Saturday Photo: I am Curious Yellow and Blue, But Not Swedish

The maples in front have turned a gorgeous, buttery yellow colour which contrasts marvelously with blue sky. I took this photo off the balcony in front as the sun was just beginning to shine down the street. The trees, even without the sunlight, appeared to be glowing, as if they were somehow lit from within by the energy stored over a summer of bright skies.

The railing on the balcony was painted blue some time ago and has faded a bit, so that the combination of the colours reminded me of the Swedish flag. I Am Curious Yellow was one of the ground-breaking films of the 1960s which caused much controversy: it was seized by US customs officials in 1967 for being "pornographic." Times have changed, but the lovely combination of blue and yellow remain in the flag and in the October landscape here and, I presume, there.

A note, however, on my name: Soderstrom--which in Sweden is spelled Söderström, and means "south stream"--isn't the name I was born with. That was McGowan: despite getting married at a time when women were questioning all kinds of limits put on them, I didn't think twice about adopting Lee's name. In the 1970s women in Quebec could re-assume their birth names without any bureaucratic fuss, and many of my friends did just that. But I'd begun to make a small name for myself as Mary Soderstrom, so I decided not to. Besides, whether you take your husband's name or your father's name it's all patriarchy, isn't it?

There is no doubt about me being curious, though. That's what's led me to undertaking this blog, when you come right down to it.