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Fall Collection
Varinder Singh
travelled across Canada to capture the kaleidoscope of colour that arrives with autumn
To catch the colourful, fascinating and inviting colours of autumn in Canada, I decided to undertake a road journey of more than 4,000 km from Toronto to Calgary and Great Falls (in the US) via cities and townships of Barrie, Sudbury, Sault Ste. Marie, Wawa, Nipigon, Kenora, Winnipeg, Brandon, Regina, Medicine Hat and Lethbridge. The fall of Canada is unlike the autumn in tropical countries, where leaves of trees turn brownish all of a sudden and vanish within a couple of days with winds sweeping the region to welcome the winter.
Maple has thousands of its varieties spread across North America and leaves of different varieties change their colour at different time. For this reason, the forests appear so colourful. When leaves of a certain variety is still lush green, leaves of some other maple variety acquires a yellow hue and some other turn red and finally present themselves as maroon or purple. The predominance of maple in Canada can be felt all over. Its leaf also figures on the flag of the country and is also its national symbol. The countryside of a vast country like Canada presents a spectacular canvas with crispy leaves of maple, tamaracks, and red oaks changing colours from green to yellow, orange, red, scarlet red, maroon and even purple. It seems that forests of Canada are on fire in this season. Autumn sets in as early as August, and reaches its peak by October end, when leaves of maple and other trees finally acquire hues of purple, symbolising the advent of winter.
As you proceed from the eastern to north-western parts of Canada or as you enter Manitoba state of Canada from Ontario, the magnificent forest cover starts receding and the vast prairie fields start dominating the skyline. There are hardly any maples or big trees owing to the fact that gusty winds blow in the chilly region, which remains covered by snow from November to mid-April. Only a few species of small tropical trees dot the area, where farmers ‘make hay while the sun shines.’ Farmers of the northern parts like Quebec, Ontario and, particularly Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Alberta states, prefer not to go in for farming in harsh winters. Most of them start collecting hay for their animals from the first week of October and like to relax in their homes during winter. Though, the colourful fall can be seen in and around almost all major cities like Montreal, Ottawa, Quebec and Halifax, the best fall foliage spots are in Ontario, which is also known as the state of lakes. It has hundreds of big and small pristine lakes. Ontario and other states usually start experiencing snow in the last days of October but this year snow was yet to come`85 the delay could be due to global warming.
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People
of Canada dread its harsh winter but eagerly await the fall and
celebrate its advent in ingenious ways. If some go for trekking,
others vanish into forests in their cars and bikes to witness nature
in all its glory. They camp at serene spots to see the changing hues
of leaves of maple and other trees.
