In mid-October, I spent an hour strolling Dartmouth streets and waterfront near Alderney Landing while Vilis attended his cello lesson. In the wake of steady rain, mist hung over Halifax Harbour, shrouding the Metro Transit ferry on its run across the harbour neck toward Halifax – Nova Scotia’s capital city, its skyline and bridges like ghosts in the mist.

The overcast sky offered even, muted lighting for photographs, and I delighted in Dartmouth’s richly painted houses standing side by side like multi-hued building blocks. A Canadian flag hung beside a door, vivid in its simplicity. A white and yellow bench in front of a teal blue house evoked the sensation of sunshine. Rain drops glistened on rose petals, conjuring up the image of a pink satin gown decorated with clear beads. Crows raided garbage containers, and European starlings bustled about on patches of lawn, stabbing their beaks into the grasses in search of food. A lone herring gull stood on a rock at the harbour’s edge, as though posing for a Robert Bateman painting. The marina lay at peace, and behind it, the MacDonald Bridge’s span ran a dim curve across the sky.  The hour passed too quickly, but my images of Dartmouth After Rain remain.