Faithfulness

"For behold, the winter is past; the rain is over and gone. The flowers appear on the earth, the time of singing has come ..." Song of Solomon 2:11-12

"Summer and winter and springtime and harvest,
Sun, moon and stars in their courses above
Join with all nature in manifold witness
To Thy great faithfulness, mercy and love."

A time for everything

For everything there is a season,
and a time for every matter under heaven:
a time to be born, and a time to die;
a time to plant, and a time to pluck up what is planted;
a time to kill, and a time to heal;
a time to break down, and a time to build up;
a time to weep, and a time to laugh;
a time to mourn, and a time to dance;
a time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together;
a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing ...

Ecclesiastes 3:1-5


He changes times and seasons; He removes kings and sets up kings; He gives wisdom to the wise and knowledge to those who have understanding ...

Daniel 2:21


And the time for capturing these was drawing to a close as the light was fading, and the flowers themselves would soon fade.

A walk in the woods ...

“I like this place and could willingly waste my time in it.”
― William Shakespeare

“God has strewn our paths with wonders and we certainly should not go through Life with our eyes shut.”
― Alexander Graham Bell

“Many eyes go through the meadow, but few see the flowers in it”
― Ralph Waldo Emerson

“Going to the woods is going home.”
― John Muir

“If God did not exist, He would have to be invented. But all nature cries aloud that He does exist: that there is a supreme intelligence, an immense power, an admirable order, and everything teaches us our own dependence on it.”
― Voltaire

I visited this secluded area a few minutes' drive from our place - it's a favourite of mine in each season. Sasha contented herself with nosing around in the leaves and finding a comfortable spot in the shade as I wandered around in the woods. It's the height of black fly season and they were voracious. Since I'm a favourite of all biting and sucking insects I doused myself in a 98.9% DEET solution (not available in my nanny state but which I - thankfully - found in Florida) and they were forced to leave me alone.

I made enough photos for several posts so will have to share some others next time. Hope you'll enjoy the walk in His creation.

Consider the lilies of the field ...

"How could I say there is no God?
  When all around creation calls!!"
                           [Brian Doerksen - Creation Calls]

Memories of spring

First a howling blizzard woke us,
Then the rain came down to soak us,
And now before the eye can focus —
Crocus.                            (Lilja Rogers)

For the first time in 4 years, we weren't greeted by a blizzard upon our return from down south. And those who stayed and braved the winter tell us that there have already been enough April showers to bring out the May flowers. soon.

Those of us who have grown up in cold(er) climes fondly recall those first days of spring when we could finally shed our coats and bask in the warm rays of sunshine. Today was one of those days as I cleaned winter's detritus from the pond.

I trust that no matter where you live (at least in the northern hemisphere), you'll also revel in the newness that spring brings to God's good creation, and to our spirits.

Took a walk on the wild side

This is my Father’s world, and to my listening ears
All nature sings, and round me rings the music
      of the spheres.
This is my Father’s world: I rest me in the thought
Of rocks and trees, of skies and seas;
His hand the wonders wrought.

...

(Maltbie Davenport Babcock  1858-1901)

Back to the future

My plan to go out and shoot some more autumn colours has been temporarily shelved. Our weather has taken on a decidedly autumn character - cold, blustery winds, rain, and sullen gray skies. So I decided to peruse my archives and came across this shot to mark Sunset Sunday, taken on the other side of summer.

(10-22mm  f8.0 1/30 sec  ISO200)

For more marvelous sunsets, visit Scott's blog.

Under the apple tree ...

I vaguely recall one of the first songs I learned in elementary school, which started with the following profound lyrics:

"Spring, spring, spring, spring

  Under the apple tree,

  Swing, swing, oh swing, swing

  Under the apple tree ... "

My recollection of the rest of the lyrics has suffered from the ravages of time, but I can readily recall the tune, and it was playing in my head as I wandered among the apple blossoms this afternoon. It's too bad the apple blossom season is so short - they smell so good, and bees have to work overtime to visit all the blooms before they're gone. No time for them to sit under the apple tree.

(all shots made with a 60mm macro lens at f5.6 or f6.3, ISO100, and a shutter speed of 1/80 or 1/125 sec)

The payoff

The promises attached to April showers are starting to materialize around the house. I went out this afternoon to capture some of its ethereal beauty, however, more drizzle, along with a breeze that makes macro shots impossible, cut that short. A window of opportunity opened up right after dinner and I only had to travel 10 feet out the front door. Now don't get the impression that we have beds full of these hyacinths - I wish. In fact, we only have a few, and these hardy souls have struggled to get established. I think I'll get some more in the fall though.

(60mm  f4.5  1/8 sec  ISO200)

(60mm  f10  1/3 sec  ISO200)

Read my lips

On this cool, dreary, rainy day (I know, I know ... April showers bring ...) I elected to browse through my photo archives to find cheerier moments. I came across this series from last year in which I got busted trying to sneak up on a birdie that was just trying to enjoy a quiet moment. Here were her reactions:

(all shots made with a 70-200mm lens at f8.0, 1/125 sec, ISO200) click on photos for a better view

"I can HEAR you ..."

"I know you're OUT there ..."

"Are you under THERE ?"

