Still wondering whilst wandering...

(forgive the photos but my real camera is in the shop so the iphone will have to do for now)

I suppose I will always be a wanderer, dog or no dog.

With my wandering, hand in hand, is my wondering.

Late this afternoon, even though the weather is grey and drizzly,

I still feel the urge to get out.

The time for another dog is creeping up but hasn't quite caught up to me yet

so out I go anyway.

I'm fortunate to have found, in this new home, many places to walk...

You see my neighbourhood was once home to vast farmlands, of which some still remain...

In the shadows of development lie forgotten remnants of the fences

which once bordered many fields...

I wonder what this rotten wood kept in......or out.

I have yet to search the local archives but will one day venture into the files

of photos of days gone by. 

Our house was built in 1925 so perhaps it may appear in its early days along

with some other rural scenes of the area.

There was a family named Layritz who owned a very large parcel of land here...

At one time it became too much for the farmer and his wife they so graciously 

donated their property for parkland.

So many future generations have reaped the reward in the form of baseball and soccer fields, 

walking trails, bike trails and big wide open spaces, much needed in the throws of

land grabs for development.

And the birds...

...as well as the tiny mice, rabbits, reptiles, insects and woodland snails can call this place home.

Today I was lucky to find an empty shell in the field.

So I thank those who thought to be stewards of the environment.

They committed a most gracious act of conservation.

Slacker!!

Yes, I know...I've been clearly absent form this blog of mine.

Seems like these days of a busy life I can't seem to put in the time to 

write, edit photos and post. 

Actually to put it more honestly, it's not that I can't, it's more 

like I'm just not there in that head space right now.

We are in the process of moving after 17 years here on the farm...more on that later...

and it's an all consuming task.

One other reason for my tardiness at blogs doors is that my main camera lens

seems to have crapped out on me and I have not had the time to tinker with it

or take it to have it repaired.

I am relying on my zoom lens or my phone camera for now which is somewhat limited.

But even though I seem to be in a 'moving state of mind'  I am still taking photos.

Anyway a little montage of my favourites as of late.

Hope you are all well and happy and healthy and enjoying the bliss of summer days!

 The waters off of our shores are a gorgeous shade of azure blue due to a 

rare phytoplankton bloom which surrounds itself with microscopic bits of limestone...

 For these usually dark Pacific waters, seeing this colour around here reminds me of Nicaragua...

Walks on Island view beach with my dad one morning revealed this lovely driftwood structure...

...always the walker...

These cliffs have been known to uncover ancient mammoth teeth...

The full moon amongst the trees is something I never tire of...

Georgia!!!

The dreamer in me sends myself into the clouds...

...wishing to land on all that puffiness...

...to look down at the earth through different eyes...

This little fox sparrow by the lake one morning sending out his song...

Tiny summer mushrooms introduce themselves in the middle of the pathway...

Spotting wee spotted fawns around the place...

I am forever trying to capture the small but mighty hummingbirds...ready for take off!!...

Zooming in to the agapanthus...

...a few quick sips of nectar...

Making lavender tea for a hair rinse...after steeping for a few hours the flowers are pale...

...and the liquid a gorgeous shade of purple!!

I showed my mom a few needle felting techniques and she's a real natural! 

Here's a few of her pieces...

A little buzziness to sign off!

 

Ciao for now!

Just wandering....

Autumn takes me to many places in heart and mind.
I love these days of warm glows, rich tones, the coziness but

I am also filled with melancholy.

Why is it that the fall takes us so inward?

 

Is it the last waning days of frolicking in the outdoors, layered but able

to fling off the outer sweater as the mid day sun filters through the fog?

Knowing how soon the cloak of frost will greet us one morning, catching our breath

as we step out the door?

The falling leaves, a reminder of the fact that with life comes death.

 

My yoga teacher lost her mom within a week of a sudden illness.

She was young and seemingly healthy and then gripped by cancer severely and quickly.

Today when I wandered through the woods I thought of  that quickness.
My teacher talked about wanting to run from those deep and uncomfortable emotions
but how yoga has taught her to gather them close to the bone.
To sit with them.
To breathe.
And even though she couldn't physically do a yoga session in the weeks that
followed her moms death, she was still practicing.
Still a student.
Don't forget to breathe.
So, the same for me in that yoga is not just a physical practice but something that
carries me through the day, the years, the flights and stumbles.

I thought of my sisters brief time here.

The leaves that crumbled so easily under foot.

The decaying fungi that lasts for maybe a few days or a week at best.

And in our human world how 100 years can seem so long but 

for the majestic evergreens it is but a smidgen of time spent rooting into the earth.

Relativity.

Watching Griffin, I thought that in only a few years my beloved companion will be gone and how

short a time his lovely spirit has graced my world.
How much joy he has given me.
How many wonderful places we've been together.

The thing to keep in the forefront again is not how short the time

but how deep and meaningful that life has been.

How lovely and cruel life can be in all it's moments.

It's fragility can seem like a gentle breath on the wind.

It's severity, the loud crack of a branch, falling to the earth.

Grasp it all, gather it, rake it up, jump in and toss it overhead.
Give your heart a soft place to land.

Just like those leaves, whirling up in the blustery days of October,

moments will fly away...watch them closely.

Remember...
"Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take,
But by the moments that take our breath away".
(anonymous)

 

(mom, Tracy, Danny, myself. Wilket Creek Park, Toronto 1973)

 

 

High in the meadows...

Yesterday I went into the city to visit my mom in the hospital (hip surgery)
 and since I had Griffin with me, I took him for a walk up to Summit Park.

It's a small patch of land on top of a hill in the core of the city.

There's a radio tower up there and a water reservoir...

...but there's something else here that's quite unique to this area...

A Garry Oak meadow...

4.5 hectares of scrubby, gnarly 'storybook' trees...

I think of Winnie the Pooh or Wind in the Willows or any number of

magical, childhood tales involving the woods...airy and open with just a trace

of things hiding in the shadows...

We are able to call this unique because the Garry Oak only grows in certain parts

of the world. They range from Southwestern British Columbia to Southern California

and Southwest B.C is the only place in Canada where they exist.

The grass is brown and dry now and the leaves are folding up and floating

to the ground, but in the spring there are wild flowers and birdsong everywhere up here.

In fact, these small patches of conserved land are sanctuaries to city birds.

 the Barred owl, who searches out mice and voles for food

under the light of the moon.

Downy woodpeckers, juncos, white crowned sparrows, hawks and nuthatches.

These trees are the stuff of spooky shadows and of limbs which seem to

reach out for you on a blustery night...

It gives city wildlife a quiet place to rest amongst the cars and people and lights and noise...

Garry oak ecosystems are home to more than 90 species that have

 been designated at risk in British Columbia.

Flowers, trees, reptiles, mammals and birds call this home.

But they aren't the only living creatures who depend on such spaces.

On a busy afternoon, it is humans who need to connect on these patches of high meadows.

 To take a breath and touch the earth beneath us.

To reinforce what's fundamental in life.

 To be aware of this fragile ecosystem.

 

"Large streams from little fountains flow, Tall oaks from little acorns grow."