Colours change while summer is left behind, and living creatures that remain prepare for winter. Leaves I saw emerge this spring are now bathing in muddy dirt like discarded Subway napkins, painting forest trails in brownish orange.
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| Food fight! Reifel Bird Sanctuary (Oct 28 2012) |
Snow geese travelling from Alaska claim their piece of land while their white feathers get covered by brownish Fraser River soil. Their voices are clear as the blue sky above them, and in the bright sun they are more white than I could imagine after reading all these goose books. We see thousands arrive in formation. Families are easy to distinguish in the crowd, father leading proudly and shouting that everyone should make way. In contrast, red winged blackbirds sing on this beautiful autumn afternoon, making me realize that fall is just converted spring.
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| Snow geese above Westham Island, BC (Oct 28 2012) |
Arriving salmon changed the weather from warm late summer sunshine into the familiar Vancouver rain. Small streams suddenly became confident rives, offering salmon safe passage to their final life cycle phase. Eagles in adult plumage shriek from revealed bare branches of towering poplars, waiting for salmon souls to shed their skin.
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| Salmon creek in Port Moody (Oct 20 2012) |
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| The end of a salmon life represents the final days of fall (Nov 10 2012) |
Johan and I were granted with the chance to experience the real Canadian life for the last three weeks by watching over someone's house and cat. This house is located in Port Moody, with ocean view from the frontal windows. Every day I walked to the bus I saw multiple salmon in the local creek. As I wrote above, eagles were watching from poplar trees. A bird feeder showed us the diversity of Canadian yard birds, and we saw a squirrel throwing a party on the feeder.
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| Ocean on our doorstep in Port Moody, with Burnaby Mountain and Simon Fraser University in the back (November 10) |
Life as a graduate student and teaching assistant flies past as fast as the seasons change. Joining British Columbian picket lines and job action taught me a lot about unions and solidarity. The union of teachers has been bargaining for a new contract for 2.5 years, but there has not been any progress the last weeks. I hope this whole strike stuff is over soon, and I can just go back to work.
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| High tide, Port Moody (November 5 2012) |
The first frosty mornings have already given away a glance on the next season: winter is upon us. All we can do is admire. Admire the misty mornings that cover cobwebs in pearls. Enjoy every ray of sunlight we can before the rain takes over again. Marvel about the snowy mountain tops in the distance. Rain in the lower mainland means ski fun on the higher altitudes. Snowy season: here we come!
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| First snow? (Oct 28 2012) |
