This morning’s walk in the forest was a delight with the sun slanting through and highlighting the shapes of trees and roots.
A couple of times I simply had to stop and note the way the sun was highlighting a particular place, as though it was important for us to look and see the lines, the design, the light and shadow.
This photo is one of several I took at those moments, noting what nature’s spotlight was showing me.
What ‘Nature’s Spotlight’ has pointed out to you today?
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…
Its always a delight to watch the eagles—
This one was perched in the large fir tree by the end of our Point, calling to its mate nearby.
These autumn days are particularly beautiful, with the stunning colours in the brilliant sun.
This gallery shows just a few of this week's mornings when meandering to the shore as the sun was rising.
-click on any image for a larger view-
I took this photo last week in the warmth of the afternoon light and the stillness of Whaler Bay. What caught my eye was the complex reflections with the fallen tree, the tangled lines of its branches both above and beneath the water and the curves of the sandstone intersected by the straight lines of the wharf's shadow.
The resulting design is intriguing: another instance of the playful art of nature all around us.
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.
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.
Sunlight diffused by a the thin fog sifts through the trees. It was surprisingly chilly, yet even the winter sun can warm the ground and raise a mist to meet with the fog.
The colours are muted and soft along the Heritage Forest Road, and the ground is rock hard, frozen solid. It may look like there's little life in the landscape, that it everything is 'dead'. Dull. How far from the truth!
As we walked the road what struck me was how many signals there were that even in the quiet stillness of winter, and its apparent barrenness, there is a pulsing vitality to the season: the creeks burble beneath a skim of ice, lichens hang conspicuously from limbs all round, colourful slime molds are 'there' for the observant eye as are various fascinating fungi; winter birds— wrens, sparrows, nuthatches, chickadees and towhees flit amongst the low shrubs while the finches and others occupy the higher branches; the deer meander and graze undisturbed. Surely the forest pulses with life as much in winter as any season.
I wonder if maybe the forest and its creatures enjoy the relative quiet. Maybe its their 'sabbath'.
The days begin with a walk to Flagpole Point before breakfast.
In part it is a necessity, to walk the dog, but equally important is that this outing provides me a chance to appreciate the uniqueness of each morning. Though it is the same place, the variation is infinite: light, colour and texture in differing combinations.
The rising sun's position is constantly shifting with the seasons, tides varying with moon-phase, wind and weather, clouds, fog, rain, or clear... Add to this, the cast of birds and small animals. I never know just what the morning jaunt will offer: kingfishers, herons, otters, harlequins, eagles, mink, seals...
It has long been my habit to record these first glimpses of the day there with a few photos, usually just on my iPhone, but sometimes with my 'big' camera. Recently it occurred to me to share some of my morning glimpses with others, so I created a Flickr Album Mornings at Flagpole Point which you can view here.
My aim is to post one a day. Sometimes, like yesterday when we had a power outage I couldn't post. There are bound to be other missed days here and there, but mostly it'll be a daily photo.
Thanks so much for enjoying these glimpses of the world with me.
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