The Other Side of Sixty-Five: Eighteen Years Ago Today

Mom at Riversong- October 13, 2004 (Kodak Easyshare)

I took this picture of Mom on October 13, 2004. She and Dad were here for a fall visit and I took a day off work to tour the region north of our city with them. Riversong is a banquet hall situated on Hawkesville Road at its junction with the Conestoga River near St. Jacobs, Ontario. Old Order Mennonite buggies share the highway here an OOM meeting house is about a kilometre away on Three Bridges Road. Riversong's parking lot is a safe place to stop and enjoy autumn colours along the river.

I got my first digital camera in 2004 and the picture on the left was taken with my Kodak EasyShare DX4530. The 5MP camera had 3x optical and 3x digital zoom and it took better pictures than my cameras that used film. This camera really changed my life. I started taking nature pictures and due to the instant ability to see them on the computer, I began to identify birds, plants, trees, insects and all things natural. The camera was my motivation to explore natural areas near our home.

Several cameras later, I still love taking pictures.

Ruth at Riversong- October 13, 2022 (taken by Becka with an iPhone 11)

I decided to visit Riversong again today and did not realize until I started this post that it is exactly 18 years ago today that I was here with Mom and Dad. The maple tree is much larger and the evergreen in the foreground of the first picture has been removed. This phone camera takes better scenery pictures than any point-and-shoot digital camera I have owned. I am trying to resist updating my phone just to have the latest iPhone camera. (Yes, I know that other phones have excellent cameras too)

Here are some more "October 13th" photos.