Make Tracks for Truro... and glorious Victoria Park

Man, I hate those rookie photographer mistakes. I'm no pro but I'm a lot better than forgetting to recharge my camera batteries the night before going to one of the most stunning, and surprising, city parks in Canada.

One of many tiny waterfalls

Patti and I visited friends in Truro this past weekend for a birthday party, our first visit to the city that calls itself the hub of Nova Scotia. Truro's slogan is "Make Tracks for Truro", which is a lot of fun to say, by the way, and recalls the city's railroad past, I guess.

At the party, we had several locals tell us of the glories of Victoria Park, an inner city park that was supposed to blow us away if we got a chance to visit. I'm always skeptical about these kinds of comments, since too many people in the world suffer from too much civic pride, in my opinion.

When I got the chance to visit Victoria Park the following morning, however, I learned very quickly that Trurorians (I just made that up) have every reason to be proud of this magnificent park.

The placid stream

Victoria Park is absolutely beautiful. Centred on a narrow river valley, it features a gorgeous wooded setting, complete with complementary wood bridges and stairs that lead up the sides of the valley. It's quiet and lush; you feel like you've left the world completely behind.

Unfortunately for me, however, I had neglected to recharge the Olympus' batteries before my visit and suffered the ignominy of hearing the "Batteries Dead" chime immediately following my second photograph of the day.

Even worse, the two shots I did manage to take before the batteries gave up the ghost are pretty bad. They capture none of the park's beauty and, in fact, insult my memory of the place. The bottom shot is especially awful, making a beautiful stream look like a sewer. Oh well. We'll go back and I'll get more, better photos. I promise.

September's Choice of Photos

#1: Slice of Life (266)

#2: Warm, Deep Colours (248)

 September of 2011 produced too many photos worthy of being considered for favourite of the month (if I do say so myself!).

Please vote on your favourite from this narrowed field of five, using the comments button below or any other mode of communication you can devise.

#3: A Swath of Sunlight (255)

#4: Imposing Wilmot (271)

#5: Union Jack in Front (273)

WasSUP Lake Ontario?

Warren heads for the power plant

 Stand Up Paddling, that's what's up. My brother-in-law Gavin is the water sport king and he's really gotten into SUPing lately.

Gavin in a power pose

He and his friend Warren can be found most evenings (warm, cold, rainy or clear) paddling up and down the coast of Lake Ontario in Scarborough, often in the shadow of the nuclear power plant. It's great exercise, especially when you go for hours (and dozens of kilometres) at a time, as these guys do

I don't know if brightly coloured clothes are a requirement of the sport or just a fashion statement.

August's favourite photo is...

"Afternoon Moon".

Although four out of the five photos in the contest received votes, "Afternoon Moon" got the most first-place votes and was mentioned in a surprising number of peoples' comments as being their second favourite.

And, just to keep things up to date, it would seem that I am about the only person who prefers the original, greenish presentation of "At the Owl's Nest" over my sister's colour-corrected version of the same photo. The votes were overwhelmingly in favour of the less-green image.

Thanks to everyone who voted and keep a look out for the competition for September's favourite photo, coming soon.