Lassie, Come Home

I took myself for a long walk around the old neighbourhood...a farewell tour.  I'm moving next month.  After nearly a quarter century in Toronto, I am moving back home, to Vancouver!  Of course, Toronto has never looked more beautiful than it did on this magnificent Autumn day. 

I stopped outside a church on Yonge Street, and photographed the beautiful, delicate colours of the garden.  Pink and mauve are not thought to be Autumn colours...and yet, here they are in all their glory...

The Chrysanthemums weren't the only colourful Fall plants in the garden.  Ornamental Cabbage and Kale were also putting on a show.  They look similar, however, the floral cabbage has smooth leaves, while the kale has frilly leaves (now you know).  

They look good enough to eat.  Just don't.  They're disappointingly bitter.  It's better to buy or grow the edible varieties of cabbage and kale, and leave the ornamental ones as a feast for the eyes.

Lavender is still growing in the late October garden.  It looks amazing standing tall alongside a blazing red shrub.  The shrub is called, Burning Bush.  The gardener who planted it in front of the church, must have had a chuckle.

On my way back, I passed a beautiful Sheltie, quietly waiting outside a grocery store near the busy intersection of Yonge and St. Clair.  I stopped in mid step, turned, and walked back to ask the woman holding his leash, if I could photograph him.

You can do that in Toronto...approach a stranger to ask a question, or in my case, a favour.  Toronto may be bitterly cold, but the people of this city are warm and friendly.  I'll miss them.

The call to Vancouver is strong...it's saying, "Lassie, come home!"

 

Alas, Lassie was a Collie, not a Sheltie.  This beautiful dog is smaller than a Collie, standing about 14 to 16 inches from shoulder to ground, and is, according to a friend who used to raise and show them, a fine Sheltie.  Collies are much bigger.  I took a little poetic license!  Even more so, when you consider that I am the lass, in Lassie come home!  

Photographs Copyright of:  Ruth Adams, Widow's Endorphins Photographic Images Inc.