Trespass and Punctuation

Hello and welcome!

Trespass #1

I’ll start this blog by thanking Gary. Gary is the owner of the farmhouse I visited back here ( Back to the Freezer ) and I thought I’d pay it another visit to see how it looks in the summer, which, on a hazy day, is:

I could show the colour version, but I prefer the black and white. It emphasizes the sweep of the grasses, which point towards the house. The house itself seems to have its own energy, standing strong despite the weight of years. Also, I really like the older architecture and attention to detail, something that seems lost in today’s factory homes.

While I was busy with the camera, I heard a quad racing down the gravel road. “Aw crap,” I thought, “If that’s the owner I hope he doesn’t mind.” This turned out to be Gary. Well, Gary was just looking for his cows, and my car was parked around the corner behind some trees, so when I stepped out of the bush, he seemed a bit startled, until he saw the camera. Then he kind of chuckled. I gathered later he thought maybe I was squatting…

In any case, after apologizing for trespassing, Gary was pretty nice and good humoured about it. He told me he grew up in that house. It was built by his grandfather, and he was raised by his grandparents after his father passed away. “My father was born and died in the same bed,” he said, “and the bed is still up there.” The house and land clearly means a lot to him. We got to talking a little about the history and he said “A lot of people ask me why I haven’t torn it all down. It’s because every time I drive by, it makes me happy to see it.” Fair enough, I can’t think of a better reason. Thanks Gary!

Trespass #2

For a different kind of trespass, let’s go to Sioux Narrows, Ontario. I was helping a friend build a cabin, and while our cars were parked for several days, a white-throated sparrow decided to take specific interest in our side view mirrors, and by “interest”, I mean pecking and flapping and straight up crapping all over. Here he is proclaiming his lordship over these lands, and fighting with “trespassers”:

This last one I just kind of like the curves in the scene:

When I returned to the city, I hadn’t had a chance to get to the car washed yet and had to go to the dentist. When I came out, the guy whose house I parked in front of was spraying my car with his hose. “Sorry”, he said, “but did you know there’s bird crap all over your mirror? I was just going to water my garden, but couldn’t help it!” We had a good laugh over the story. Next stop: car wash!

Punctuations

Over the course of a few days, while up early in Sioux Narrows, I ended up taking a collection of images with a similar structure:

Really a collection of abstract patterns, with a point of punctuation.

Back to the City

Meanwhile, back in Winnipeg, just a random collection of images from around the city during bike rides and walks:

Lines and more lines…all the lines! Disraeli Bridge in the morning

Assiniboine River - the constant wildfire haze seems to help emphasize the textures

I’ll cap it off with some cuteness: squirrel siblings chasing each other around and around this tree trunk, then cozying up and watching me warily when they finally noticed me:

Thanks for visiting, hope your summer is epic! Cheers!

Postcards from the Haze