Travel on Late Blooms

Serendipity or Happenstance?

Sun, 28 Feb 2016 00:00:00 +0000

[caption id=“attachment_2902” align=“aligncenter” width=“800”] In general, serendipity is the act of finding something valuable or delightful when you are not looking for it. In information technology, serendipity often plays a part in the recognition of a new product need or in solving a design problem. Web surfing can be an occasion for serendipity since you sometimes come across a valuable or interesting site when you are looking for something else. (whatis.techtarget.com)[/caption]

Far Away Places

Tue, 27 Jan 2015 00:00:00 +0000

[caption id=“attachment_2443” align=“aligncenter” width=“584”] Don’t tell me how educated you are, tell me how much you traveled.” – Mohammed[/caption]

Most of us are fortunate to be able to travel today to many parts of the world. It’s fascinating to meet people, both young and old, who have wonderful stories to share about places they have visited and adventures they have had. As one who likes to travel myself, I always tell anyone who says they’re off to some place to “take lots of pictures.” To have the experience of being in a different place is unsurpassed joy but we also need those images so that when we’re back home, we can relive those moments in a different way - hopefully with happy memories.

Wedding Decor and Styles

Sat, 04 Oct 2014 00:00:00 +0000

“Once in a while, right in the middle of an ordinary life, love gives us a fairy tale.” (Anonymous)

Every couple wants their wedding to be memorable and to reflect their own tastes, styles, and traditions. While I’m very aware that a wedding is not a marriage, but only the start - these occasions come filled with a promise and hope for love, family, and life, that matches no other earthly celebration. All the images in the collages here were taken at memorable weddings of close family and friends. Enjoy!

It's a Small World!

Thu, 17 Jul 2014 00:00:00 +0000

The images in the above collage were taken at the Cathedral which is also a parish church for the St. Lawrence neighborhood. I’ve visited the Cathedral before but never took a single picture. This time I had my camera along with me and stayed behind to take a few pictures. It’s a beautiful church and I’ll share the collages and save the story behind my visit for the end.

Toronto Outdoor Art Exhibition Favorites

Sun, 13 Jul 2014 00:00:00 +0000

“I found I could say things with color and shapes that I couldn’t say any other way… things I had no words for.” (Georgia O’Keeffe)

The Toronto Outdoor Art Exhibition took place last weekend in Toronto. It’s a free art exhibition featuring over four hundred artists using all artistic forms. Hundreds of people visited and enjoyed the great variety of talent available in one place - Nathan Phillips Square. It was a lovely venue for this amazing show and a wonderful opportunity to talk to the artists themselves. As with all shows, we do have some art that appeals to us more than others. I will share some of my favorites below and hope you enjoy them. I’m sorry that after seeing so many exhibits and meeting so many artists, I don’t have the matching information about them for all their work. You can check the TOAE website for a listing of all the artists and their work.

A Toronto Neighbourhood

Mon, 09 Jun 2014 00:00:00 +0000

A man travels the world over in search of what he needs and returns home to find it.

The above quote by George Moore came to mind as I admired how pretty and well-maintained the homes in the neighborhood look. This is a particularly lovely time of year with the Spirea in bloom. Many people have their hanging baskets and planters on their porches and their garden chairs out for when they are relaxing at home. As I get older, home is really the best place to be now for me. My own porch is just like going to a cottage for me.

ROM Revealed

Sat, 31 May 2014 00:00:00 +0000

“We know we are a species obsessed with itself and its own past and origins. We know we are capable of removing from the sanctuary of the earth shards and fragments, and gently placing them in museums. Great museums in great cities—the hallmarks of civilisation.” ~ Kathleen Jam

[caption id=“attachment_1888” align=“aligncenter” width=“584”] A casual glance at crystals may lead to the idea that they were pure sports of nature, but this is simply an elegant way of declaring one’s ignorance. With a thoughtful examination of them, we discover laws of arrangement. With the help of these, calculation portrays and links up the observed results. How variable and at the same time how precise and regular are these laws! How simple they are ordinarily, without losing anything of their significance! The theory which has served to develop these laws is based entirely on a fact, whose existence has hitherto been vaguely discerned rather than demonstrated. This fact is that in all minerals which belong to the same species, these little solids, which are the crystal elements and which I call their integrant molecules, have an invariable form, in which the faces lie in the direction of the natural fracture surfaces corresponding to the mechanical division of the crystals. Their angles and dimensions are derived from calculations combined with observation. (Rene-Just Hauy - French Mineralogist)

