I've looked at clouds ...

"Bows and flows of angel hair and ice cream castles in the air
And feather canyons everywhere, I've looked at clouds that way ..."
Judy Collins "Both Sides Now" (1969)

I'm a self-confessed cloud watcher - I've been known to grab the camera when interesting cloud formations appear, out of the blue so to speak. As I returned from taking my grandson on a little picnic this past week, I pulled over along the side of the highway to grab a few frames of a scene I had made a mental note of on the way out. And tonight there was an interesting lit-up formation which reminded me of the cloud that lead the Israelites through the desert.

And I've looked at clouds from both sides too but it's the fascination I recall.

Serendipity

Nothing much happens around our little village, but this week we were surprised to find that the main paved road to the nearest town was suddenly blocked off. We were directed to a detour that took us along gravel roads through the countryside. On my way back along this route I noticed a sea of blue that I had missed on my way out.

So today, on my way home from doing another kitchen shoot, I had to stop, thrash my way through the vines bordering the field, and make a few shots (the mosquitoes I disturbed made sure I only stayed for a few shots !).

Sit back for a few minutes, turn on the music (link below), and drift off into the wild blue yonder ...

[oh, my curiosity about the detour was piqued so I drove past the 'road closed' sign for about a mile and came upon the reason for the closure - a bridge over this creek is being replaced - the construction crew said it would take 2 months]

by the way, this flower is known as Viper's Bugloss

A walk in the woods (II)

Here are a few more shots from my walk in the woods last week.

And what a difference a few days make in the weather - last week we enjoyed 80-84F (26-28C); today we were lucky to reach 52F (11C) under heavy skies and a howling wind.

Definition of a Canadian spring: the 15 minutes between winter and summer.

While the earth remains, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night, shall not cease.”   Genesis 8:22

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]

Emblems of Autumn

An Autumn Thought
  by: Albert Laighton (1829-1887)
   
They're speeding on--the weary winter hours;
These are thy emblems, thou departing year:
The falling leaves, the fading of the flowers
Laid by fond Autumn on the Summer's bier.

Soon will the song of lingering birds be still,
The streamlets lose the music of their tone;
For hid with pallid brow behind the hill,
stern Winter waits to mount his glittering throne.

Well, let the flowers decay, the dead leaves fall;
Hushed be the birds, and stilled the streamlet's flow;
Let hoary Winter cast a blight o'er all,
And bind his withered brow with wreaths of snow.

We know that May will come, and glad rills play,
And flowers along their emerald borders bloom;
Though our next spring-time may lie far away
In some fair clime of light beyond the tomb.


Autumn is creeping in, we've had frost several times, and the wood stove has banished the chill from our home. temporarily. Here's what autumn is starting to look like in our neck of the woods.

Up the creek - no paddle needed

We're experiencing a vacationer's dream summer - hot, dry, sunny weather. Other than a quick downpour from a thunderstorm yesterday it has been bone dry for weeks, with temperatures in the 32-35C/90-95F range.

This evening I went to see just what the effect has been on a little nearby creek - judge for yourself.

Looking back at the bridge from the middle of the creek

Looking 'upstream'

There's no more debris floating by for these branches to grab

The wildflowers haven't been affected. yet

Although these were more plentiful in previous years

Here and there were pools of now stilled water 

 It remains to be seen whether these pools will also dry completely before the rains replenish the creek. In the meantime, vacationers aren't complaining.

Let all things now living, a song of thanksgiving ...

We've been slowly creating a small ecosystem beside the house. Well, it's not quite correct to say that we are creating it since we just added what already existed in creation to what started out as a bit of a bare spot. A friend had donated a half dozen birch saplings which are now over 20' high - these have since pretty much claimed sole possession of the (former) perennial garden around the ponds. I 'liberated' some plants out of the wild (where undoubtedly they weren't being appreciated), including marsh marigolds and irises - they thrive near the edge of pond.

The marsh marigolds have already had their 15 minutes of fame this spring and now it's the irises' turn. The rain relented this afternoon, and although the wind was gusty at times, I was able to give them their due. I thought only Sasha and I were there, but it turned out that I disturbed another denizen who ended up playing a game of hide and seek with me (last photo). We have a symbiotic relationship - we 'provide' the ecosystem and (s)he in turn keeps the frog population in check.

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)

Signs, Signs, Everywhere There's Signs ... Part II

As a follow up to my last post, I found some more signs in our yard of the impending and inevitable change of season. I've noticed that along our roads the colours are starting to become more vivid in the bushes and trees. I feel a photo shoot coming up soon to capture the blaze of glory with which God paints his creation before He lets it go quietly to sleep beneath a blanket of white. 

I love to think of nature as an unlimited broadcasting station, through which God speaks to us every hour, if we will only tune in.
(George Washington Carver)

(60mm  f8.0  1/20 sec  ISO200)

(60mm  f10  1/40 sec  ISO200)

(60mm  f11  1/15 sec  ISO200)

(60mm  f7.1  1/25 sec  ISO200)

(60mm  f7.1  1/200 sec  ISO200)

Signs, Signs, Everywhere There's Signs ... Part I

It's true. Our thermometer registered 2C/35F this morning !

Despite our reluctance to acknowledge the changing of the seasons, the signs are everywhere. I wandered around the yard today looking for them. In fact I found so many, I decided to split the results into a couple of posts.

You might enjoy this whilst viewing today's photos.

[internet update: I don't want to bore you with the whole saga, but I'm sure my name is well-known at my ISP. Almost daily discussions take place between the ISP engineering group, field ops and level 3 experts. Fortunately (?) I'm not the only one in the area who suffers from internet issues. Several equipment problems have been addressed with the wireless tower, and this weekend (I'm told) a major component is being replaced that is supposed to resolve the issues. In the meantime I try to find periods when the connection is working in order to post and to visit as many of you as possible. Evenings are especially bad when it becomes almost completely unusable. I remain hopeful, although my patience is becoming razor thin. Postscript: I started this post at 7:00 pm ... it's now 8:05 pm; am going to remove a video I was trying to embed and just give you the link]

(all shots made with a 60mm lens with apertures ranging from f5.0 to f8.0, and shutter speeds of 1/400 to 1/60 sec)