The first Turkey Vulture of 2014 I photographed over Dresden. Not easy for you to see I know. They may be ugly up close but aloft they are graceful, a real pleasure to watch wheeling overhead.
A true sign of the turn of the seasons. The only snow that remains is the big snowbanks and what’s in protected shady areas.
We walked the cattle dogs Saturday afternoon. The sun was out, it was breezy, and about -5C – balmy compared to the brutal temperatures and winds of he past few days.
Stella surveys the open field behind the high school. She loves running free and has good recall, but on this day we decided to go off our regular route and for that reason I kept her leashed.
Light and shadow
Grasses, bent by the prevailing wind, gently waved as the breeze flowed around them.
Shadows and light. And Stella.
Achilles found something worth investigating.
Friday’s gale-force winds blew snow around the tombstones in Dresden’s largest cemetery, which we enjoy walking through. The snowdrifts’ shapes and patterns were, are, beautiful.
It was a largely pleasant and enjoyable stroll. We occasionally had to make our way through drifts a foot deep and more, and the breeze flung snow in our faces as we turned into the wind to make our way home. It’s good to get outside though, to appreciate the wonder of the winter landscape, and when done to doubly appreciate our comfortable, snug little home.
A view of the main drag in our little home town, Dresden Ontario. The northern part of it is called St. George Street, and the southern part is called North Street (why, I have not yet learned).
This photo, taken on a kind of gloomy and quiet Sunday, belies the traffic we see during tomato harvest season, or on any busy weekday. Cars, tractors, transports, can clutter the street then. I like the cool mural, and the clock tower in the middle distance graces the municipal building. the clock chime still works and keeps good time; we can hear it on a calm evening at very close to the time our mantel clock chimes.
Dresden is less busy these days than during its heyday in the 1800s and the early 1900s. Like so many small towns in farming country in Canada and in the States, it’s trying to stay relevant, trying to keep people from migrating to and shopping in larger towns and cities. I think it’s doing perhaps not as well as some towns, better than others. Our grocery store is busy and almost vibrant. There is a good butcher a the edge of town. there are two attorneys, a good photographer, a Tim’s (of course), Bella’s (a very good place for lunch), a marvellous small Carnegie Library with extraordinarily helpful, personable staff, the ConAgra canning plant, the Esso station where brothers Dennis and Francis dispense gasoline and conversation, Burns Restaurant, Uncle Tom’s Cabin Historic Site, and much more.
Dresden is a human-scaled town. You can comfortably walk from anywhere to anywhere in town. People walk in the streets and drivers move over, hockey goals are set up in the streets, people wave at one another. We love living in our small town.
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