"Where ARE you ... ?"

"Aha ! Busted !"

"Ok, now get that camera out of my face and leave me alone"

Sayōnara ... soon

[for some musical accompaniment while you read this, click here]. Our sojourn in these warmer climes is coming to an end very soon. Reports say that the snow back home is mostly gone. Of course we realize that we're not out of the woods yet in that regard - last year we had a last winter fling on April 27 !

But we're looking forward to spring taking a firm hold 'back home' and producing scenes more like this.

(60mm  f11  1/6 sec  ISO100)

click on photo to enlarge

Winter blahs be gone !

In my virtual travels around blogland I've seen people take different approaches to winter. [I need to digress momentarily and let you know that this is the first year we voted with our feet not to enjoy the many pleasures that winter can offer by heading to warmer climes. We're also all too familiar with the dreaded feeling that usually sets in around this time of year that winter simply will not end.]

Some people tackle winter head on: they strap on skis or skates, or hurtle downhill on toboggans and other conveyances and later gather round a bonfire with rosy cheeks while defrosting various parts of the body. Others ensure a good supply of books and firewood and hunker down to wait for spring. Still others deny the existence of winter altogether and pass the time viewing and posting photos of happier (read 'non-winter') times. But most of them by this point in the winter are more than willing to close this chapter and get on with spring.

So I thought I'd share a couple of shots made today to help move the yardsticks forward - no, nothing that will affect the weather - I'm talking about the mental yardsticks. And no, these aren't growing outdoors here (although our bougainvillea are lovely).

Enjoy - spring is just around the corner ! It's never failed to come yet.

(60mm  f6.3  1.6 sec  ISO200)

(60mm  f5.6  1.0 sec  ISO400)

Back to the future

As I was combing through the archives I came upon a series of shots I made in spring last year (although I only needed one shot per day for the 365 project last year, I quite often found myself carried away and I'd make 50 or 100 shots in a day - no, not all were keepers). If all goes as planned (which is largely out of our hands), I hope to see scenes like this soon after we make our way back north.

(60mm  f2.8  1/500 sec  ISO200)

(Day 131) Doo, doo, doo, lookin' out my back door

Well, almost. (Were you singin' along ?) I was watching the birds and the bees get on with their business today among the trees and the flowers. For the most part they just ignored me as I pointed a Canon their way. The birds just flitted around - I'm sure it was on official bird business - and chirped happily. The flowers just exuded fragrance and beauty. All I had to do was look and press the shutter. Hope you enjoy looking as much as I did.

(70-200mm  f5.6  1/800 sec  ISO200)

(70-200mm  f14  1/50 sec  ISO200)

(70-200mm  f5.6  1/2500 sec  ISO200)

(70-200mm  f8  1/160 sec  ISO200)

(Day 123) Apple blossom time

Who would have believed that less than a week ago our weather looked like this! Well, it's made a 180 degree turn and the apple trees have suddenly burst into full bloom - another reason why "it's the most wonderful time of the year!" (I'll bet you sang that line :-)

Rather than blather on, I'll let the photos speak for themselves.

(70-200mm  f8  1/250 sec  ISO200)

(70-200mm  f8  1/160 sec  ISO200)

(70-200mm  f5.6  1/2000 sec  ISO200)

(Day 117) A nasty surprise!

I was awakened this morning by a phone call from one of my daughters to tell me that the town nearest to us was in the news. Now this is unusual because nothing much of any importance ever happens here. Well, the news was that we were experiencing a significant snowstorm! Of course I didn't believe her and immediately went to look out the window - yep, we had a January blizzard going on!

We lived in Calgary for many years and this would hardly be newsworthy, unless there was 60cm (2') of snow, because April and May can be very snowy there. But this is almost unheard of in these parts at this time of year. So yes, these are not pictures from my archives in January (see the leaves and flowers) and it's still snowing as I post this. I'm not sure I believe the weather forecast which promises 21C (70F) by Friday.

(18-55mm  f11  1/100 sec  ISO200)

(18-55mm  f11  1/160 sec  ISO200)

(18-55mm  f11  1/160 sec  ISO200)

(18-55mm  f11  1/30 sec  ISO200)

(Day 112) A slightly different look at spring

Spring has to be one of my favourite times of the year. Oh sure, hot lazy days in the summer are great, especially when you're on vacation, and fall days, with all the splendid colours, are amazing, and I'm always gung ho for a raging winter blizzard.

But after the 'deadness' of winter, spring brings a magic all its own, as everything bursts into life and suddenly there's a kaleidoscope of colour. Photographers (me included) can't wait to get out to capture the emerging beauty, in exquisite detail. Today it was just literally exploding all around me.

(18-55mm  f29  0.6 sec  ISO100)

(18-55mm  f14  1/5 sec  ISO100)

(Day 109) Spring's bounty

People aren't the only living things that appreciate the return of spring. Today's photos show 2 creatures I found (well, my wife actually spotted the 2nd one) that were quite happy to no longer be under winter 'wraps' and were enjoying the fresh bounty served up in spring time - nectar and tree buds.

 (70-200mm  f5.6  1/1250 sec  ISO200)  enlarge for better view

(70-200mm  f16  1/80 sec  ISO800)