Royal Ontario Museum's Rotunda

Fri, 16 May 2014 00:00:00 +0000

[caption id=“attachment_1868” align=“aligncenter” width=“584”] The ceiling is made from thousands of sheets of imported Venetian glass, cut into more than a million tiny coloured squares. A team of skilled workers laboured for eight months to install the ceiling. Its sparkling gold, rust and bronze background is inset with red, blue and turquoise patterns, recalling the magnificent mosaics of the Byzantine world and Eastern Europe. Worked out on the golden field are geometrical borders and panels which frame decorative floral designs. The central panel is inscribed with a passage from the Book of Job in the Old Testament: “That all men may know his work” (ROM website)[/caption]

Treasures from the Sea

Sun, 13 Apr 2014 00:00:00 +0000

“I do not know what I may appear to the world, but to myself I seem to have been only like a boy playing on the sea-shore, and diverting myself in now and then finding a smoother pebble or a prettier shell than ordinary, whilst the great ocean of truth lay all undiscovered before me.” (Isaac Newton)

Life has a wonderful way of bringing us back to the basics sometimes. It was fun to turn my shells and coral out on the kitchen table and examine and play with them. Fifteen years ago when I visited Fiji, I wasn’t into taking too many pictures or into blogging. In fact, I had not even heard the term. In the above collage, the two images of the resort are postcards I bought there.

Ladybugs

Mon, 24 Mar 2014 00:00:00 +0000

Beauty or ugliness, order or confusion are only relevant in relation to our imagination. (Baruch Spin__oza)

These chocolate ladybugs drew my attention while I was thinking about my friend’s birthday. She had invited me to an overnight excursion with her to Niagara where we were going to have a buffet dinner and see a live show called “Hurrah for Hollywood.” This was going to be her birthday celebration. I knew the buffet would include lots of cupcakes, sliced cake, and many other types of desserts. The last collage will reveal how these ladybugs were actually used for the celebration.

Falls Views

Tue, 14 Jan 2014 00:00:00 +0000

Niagara Falls has always been one of my favorite places that makes for a nice get-away from Toronto. Fortunately for me, through the generosity and kindness of a friend, my visits there are once a month. It doesn’t matter what time of year it happens to be, the Falls are spectacular. As you can see from the images above, the recent ice storm left the Bridal Veil Falls (American side) frozen. The Horseshoe Falls (Canadian side) continues to flow and is the larger of the two. Such natural beauty!

Festival City

Tue, 15 Oct 2013 00:00:00 +0000

Stratford is a picturesque Ontario town and is one of my favorite places to visit. It attracts many visitors every year for theatrical productions known as the “Stratford Festival.” We were there for a Doctoral Celebration which included a lovely lunch and afternoon walk along the Avon River. Many swans, ducks, and their young, make lovely companions for visitors who wish to admire and spend time with them.

"Rise to Power" - St. George's, Barbados

Thu, 08 Aug 2013 00:00:00 +0000

[caption id=“attachment_1163” align=“aligncenter” width=“584” caption=““Rise to Power” Painting - St. George’s Anglican Church, Barbados”][/caption]

Our happiest moments as tourists always seem to come when we stumble upon one thing while in pursuit of something else.” — Lawrence Block

When I travelled to Barbados to attend a fabulous beach wedding, I didn’t know that I would be taken to visit a beautiful Anglican Church called St. George’s in the village of St. George. On the afternoon of my last day in “Beautiful Barbados,” I became a tourist. I took in all the scenery and the church itself and was happy to take many pictures.

Mystical India!

Tue, 16 Apr 2013 00:00:00 +0000

**“Culture is the widening of the mind and of the spirit.” (**Jawaharlal Nehru)

A visit to India provides a kaleidoscope of sights, sounds, and tastes, that bring about a change in one’s overall sensory experiences. There are stories upon stories about India that abound everywhere – some good, some bad. Like many other countries all over the world, India has great poverty and great wealth. What is very evident on a visit to India is extremes. You can be appalled, in awe, and frustrated, in the very same hour of the same day. There are high moments and low ones as well. Scenes and scenery change rapidly. It’s all part of what’s amazing and incredible about India.

Lake Louise

Sat, 22 Sep 2012 00:00:00 +0000

[caption id=“attachment_474” align=“aligncenter” width=“584”] Lake Louise - Canada[/caption]

Travel books, magazines, brochures, and the like, are always depicting the best places one should visit. The latest I saw was called “Ten Places to Visit before you Die.” I haven’t taken a look at it yet. One visit I’m glad that I made was to Lake Louise in Alberta, Canada. It is located in Banff National Park which is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and is a glacial lake.with an altitude of 5052 ft.

Watermelon Surprise

Mon, 30 Apr 2012 00:00:00 +0000

[caption id=“attachment_96” align=“aligncenter” width=“584”] Everyone irregardless of age loves surprises. Last Sunday night I received the most wonderful surprise - a carved watermelon. This lovely lady had done some beautiful fruit carvings for my 60th Birthday. She acquired this special skill in Thailand where she attended a month-long course.[/caption]

We can only be said to be alive in those moments when our hearts are conscious of our treasures. ~Thornton Wilder