (though Lake Manitoulin is still flocked to by busloads of folks who believe in its healing mineral properties, and apparently hosts a healthy population of sea monkeys in its depths...)



This last shot is of a monarch butterfly in the "incubator room" of the Wings of Paradise conservatory in Guelph. M and I traveled there on a cloudy day and proceeded to forget that the nap index was very high for the day - and fill up our memory cards as we chased around the butterflies. Some were so fast that their wings left nothing but the memory of their movement once our photo had been taken - colourful blurs of rusted orange and neon green.

Fortunately, this little guy (or girl)'s wings were still drying out after being encased in a chrysalis, and so was a very cooperative subject. ^_~

Finding beauty. Sometimes it's half the battle.

October's been a really rough month, but I'm hanging in there, and hope that you're well (and love to hear from you!)

Starry nights. ♥



♥ music of the moment: take me anywhere