Hard to believe, by the end of the month that the golden sunshine, splendid colors and still waters shown in these pictures seem like relics of a distant past. —I'm still riding, and aside from that uncharateristic cold snap over Thanksgiving, not even minding riding in the cold (i.e. just freezing) temperatures. (It's not really that hard to ride at 30 or even 25 degrees. It's when it gets down to 10 or 15 that the technical clothing, fancy boots, expensive gloves etc start becoming necessary. At 30 degrees a long sleeve shirt, light sweater, windbreaker, and warm stuff on the extremities is plenty.)
Huron river, shortly after sunrise. Normally I don't manage to get pictures on the outgoing leg of the ride, cuz we're all together—but for whatever reason—maybe because we got to the start point 3 minutes late? we were alone, and I could stop and shoot without guilt.
But the brilliant autumn colors have given way to subtler mixes of brown, tan and grey—silver grey, pewter grey, icy grey—but grey. And though it seem winter is already here (it doesn't start officially for another three weeks) the winds that accompany the changing of the seasons are very much with us (and, half the time, against me—I'm grateful that usually the first leg of my rides is typically into the wind, and the return trip is sped along with a tailwind, but wind of any sort slows my already-grandmotherly pace even further.)
I was absolutely enchanted by the reflections of autumn color on water.
Oddly enough, tempting as it is to retreat I find I like winter much better when I make a habit of getting outside every day for at least 45 minutes. The key is day—being exposed to even cloudy daylight does wonders for beating the blues.
And the seasons will eventually turn, bringing lovely light and luscious color once again in their wake. (Though to be sure, the golden beauty of the low-hung late-autumn and winter sun, rare though it be, is unmatched.)
This post is dedicated to a kayaking friend whom I believe would appreciate the river's beauty in ways these pictures barely begin to touch. Images shot 05nov05 (but downloaded the day after) during the aabts sunrise ride, along the Huron River, just west of A2; File created 30nov05
Unless otherwise noted, text, image and objects depicted therein copyright 1996--present sylvus tarn.
