Videos #11 up on: www.inglesymagia.com

Posted on 15 May, 2013 by Elaine Van Staalduinen

Check out the energy of a Procter Village garage sale.

Some great, snappy humour from all.

Sometimes Beautiful Stinks

Posted on 7 May, 2013 by Elaine Van Staalduinen

Sometimes you just have to grin it and bear it. The stench was horrific and it wasn’t warm out either but we were determined to sketch. Once we settled down on a couple of logs near the swampy water and the smell hit full force, I muttered to myself; This better be worth it!

With all the rain, that we’d had in the last few days, without boots it just wasn’t possible to get close enough. I hoped that a second chance would come my way and it did. Just a few days later, driving into town, I spotted some on the wrong side of the road and made a mental note to stop on the way back home. I admit that I didn’t give my sister much notice because I wasn’t sure where they were exactly. Luckily, she’s a good sport. She screeched (well amost) to a stop a bit past the spot when I yelled out ‘Here!”

Lysichiton americanus (Skunk Cabbage) really does smell like skunk spray. The smell is disgustingly awful! That said, one of the last times that a group of us went for a walk, a real skunk had been by the area. Believe me, skunk cabbage has been misnamed. It doesn’t smell anywhere near as strong as the real thing – maybe it’s like store bought eggs and farm fresh, or imitation anything and the real thing.

Both of the first places that I took photos at were a ways from my house but the other day I was out walking close to home and, lo and below… I spotted a whack of them down by the tracks. I skidded down the bank, tried to avoid getting my runners in the black muck (ugh!) and shot away to my heart’s content. This time things weren’t as wet, so I was able to get some lovely close-ups. They didn’t smell so bad either so maybe the wetter it is, the more they stink? I do know that smells carry further and are stronger right after a rain.

Gorgeous, aren’t they? I think I prefer their common name Yellow Lantern.

around 1 & 15 of month, new videos & coaching exercise posted

English Exercise #12 is up

Posted on 1 May, 2013 by Elaine Van Staalduinen

www.inglesymagia.com: Coaching de inglés

Darn, darn and double darn. No, it’s not about polite swearing; it’s a post about mending, about making do with what you have and getting on with your learning.

around 1 & 15 of month, new videos & coaching exercise posted

Around the Neighbourhood

Posted on 24 April, 2013 by Elaine Van Staalduinen

www.inglesymagia.com: Coaching de inglés

How can you not get out for a walk on a beautiful sunny day when the whole week has been nothing but gray skies?

The phone rang ten minutes before the hour that I had planned to set out to walk up to a friend’s place. Take it or ignore it? I decided to answer and head out the door with the cell glued to my ear if need be. Trugging up the hill outside my place, huffing and puffing, still on the phone is when I realized that I was out of shape. I made a mental note to start walking more. When I started to gasp, the caller decided to hang up so that I could make it up the hill and that’s when the walk began.

Alone, silence, the sun on my back, a good three-quarters of an hour walk to go, I settled into a steady rhythm. Looking at the pavement is boring so my eyes started to wander. Gosh! Spring was really here! The fields were the bright green (virgin green I call it) that you only see at the start of the year. Honk! Honk! Oh, the Canada Geese were out.

Then double-checking to make sure that there were no cars coming from either way, I crossed the road and started up another long hill. I love this part of the walk because there is such a great view of some of my favourite trees.

Another corner, another 15 minutes of walking and then into my friend’s driveway. It was such a gorgeous day that after visiting inside, she decided to show me the garden which I had never seen. There wasn’t much flowering yet but the Bloodroot were in full bloom. This plant is native to Ontario and she is so pleased to see that they are now thriving so far from home. Out of the very few plants that deer don’t like, this plant is one of them.

After a few hours of catching up, the sky started to cloud over and since the weather can change so fast here, I decided to head back home – I wasn’t dressed for a rain shower. On the way back, though it was colder, the skies cleared and I continued to enjoy the sun. I was just passing by the driveway of a friend of mine’s parents’ place, when she came running up the driveway shouting; “Hey! Aren’t you going to stop to say hello?” What could I do? I went down to chat with her even though I had only had a fruit smoothie for breakfast; I was starving and desperate to get home.

She had seen me taking pictures of the cows across the road and said; “Our cows are much more beautiful!” (Gee, I hadn’t known that one could feel that way about cows!) Obviously, I was expected to take some shots of her gorgeous animals but first, I stopped to say hello to her husband who was creating a duststorm dumping wheelbarrows of dried chicken manure that were going to be watered down to make compost. It was there that I shot the picture of the day. Of chickens!

Once in a while, you get lucky. The camera is in your hand ready to go. A chance glance at a spot where light seems magical appears – sometimes only for a second – and you shoot right away. You don’t hesitate. You don’t try to change the angle. You don’t try to improve on it. You don’t muck around. You just take the shot. This was today’s. I don’t always get them when I do, it’s a shot that I can call up in my mind a thousand times. I remember exactly what I was doing, what the day was like, what it felt like to take the shot and most of all, the thrill of capturing it. This shot made my day.

And then it was time to see those magnificent cows that my friend had been bragging about. I must admit that they were more photogenic than the Black Angus across the way. I guess they are cute… in a cow kind of way.