All posts by stweedale@gmail.com

garden thoughts: lines and curves…

Lines and curves - click on image for a larger view

The curves and lines in this image have been intriguing me since I captured it on Friday.
What keeps me looking is the contrast between the long clean lines that have been so carefully drawn in this garden,  and the rough 'imperfect' lines  and curves of the tree and its shadow. The intersection of these lines— their juxtaposition— provokes all sorts of thoughts for me.
I wonder what it suggests to you?

Willow shapes

 

"Willow Shapes" - click on the image for a larger view

Yesterday, walking in Galiano's Heritage Forest, my eye was drawn to the shapes of the trees— the shapes that will soon be hidden by the profusion of leaves.
Mixed with the evergreens are are are several willow trees of varying kinds, along the main path. They’ve been there, as their size indicates, for years and years, but it wasn’t til yesterday that the light caught them in a certain way, and I ’noticed’ them. They are, to me, absolutely beautiful—  the stature of the tree as a whole, and the detail of the slender curves…

I will likely post several more photos of these and other trees in the days ahead, either here or on my Curious Spectacles Facebook page which you can find here.

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.

 

feeling small : precarious ventures

click on image for a larger view

Watching a fishboat depart from the sheltered waters of Whaler Bay in the early morning, with a strong NW wind, and beneath a rather ominous looking sky, reminds me how precarious every venture is. Again the Breton Fisherman's prayer seems apt, not only for those who literally go to the sea in ships, but for us all:
Dear God, be good to me for the sea is so large, and my boat is so small.

afternoon quiet

the calm in the afternoon looking across the Salish Sea (click for larger view)

Yesterday we had a short reprieve between storms:  the sun shone, the wind dropped and the sea settled to a mirror calm. Mt. Baker glowed on the far side of the Salish Sea.
But best of all is the sweep of clouds, with the small pale moon visible beyond them, to the left of centre frame.

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.