Category Archives: Small Spectacles

exquisite beauty along the path

 

click on this image for a larger view

Walking along the path to the beach, surrounded by a tangle of tall dried grasses, the grey twisted limbs of Ocean Spray and a tangle of bare wild rose canes, I was struck by the pattern and colour! Exquisite, wild and unexpected beauty, the designs, patterns and artistry. On both sides, all around.

With this image, the deeper I look, the more intriguing the patterns. And yet, I could have simply walked on past, thinking the only thing was to get to the beach at the end of the path…

huckleberry buds

A lattice of huckleberry twigs and buds: click image for a larger view

Maybe because we've waited so long for spring this year,  or maybe its just that these wonders are more precious with each passing year, but surely the delicate beauty of the huckleberry buds opening has never been quite so breathtakingly beautiful to me.

 

small creatures in a powerful sea…

a lone female Goldeneye (click on the image for a larger view

Usually the ducks and shorebirds take refuge and find quiet spots where its safe to seek their nourishment. But not these two I saw yesterday. While the NE Wind blew over 40knots, and the waves crashed ashore in the sandstone shallows, a lone female Goldeneye cruised through the tossing waves and dove and fished and bobbed bravely continuing  her search for a good meal.  And on the rocks above, a single Killdeer stood stoutly in the face of the oncoming sea.

Watching these  small birds I was struck by how spirited—  even audacious—  they were in the face of such powerful forces of wind and sea.

 

A dusky stream…

In the wintry chill of New Year's Day afternoon we walked the trail to the beach from the Heritage Forest,  down to Sticks Allison road  and along the beach access. Its a favourite walk of ours particularly because of the way the little stream runs alongside the path. Where the trail opens to the sandstone shore, the fresh runoff of the stream fans  out onto the sandstone and joins the Salish Sea.

The photo above was taken when it was nearly dark, with just the dim available light. It was far too cold to set up tripod and adjust camera settings— fingers and toes were  quite thoroughly numb!! The result is, to me, a happy accident.

 

Chicken of the Woods…

Chicken of the Woods 2016-07-10IMG_1865IMG_1865It wasn't what I was looking for.  I was after a photo of a Northern Flicker. But— as I  carefully crept along beneath the trees to get close enough for a photo,  a flash of a different orange caught my eye.

Nestled in the hollow core of a  very old fir stump was a beautiful fan of orange and yellow mushroom. Turns out it is known as  a ‘Conifer Chicken of the Woods’ (Laetiporus conifericola). I’ve seen it before growing on trunks of decaying fir trees, sometimes quite spectacularly, but the appeal of this sighting was accented by its cozy home low down, inside the empty round of the stump.

If I’d not been pursuing the Flicker, I may well have missed this beauty! I didn’t get the Flicker. He was long gone by the time I’d finished photographing the ‘Chicken of the Woods’.

(Note: The inside of the stump was in shadow in the morning, so  I returned later in the day when the sun was higher to get the photo above.)

the back of the rose…

the back of the rose
click on the image for a larger view

At first when I noticed one of my roses nodding its head, I was disappointed to miss seeing the glory of it's opening blossom,  but after a closer look, it occurred to me that perhaps it was a good gift that the rose was offering: the display of the detail and texture of its oft ignored side.

The gentle curve, the delicate shading of the petals, the texture of the sepals with their furred edge... I wouldn't have noticed had I been distracted by a more ordinary perspective.  This other side of the rose was intriguing, and stunning in its simple beauty.

Have you been similarly surprised by the beauty of looking at something from a different angle?

even the thornbush by the wayside…

click on the image for a larger view
click on the image for a larger view

During my school days, our Headmistress would often urge us to notice what's around us saying, 'Even the thorn bush by the wayside is ablaze with the glory of God.' I've come to appreciate over the years that she was absolutely right.

Today I was reminded of this as I saw, not a 'thorn bush' but an ordinary drainage ditch, 'blazing'  with beauty: colour, texture and pattern.

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I have intentionally adjusted the  photo above with texture and colour as I contemplated the beauty on display.  The red colours in the weeds to the right were actually there, and brighter.  I've muted them so as not to 'take over' the image as a whole. It's the raindrop circles that particularly entranced me— the way they refracted and reflected the light. 

 

Winter Colour

colours and frost on sandstone- small copy

Colour and beauty are  strewn everywhere— even in the depths of winter and in the unlikely and seemingly inhospitable spots— Its all right there for us to 'behold' .

During the past week of crisp weather, the frost coated most everything rendering the world in a muted colour palette. But as the sunlight warmed the places it shone, colours emerged  more intensely than ever.

The photo above shows what I mean:  the melting frost revealed the most gorgeous, brilliant colours of the small succulent plants that cling tight to the steep sandstone banks.