Dark Skies

Huntsville, amongst a few other cities in Muskoka, has dark sky friendly street lighting, which means that the city lights face down, not out or up.  This means that the night sky, which is often washed out by city lights, dazzles with constellations, shooting stars and the Milky Way.  When we bought our exterior light fixtures, we made sure they were dark sky friendly.  What a great opportunity for Russell to practice night photography.  He did just that this past week, on a couple of clear and cool nights.  He took his "night camera" gear outside at about 10 pm and took pictures, two of which are attached.  He plans on doing more of this as the sky gets much clearer when the weather is colder.

This first week of September went by like a flash.  We did more work outside but not as much as we would have liked.  On Thursday, although it was a beautiful day, it felt like the dark skies that Russell likes so much were all around us.  We received some bad news about Russell's mom.  She is now in the hospital, battling a cancer that has literally taken over her body.  Even though she has had cancer for some time, it had been under control.  But it came back with a vengeance in the past week.  Russell's sister has been with her mom since and we are going to Montreal this week to be with her.  We do not think that she has that much time left so we will do our best to spend quality time with her.

We are lucky that we can leave Cooper with Darlah and Nathan while in Montreal.  We don't know what we would do without them.  They are such a big part of our lives and Cooper's life.  The Coop has been sensing that we are sad and wants to cuddle more.  This afternoon, as I was attempting to mulch a little bit, Russell was sitting on the front porch with Cooper.  When I saw them sitting together, I went inside to get my camera and took the attached picture.  He sure loves sitting on his daddy's lap. He brings us so much comfort during difficult times.

I don't have much else to report.  My thoughts right now are with Russell and his mom.  I hope you all had a nice week and are enjoying a nice Fall weekend.   I wish you a great week ahead.

Just a few steps from the door....the Milky Way beckons.

So many stars....so little time.

The Coop and his Daddy pretending not to watch me mulch.