As Cath noted, last weekend was a holiday here in Canada. Victoria Day, the traditional time for opening up the cottage after a long winter, or launching fireworks into the air, or just generally sitting around on a patio or deck having a good time. We did remarkably little of any of the above, although the neighbours were certainly in the mood, with fusillades of fireworks going off on Saturday, Sunday and Monday nights (what happened to Friday?).
This weekend is also (Oh no! Look out! Here it comes!) the beginning of motorsports season at the big track nearby, meaning I was out in the trees and rolling hills of Canadian Tire Motorsport Park, until recently known as Mosport International Raceway. No matter, the infusion of sponsorship dollars has made big and welcome improvements to the track and its facilities, even if purists railed at the name change. I’ve written about this historic track many times, even here at Adventures in Wonderland, where things are “supposed” to be a bit more science-y. I’ve made the motorsports-science link once before, but this time I’m not even going to try.
Some small, but very fast, Formula 1000 cars.
Friday and Sunday were all-day-at-the-track days, in the company of a few good friends: my IndyCar shooting pal John and his wife Kathleen, and occasional motorsport.com shooter Mike Tan. Not too many mosquitoes, lots of sun, and some serious hiking up and down the hills – good for the heart, and maybe even the soul.
Shot of the day – a Mustang, kicking up rubber on the Mario Andretti Straight.
As I often do, I spent time lurking in the trees, trying for the slow-shutter-speed “foliage panning” shot. When it works, this kind of thing can be spectacular. When it doesn’t, it’s just a mess. This one turned out all right, but it could be sharper and a bit more dramatic. Something to work towards, next time.
NASCAR Canadian Tire Series winner J.R. Fitzpatrick, and some trees.
Of course, being a holiday weekend, I didn’t spend all of my time at the track – just two of the four days (yes, I took Friday off too, feeling I needed it after all of those grants some of us have been working on). Hardly any time at all, really. The other two days were a pleasant, but still tiring, mix of Junior Wintle #2’s riding lessons, a jog down to a local park on Sunday night to watch the fireworks blasting off from the nearby amusement park, and a trip with my brother to the zoo.
The young lady and Lola the horse, earlier this year.
And that was the weekend that was. A typically exhausting holiday weekend that involved absolutely nothing that I could reasonably refer to as either “work”, or “science”. Now, all I have to do is recover.
This Polar Bear has the right idea.
Fireworks are a Victoria Day tradition in Ontario? Huh. We only have them here for Canada Day, Hallowe’en, and when we’re hosting the Olympics. Hallowe’en is the only time you seem to be able to buy them, too, not that I’ve really looked. Can you get them year-round where you are?
Hallowe’en? Seriously? Never heard of that before. How bizarre – I had no idea there were regional differences across Canada for this kind of thing!
Not sure if you can buy them year-round. Certainly, temporary places pop up around Victoria and Canada days. I think sometimes people fire them off on the August Civic Holiday weekend, too, although those might be leftovers from Canada Day.