Rock Climber

I have hiked many mountain trails over the years, but would never consider myself a mountain climber or a rock climber. And yet, once a year there is a very large rock pile in my life that has to be scaled. There are many pitfalls, outcrops, crevasses, and few handholds, but somehow I make it to the top. Without safety ropes or harnesses, I have come to within a few feet of the crest, where, while peering over the precipitous edge, I see a cool drink and a relaxing hammock which awaits those who endure. On Monday, my accountant, who is an accomplished mountaineer, will haul me over the edge, I will pay him handsomely, and I will once more bask in the freedom from income tax worries, at least until next April.

Electric Blue

If you are a regular visitor to this blog, you will have noticed that I rarely match the photo to the season. In a few months, I will be able to relax in the garden and be surrounded by these amazing Morning Glories, and at that time will not be motivated to post a picture of one of them. But right now, browsing through my photo folders, these flowers with the inner light, catch my fancy a great deal and I want to share them with all of you. They bloom in the cool of the very early morning, and the heat of the day will shrivel and knock them off their stems by mid afternoon. Unlike me, a Morning Glory is a 'morning person'.

Mallard

We can learn something from birds. They fly back from a warm winter in sunny California, and when it is too cold to build a nest, mate, lay eggs, and whatever else it is they do in spring, they do not pack up and fly back. They patiently wait, and watch. How do they know this? We would be checking the calendar, looking at our watches, staring at the Weather Channel, and fretting. Our favourite topic of conversation seems to be 'the weather'. The weather is what the weather will be and it will always be thus. Let's just be grateful that we do not have to sit in a cold pond while waiting for spring. When it turns wet and cold again tomorrow, I will not be talking about it.

Sunrise or Sunset

There has been much said about aging, and I have been bombarded with all the cliches this week. No, I do not feel any different now that I am 60, but over the last year, in anticipation of this milestone, I have been thinking, that what has changed, is my perspective on dying. Up until recently, when faced with the prospect of death, my first reaction would have been," Not now! I am too young. I have too much living to do." My thinking has gradually changed in that I still feel that I am too young, and yes, I have a lot of living yet to do, but the prospect of dying now is OK if it must be. I do not think I have ever feared death, but perhaps feared missing out on something if I were to die. That feeling is gradually being replaced with something else.... the beginnings of anticipation.

The photo: Is it a sunset, representing the fading of youth, the waning years, the beginning of the end, or is it a sunrise, representing new beginnings, the start of a new day, anticipation of what is in store? The truth is, I had to get up very early in the morning last fall to get that shot at Willband Creek Park. Sunrise is more my outlook these days than sunset.

Old, Older, Oldest

A big thank you to all of you who not only remembered my birthday today, but helped make it a very special day. No time for a picture post tonight. Too busy opening cards, being taken out to dinner (by 14 people) and being recognized on the family websites. I accept the lavish attention only because it is not everyday that one turns 60! I love you all and thanks for making me feel young.

Cold as Ice

I am waiting patiently for the tulips to bloom, however, the icy winds continue to blow and the sunny periods deceive us into thinking it might be warm outside. So what can be colder than an ice storm? We have had a few good ones over the years and I caught the clear skies at the end of one of them here. I was passing Hogan Park in the days when my camera was always at the ready, and snapped a whole film from late afternoon to sunset. Once in a lifetime would be true for the scenes I photographed.

Pigtails

My daughter has always been very photogenic, but when I saw her cherub face peering out of the window, it was not only her cuteness that caught my eye, but the contrast between old and new. Even in full colour, the unpainted boards of this old house are in such contrast to the fresh soft look of a two year old little girl. She always beamed on cue when she saw her dad point his camera in her direction, just as her little boys do today.

Mushrooms

Mushrooms are very interesting. They pop up overnight where yesterday there was nothing. They are either deliciously edible or horribly poisonous. They are very delicate and quite beautiful in their variety of colour , shape, and size. These are Shaggy Mane Mushrooms, edible at this stage, but only hours later, when the fringes of the caps turn black and shaggy, you had better not eat them unless you are close to medical treatment! I was feeling adventurous when I took this photo, for immediately afterwards, I picked them, tossed them into a frying pan, and ate them. I was fortunate that the information in the nature book was accurate.

* These are not Shaggy Mane mushrooms. If they are, they are very young. I researched my brains out and canont find out what they are but I know we ate them. Anybody out there who can help me with this?

Vintage Barn

This Kootney barn photo is an old favourite of mine. At the time, the barn was around 80 years old. It doubled as a machine shop for a mine in the area and was full of old machinery as well as the usual barn paraphernalia. I do not know if it still stands today, but if it does, it is now close to 115 years old! The history and character of this structure was evident in every corner and had I been more keen on photography in those days, I would have shot hundreds of photos there. Now that I am older, I see this as a missed opportunity. One of many, I am afraid.

Woodpecker

This photograph was taken in Yarrow around 30 years ago. It was with my Pentax Spotmatic 35mm state of the art single lens reflex camera. I had never seen one of these woodpeckers up close before and was quite proud that I had 'captured' it. I wonder if he ever did finish off that stump, one wood peck at a time. My days sometimes feel like that. The tasks are overwhelming and will I ever get done? In fact, my life is starting to feel like that. Will I ever get done? Of course, I will, and maybe sooner than I think, but in the meantime there is just so much to do and it is all getting a little repetitious. Like the poor little Woodpecker, it feels, at times, like I am banging my head against a tree.

