tales of interest: New Year

And in with the new, of course! It's a brand new year with fresh opportunities, and I'm excited to take full advantage. I didn't take too many photographs over the Christmas break, but here are two experimental ones.

Carolyn and I awoke on the First of January to find the Earth draped in a fluffy coat of fresh New Year snow, so we slipped into our snow gear (long johns and snow pants!), strapped on our cameras, and ventured out into the wilderness (after first shovelling the foot of snow from our driveway of course).

We headed first to Doon Valley, in search of Sheave Tower - which, we found out is not in Doon Valley. We found a community trail and traversed into the forest. The walk was lovely and peaceful; we had the path mostly to ourselves, mind a few friendly cross-country skiers and walkers getting a start on their resolutions.

It was only much later that we discovered we had headed straight for the sewage treatment plant. Not so romantic.

Here is a cropped image of a staghorn sumac or rhus typhina.

We then headed to the other side of the 401 to the other Old Mill Rd, which eventually led us to Sheave Tower. This is an old tower which harnessed the energy from the river to power the adjacent Blair Mill. It had been in operation from 1876 to the 1940s (I think), but has since been restored. It's tucked away in the woods and you might miss it while driving by if not for the flash of red. It provided some nice contrast for our photos.

Finally, we went to the Waterlot in New Hamburg, which is where Carolyn and I will be getting married in August. Here is the gazeebo where the ceremony will take place.