Porte Photos’ Daily Quote: October 6, 2022

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For every minute, the future is becoming the past.

~ Thor Heyerdahl
Norwegian – Explorer October 6, 1914 – April 18, 2002

Porte Musings:

Sunny, windless days in October are rare, so take advantage and get outside before the cooler weather gets here. Yesterday was 20C and calm, so my sister and I went kayaking at Pinery Provincial Park.

The water was clear and most of the algae blooms had retreated to their winter havens. Fish floated past. About 30 turtles were sitting on logs to gain the last rays of sun before they go to sleep for the winter. A lone cormorant was taking advantage of the park sanctuary during hunting season. My sister popped her bubble gum and the echo was like a gun shot. The cormorant spread its wings in fear then flew off. Turkey vultures were sitting in a tree as there were no wind currents to glide on. Peace and calm.

Porte Photo’s Daily Quote: September 30, 2022

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Failure is the condiment that gives success its flavor.

~ Truman Capote
American – Novelist / September 30, 1924 – August 25, 1984

Porte Musings:

Today is the Canadian National Day for Truth and Reconciliation or Orange Shirt Day. We remember the Residential School Survivors and wear an Orange shirt to honour the children who attended them. Stripped of their favorite shirts, hair cut, languages and cultures lost, intergenerational trauma. Children ripped from their homes to attend schools in far away places some of who never returned home, their bodies to be found decades later in unmarked graves.

You can’t wear an orange shirt because you can’t afford one? That’s OK take an orange marker and draw an orange heart on the back of your hand. Listen today to the words being played on local radio stations and let’s live as equals sharing the same rights and privileges in this wonderful country. Celebrate our differences while we honour each other in peace.

Porte Photo’s Daily Quote: September 22, 2022

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Dreams are the seeds of change.
Nothing ever grows without a seed
and nothing ever changes without a dream.

~ Debby Boone
American Singer / Born: September 22, 1956

Porte Musings:

The first official Day of Fall and the weather is going to accentuate the statement with a high of only 12C and a low tonight of 4C (frost is possible).

As I’ve seen in memes on Facebook, the trees are preparing to show us how beautiful it can be to give up.

Last night’s Strathroy-Caradoc Horticultural Meeting was a wonderful slide show presentation by Valerie. She showed us a wonderful International Topiary exhibit held in Montreal several years ago. Some of the displays were over 10 stories high. She also showed us flowers from her garden.

Fall is a busy time for gardeners as they bring in tender bulbs and plants, prepare the beds for winter, then get busy planting new bulbs for next spring. It’s a wonderful time to plant trees and shrubs as they can establish new roots during the winter and then sprout new branches in the spring.

Then gardeners prepare to cocoon during the winter with seed catalogues or travel to warmer places where they can tend gardens in the winter or look for new gardening ideas.

Porte Photos Daily Quote: September 12, 2022

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The thing generally raised on city land is taxes.

~ Charles Dudley Warner
American – Journalist; September 12, 1829 – October 20, 1900

Porte Musings:

Happy Birthday to my first Grandson, turning 11 today going on 40. Enjoy all the adventures life has to give you. ❤

While we were kayaking on the Old Ausable Channel the Cormorant in todays pictures swam beside my grandson and then climbed onto this branch to pose for us.

In the summer of 2020 the Ontario Government introduced hunting seasons for the Cormorants. Not based on science or the preservation of birds in Ontario, but because of a general fear that cormorants fish. I’m not against hunting for food but this is just killing for sport. Contact your local MPP and demand they stop this slaughter. There is no scientific proof that Cormorants are dangerous to the environment and no justification for the daily numbers of kill permitted. See this article for further information: https://euc.yorku.ca/research-spotlight/ontarios-cormorant-hunt-and-what-it-means-for-its-future/

Porte Photos Daily Quote: September 8, 2022

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I know my strong points:
I work hard,
I have talent,
I’m funny,
and I’m a good person.

