Seeing in the mist

Walking along the Bluffs, when the clouds enveloped the hillside, most of the view was obscured, hidden in the mists.

On a clear day, my eye is drawn to the array of islands, Mayne, Prevost, Saltspring, and the larger hills of southern Vancouver Island, and even the gorgeous Olympics beyond. Eagles often soar above and beneath us and the sound of sea lions ascends from the Pass.

But on this misty day, it was different. It  offered a distinctive beauty only ‘visible' when the mist obscures those things that draw the eye on a clear day. It seems that its on misty days the shape of things is revealed. The lichens gleam bright on the darker fir limbs, the mosses almost glow. 

It was in the fog and mist that I noticed the beauty of one tall snag: one I have seen frequently, but not til the mist obscured most everything else did I note its structure, its curves, its peculiar bare beauty. 

Makes me wonder what other beauty I am missing when the sky is clear, and the days are bright.

wonderful tangles

Winter waiting, and wonderful tangles of twigs...

We are in 'the dead' of winter, but there's life hidden within this tangle of twigs and branches. While that hidden life waits and works, I delight in the beauty of the muted colours and the texture of the tangled twigs. It's a different kind of beauty to enjoy while waiting for the green buds to emerge, which in due time, they will...

Here's one more glimpse, a little closer in to the tangle of branches....

more of the muted winter colours....a very different kind of beauty than any other time of year. -Sarah

A new year

We begin in the cold…. The days are short, and the wind is freezing cold from the North-east. But even in these short dark days, the fact is the sun is returning northwards, and the buds are already formed on the twigs; a few bulbs are showing green above the dark soil. 

a colourful start

just before sunrise

I was up early,  and out to the  Point  to enjoy the brilliant dawn colours. Katrina enjoyed sniffing the trails of the raccoons and deer that had visited overnight while  I watched the shifting colours and the morning flights of gulls, geese, and ducks.

The rarity of an almost cloudless sunrise allowed me to identify just how far the sun has moved north. More light, more warmth. And it's most welcome!

glimpses of the extraordinary amidst an ordinary day