“I would maintain that thanks are the highest form of thought; and that gratitude is happiness doubled by wonder.”

G.K. Chesterton

Today is the one year anniversary of my refurbished “Adventures of the Vagabond Photographer” blog. A mere year ago I was celebrating a lovely Thanksgiving with my family back home in Lambton County. It was a wonderful and appreciated celebration of love and laughter.

Fast-forward one year and so much has changed. COVID-19 has impacted many lives this year and has changed the way we live, love and even laugh. This year I am living in a pandemic “hot zone” in Toronto and I have heeded the advice of our local medical officer of health to stay home for this Thanksgiving. After four years of living away from home, I was just starting to appreciate this special time to gather and give thanks for all of our good fortune. This Thanksgiving Monday I am missing these fun folks…

And this happy announcement: congratulations Kyle and Meagan!

“I awoke this morning with devout thanksgiving for my friends, old and new.”

Ralph Waldo Emerson

Yet, like Emerson, I awoke today with such a deep sense of gratitude. Of Thanksgiving! For the love of dear friends and family. Even virtually. For my health, my appreciated livelihood. And for the stunning beauty that surrounds us each and every day.

It was this thanksgiving, this gratitude, that surrounded me on Friday when I took one last road trip for the season before hunkering down and staying home. I left my apartment on Friday hoping to honour Thanksgiving’s past when I would take my parents on a yearly road trip up north to witness the fall colours. I have shared this fond memory many times before…of Mum and Dad clapping at the sight of spectacular reds, oranges and yellows lining northern backroads. In this first Thanksgiving without both parents, I found myself driving in search of being nearer to them in some way and Friday’s drive up into the Mulmer Hills accomplished this wish. I was literally in heaven!

“Got no check books, got no banks, still I’d like to express my thanks. I got the sun in the morning and the moon at night.”

Irving Berlin

The first stop on my fall colours road trip was the lovely village of Mono Centre, home of the stunning Mono Cliffs Provincial Park. Hike there if you can! I chose this stop as the roads leading up to Mono are lined with barns, old churches and school houses, and stunning, vibrant trees.

“Wear gratitude like a cloak, and it will feed every corner of your life.”

Rumi

I then wound my way up Highway 10 north of Orangeville and Primrose into the glorious Mulmer Hills. My favourite back country roads in Ontario!

“If the only prayer you said was thank you, that would be enough.”

Meister Eckhart

After driving up and down some remote, gorgeous tree-lined side roads in Mulmer, I pulled into a wide, flat expanse of farmland near the small town of Honeywood. It was on a side road north of Honeywood that I passed a lovely farm with a papery-brown cornfield backlit with fiery red maples. An older farmer wearing an iconic seed grain hat was proudly mowing the lawn in front of a stoic farm house. Before I knew it he waved. And I was unexpectedly visited by Dad, who would have done the same thing. Wave at a stranger passing by, the farmer version of “Welcome to my patch of land.” I pulled over, took a picture of the corn field and wept. Those who have lost a parent will recognize this tsunami of tears that hits you in unsuspecting moments, often triggered by a keen memory. I sat in my car for a bit and let the moment pass, trying to have patience with myself because just as these moments hurt, they also heal.

“Gratitude bestows reverence..changing forever how we experience life and the world.”

John Milton

This lovely rural side road then deposited me within Noisy River Provincial Park, another tremendous hiking spot if you ever get the chance. The road winds through the park and out the other side just west of Creemore. It was on this road, aptly named Garden of Eden, that I pulled over after gasping out loud at a horse farm that left me breathless. The sun peeked out behind clouds and I captured these three shots.

“Appreciation can make a day, even change a life. Your willingness to put it into words is all that is necessary.”

Margaret Cousins

It was at this point on my road trip that I turned west and headed for Singhampton, where I passed by a charming place where once Mum, Dad and I had a Thanksgiving supper at Mylar and Loretta’s. Then north to Rob Roy and into the spectacular (I know, I use this word a LOT) Pretty River Valley Provincial Park. Another great spot to hike!

“Let gratitude be the pillow upon which you kneel to say your nightly prayer. And let faith be the bridge you build to overcome evil and welcome good.”

Maya Angelou

As the sun was starting to get low in the sky, I made my way further west to the always-stunning Beaver Valley which would mark my turn south towards home. I passed by a familiar old church in Epping that Mum and Dad and I stopped to take pictures of on one fall road trip. And I found a sigh-inducing farm for sale, tucked into the hillside near Kimberly. I stood at this spot and breathed in deeply. In this peace-filled place I could hear the wind rustle the fall leaves, birds happily chirping, and smell the fresh fall earth. This felt like my last stop on a awe-inspiring drive that brought me closer to my dear folks and to home.

“Enough is a feast.”

Buddhist Proverb

Thank you for joining me on my solo Thanksgiving Fall Colours Road Trip 2020. I know this year is hard. For many reasons and in so many ways. Missing our friends and family when we need them most is so very difficult. It may make your heart ache! But I promise you if you focus your attention on all of your blessings, small or large, your heart will also fill with gratitude, a cloak that wraps around the hurt, allowing you to see the world differently. For my part, I will try to honour “Thanksgiving” daily. I will appreciate the many gifts that I know surround me if I pay closer attention. A great cup of coffee. house plants that are miraculously still green, a video chat with friends and family, warm cozy blankets and a good book. The list might just be endless!

Before I leave you I want to acknowledge the quotes I’ve used to frame my story. I found them in a lovely post on-line by Country Living Magazine.

I also want to share one last photo with you. I took this shot of Mum and Dad walking down Juddhaven Road in the Muskoka’s on one of our first Thanksgiving Fall Colours Road Trips. I captured it with my film camera and today I am also thankful for the gift of photos. They help us remember the great times we have had with the people we hold most dear. Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

“Rest and be thankful.”

William Wordsworth