~ Pink
American – Musician Born: September 8, 1979

Porte Musings:

Daily affirmations should include the same ones as Pink.

Yesterday’s adventure was a trip to Point Pelee National Park, Leamington Ontario with my sister and my kayaks. The launch there is beautiful, easy to access and easy to use. You can do a short 1 hour kayak along the boardwalk or branch out into the adjoining “lakes”. But be careful, once you get out into one of the smaller lakes, everything can start to look the same with tall reeds all around you. We had a small panic moment, but found our way out and back to the boardwalk for lunch after an almost 4 hour kayak.

Our adventure started with a guided tour along the boardwalk by a beautiful pair of Mute Swans. In the larger Lake Pond we were shown their 4 babies, now adolescents.

The kayaking was wonderful so we thought we would go on the tram to the point. However, we didn’t bring long pants and the flies were biting, so we cut the trip short.

Daily Quote: November 27, 2020

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God moves in a mysterious way,
His wonders to perform.
He plants his footsteps in the sea,
and rides upon the storm.

~William Cowper (English – Poet / November 26, 1731 – April 25, 1800)

Holidays and Celebrations:

*The day after the American Thanksgiving is filled with contradictions. Black Friday heralded the best sales of the year is the day that was chosen to protest the commercialism of our current world and to celebrate Buy Nothing Day. Even when there is a pandemic many Americans chose to go home for Thanksgiving, an unofficial 4 day weekend. With less than a month to go before Christmas celebrations the Thanksgiving get togethers could mean less people around the table for Christmas.

Daily Quote: October 25, 2020

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Find out what your gift is and nurture it.

~Katy Perry (American – Musician Born: October 25, 1984)

Holidays and Celebrations:

National Art Day – USA

Vijayadashami – Hindu Festival

World Pasta Day

Finding your gift can be a life long journey for some. For others they know very early what their gift is and they are driven to nurture it.

When asked what they want to be when they grow up they have definite plans and professions. Others like John Lennon, just want to be happy (and when told they didn’t understand the question they reply that the questioner didn’t understand life).

So with the triumph of good over evil we celebrate life. Keep looking for your gift if you haven’t found it yet.

Daily Quote: October 23, 2020

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It is not the years in your life
but the life in your years that counts.

~ Adlai Stevenson I (American – Politician October 23, 1835 – June 14, 1914)

Holidays and Celebrations:

1956 Revolution Memorial Day
(Os Forradalom) – Hungary

National Mole Day

Daily Quote: October 14, 2020

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Seeing comes from the inside,
from the heart,
from life’s experiences.

~ Ruth Bernhard (German – Photographer / October 14, 1905 – December 18, 2006)

Holidays and Celebrations:

World Standards Day – ISO

Billboard Music Awards – USA

How do we measure up on World Standards Day? This year’s theme is: Protecting the planet with standards.

Daily Quote: October 12, 2020

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For me, the brand of the camera is not the most important thing. I think you can take good pictures with the camera on your phone.

~ Anja Niedringhaus (German – Photographer October 12, 1965 – April 4, 2014)
Niedringhaus was killed at the age of 48 in an attack in Afghanistan, while covering the country’s 2014 presidential election.

Holidays and Celebrations:

Thanksgiving (Canada)

Columbus Day (USA)

Celebrating Thanksgiving Day in Ontario during the COVID-19 pandemic is not like a normal year. The Provincial Government is recommending that you only celebrate with your immediate household members as tighter restrictions are rumoured to be put in place during this second wave. The number of cases of COVID-19 are higher now than during the first wave, but luckily the number of deaths in Ontario are significantly lower (so far).

In typical Canadian fashion I think this recommendation is not being followed as people are doing what they believe to be the right thing and celebrating quietly with their families. The Pandemic and the restrictions that have been in place for 7 months is just too long. Many believe that we are just going to have to live with masks and a vaccine will never be the answer to stop the spread of COVID-19.

So the camera brand isn’t important. Just keep taking pictures to remember our family and everything we have to be thankful for.