Daffodils Down!

Spring was progressing nicely. The Daffodils were blooming, reaching for the sun on their slender stems, and looking quite glorious. But March, being the transition month that it is, threw a blustery storm with a bit of snow and lots of wind at our yellow friends, and today they were kissing the cold concrete instead of the blue skies. For those of you who have been knocked down, you know how difficult it can be to get up off the floor.

A Moment of Sun

The sun did come out for a brief moment, even though slightly veiled. As photographers know, this is ideal lighting.The vibrant colours come alive under the grey skies and the scene suddenly becomes eye candy. What an incredible double blessing God has gifted us with. The miracle of vision and the miracle of creation that is beautiful and colourful beyond words. We are created in God's image and part of him is creativity. Thus, the ability of man to take the creative genius of God and arrange it into a breathtaking garden such as this. Surely this gives glory to God!

Same Only Better

Often a photo is OK but needs just a little help to make it better. Here, the elements of the scene are nice, but overly cluttered. Cropping the picture simplifies the scene as in "less is more". But right at the desired crop line, the out building beside the barn annoyed me. There is a tool in Adobe Photo shop called a clone tool. I was able to 'clone' the grey sky right over the out building and eliminate it. This photo would have been impossible without a bit of technological help. This really frees up the photographer to take photos that normally he would reject. Something can almost always be salvaged.

He is Risen !

Women have not always enjoyed their present day status. In different times and in different cultures, women have often been suppressed, demeaned, and considered second class human beings. It was thus in the time and culture of the first century.

There have been many attempts, over the centuries, to discredit the Easter Story. One of the most popular ways has been to claim that the Resurrection story is a myth. It takes many years to develop a myth, indeed many generations. Eye witnesses have to have expired so as to not contradict the myth, a word which implies mistruth. As it turns out, the so-called myth of Jesus rising from the grave was written about and indeed copied many thousands of times, in the first generation, the generation of Jesus, eye witnesses to the event! But here is the clincher. Who in their right mind, in the first century, knowing that women were not even allowed to testify in a court of law because they were unreliable, would start a myth where the first eye witnesses to the resurrected Jesus were ....... women? They were the first to see the empty grave, the first to be told by an angel that Jesus was risen , and the first to see Jesus in his resurrected body. Matthew 28: 1-10.

Sensory Overload

Have you ever had sensory overload? I can only think of two sites I have witnessed that have given me a true understanding of this expression. One of them is standing at the rim of the Grand Canyon for the first time. The other location is the Tulip fields at La Connor, near Mt. Vernon, Washington, during the Annual Tulip Festival. I should be paid for this commercial, but really, if you have never been, you should go this year. The human eye is not used to being surrounded by so much vibrant primary colour and you too will experience that unreal feeling of too much colour.

Crucifixion

As followers of Christ, we are not specifically asked to remember Christmas, but we have turned it onto the biggest production on the calendar. It has been secularized, watered down, and commercialized to the point where it is palatable to the politically correct world. Take Jesus out, turn it into 'goodwill' and 'peace on earth' and Santa Claus and there is something for everyone.
This process is not that easy with Easter. This is the most important 3 days for Christians because through the death and Resurrection of Christ, our sins were forgiven, our future was secured, and we have promise of Resurrection for ourselves. This is not politically correct because these benefits, although free gifts for the asking, are exclusively for true believers. This weekend is not as well observed and celebrated by the masses because it has not been that easy to take Jesus out of Easter. And maybe God knew that when He instructed us through his word, to remember. We cannot blame non-Christians for not observing Easter, it means nothing to them, unless they celebrate new life in the form of bunny rabbits and freshly hatched chicks.
In the next few days, let us remember, and then examine our faith. Do we really believe, and if we do, how is that impacting our lives. Easter is ALL about Jesus and no amount of Easter Lilies or chocolate can ever change that!

* The photo is not mine. It belongs to "dtcchc" a church media designer who posted this photo on Flikr.

Our Very Own Daffodils March 18 '08

Ready
Set
BLOOM!

Closed

We step out into the cool spring breezes and are fooled yet again. It should be warmer, but we pull the zipper of our coat up to the top, we tug our hat downward for protection, and we thrust our glove less hands into our pockets to preserve what little warmth is left in them. We long to put our faces to the sun, throw off the jacket, and soak up the warmth of the spring sunshine. So it is with these poor cold Tulips who were beckoned to new life by a few early rays, but have been fooled. It is simply too cold to open their faces and expose their inner workings. Perhaps another day.

Old and New

I was accused of 'pasting' these Tulips into the foreground of the picture. I assure you, this is one photo. I did manipulate the colour, obviously. To me, this picture represents the juxtaposition of old and new. How many new, fresh crops of spring Tulips has this old barn seen? Tulips peak very quickly and their glorious beauty can be missed by a day or two. The old barn, on the other hand, keeps on aging gracefully and its peak will last for many years to come.

Past Prime

Perhaps it was at the turn of the century, but there was a time when this barn was new. The site was carefully selected, the lumber sawn or purchased, and each board placed and fastened with care. Through the years and the seasons, it served it's purpose well until one day it was decided the effort and cost of maintaining it was not worth the effort. It has been left to the ravaging elements of wind, rain, and sun. It will collapse soon, or be torn down. My fascination with old barns lies in the stories that are untold and the character lines that show so well from a lifetime of giving shelter.

The parallels to a person's life are striking and obvious.