hello in there...

Two weeks in Nicaragua was just what we needed.

Sun, warmth, new landscapes, new adventures equals new found passions.

For me as a photographer it was bliss!

A town called Granada which was founded in 1539 by the Spanish was 

our landing point and the Colonial architecture of this place did not disappoint.

I have a thing for doors and windows and entrance ways which lead

the eye and the mind to wander and wonder.

First of all it was the colours!

The hot and spicy hues reflect the culture...

I loved this street in the late afternoon sun...could you tell me a story of this couple? 

I had a few in my mind...

The thing about Granada and Nicaragua in general, was that if you stood in one place for more than 5 minutes you would be guaranteed to see something interesting.

I was waiting on the street for Tom at one point and

 I took a picture of this beautiful blue and white doorway...

...and then this fella road by with the typical large baskets used in the markets for produce...

...and a few seconds later this lad strode by with his cleaning wares, probably heading to the same main market in town...

Another '1 door ~ three looks'...

The age of this little city is prevalent in so many ways and if some of these doors could talk.

Layers upon layers of paint and paint removal...

the wear of a door well used...

Many homes and business' have a gate in front of the door to allow for airflow

whilst keeping secure...the wooden doors are open and the
iron gate is locked for this purpose...

Some, like this liquor store Tom went to buy beer from, are more about security...two old ladies sat behind these bars, happily versed in the off sale business...

Written on the bottom there...

"Aquiesta Colacho...

Suba las gradas y sientase en la gloria"

roughly translates to
"here it is...climb the steps and feel the glory!"
On those hot humid days, cold cold beer is definitely a way to "feel the glory!"
The colour yellow is predominant on a lot of buildings here in Granada...

Look how beautifully worn these stone steps are up to one of the many churches.

How many hot, tired, hopeful feet trod here?...

Beautiful mosaic tiles, the Moorish influence...

Here we have the gateway to a market in Masaya...again, the arches reflect the Moorish influence...

 ...and here in the gateway of a lovely old hotel we stayed in...apparently these were covered
over in stucco walls until about 10 years ago
when the new owners gave this Colonial mansion a makeover...

The doors of the now defunct train station.
The rail system in Nicaragua has been shut down since 2006.
Earthquakes, flooding, lack of ridership and government funding have all been contributing factors.

...the door handle on the main entrance...

More colour!!...

 

This one was hands down one of the brightest on the block in San Juan Del Sur...

My favourite...

A few peaks into some abandoned doorways...

 

 

Decades and decades, perhaps hundreds of years in business...

 

The thing about a lot of these seemingly flat entrance ways is that many of them
 give way to an oasis of cool and calm.
Stepping from outside, you soon take comfort from the
stifling heat and sun.
Here in one of the hotels and an airbnb where we took refuge several times a day...

(by the way...the hammocks here are heavenly!)

Can you imagine?

It is fairly cold here (for these parts anyway!) and out my 

window I see them daily.

The tiny hummingbirds.

No heavier than a nickel and no bigger than a mouse...

This is the male with his bright plumage.

This little guy is busy securing his homeland and making sure (I think)

that he has no invaders to capture his precious sugar water stash.

Did you know they use to be native to only parts of the Pacific southwest but have expanded

breeding/feeding territory as far north as Southern BC in the Pacific northwest because of the introduction of imported subtropical plants? 

Many people keep these guys alive all winter by providing them with the basic nectar recipe.

1 part white sugar to 4 parts boiling water, then cooled before feeding.

The white sugar is necessary because it is the closest thing to the real nectar of the

flowers. Substitutions can be dangerous, for example honey. This can cause

serious bacterial infection and death. Brown sugar contains molasses and is too

heavy for the wee things to digest. 

Both ferment much quicker (than white sugar )which again,

causes bacteria to grow in the feeders.

Now watch this...with the turn of his head in certain light...

 Bling with wings!!

This is called refraction of light on the feathers.

It's very scientific and I won't go into all the details but it's quite amazing that this 

is the same bird, only the sun is hitting those magic little feathers in just the right way.

Speaking of little feathers...

These will keep this fraction of a bird warm all winter.

Hummingbirds will go into a state of hibernation at night in order

to conserve their precious energy.

This is called torpor and basically is the method of lowering the body temperature

to match that of the environment.

I tell you...magic! 

Good morning 2016...

A sparkly frosty morning to bring in the New Year...Georgia has already been flitting about...

When the land is covered in a dusting of ice and the winter sun hovers along the treeline, 

it's me and the camera out to marvel at the cold hand of Jack Frost...

The term 'Wabi Sabi' in Japanese has no real translation but basically means 

perfection in imperfection, irregular beauty, things in their simplest, most austere and natural state...

The art of everyday life...

And on this first day of a New Year I am welcomed by all and any small thing out here in the cold...

I stare in awe...  

   

 ...at  the creative transformation these tiny things have undergone through a cold clear night... 

Many lie dormant ...

Asleep in frozen grace...

Our lives...are but a little while,

so let them run as sweetly as you can,

and give no thought to grief from day to day.

For time is not concerned to keep our hopes,

but hurries on it's business,

and is gone.

                                      ~Euripedes~

What is life?

It is the flash of a firefly in the night.

It is the breath of a buffalo in the wintertime.

It is the little shadow which runs across the grass

and loses itself in the sunset.

~Crowfoot~

If the sight of the blue skies fills you with joy,

if a blade of grass springing up in the fields has power to move you,

if the simple things in nature have a message you understand,

Rejoice, for your soul is alive.

~Eleanora Duse~

Hello...welcome to a new day!

Variations on a theme...

Theme songs.
Especially tv series theme songs.

There's something strangely comforting about them.

Even as a kid, the opening music to 'Wild Kingdom' or 'Wonderful World of Disney'

brought you running to know that the show had just begun!

Some theme songs from shows like 'Hill Street Blues' or 'Cheers' will 

always remind me of my dad...they are some of his favourites.

I once watched the whole series of 'Lost' on DVD in about a week when I 

was down with a torn calf muscle and there, that music 

gave me some sense of comfort in my state of non movement.

And now we have Netflix to watch our faves at our leisure.

'Breaking Bad', 'The Bridge' (the foreign version) 'The Knick', 'Downton Abbey'

just to name a few.

We're watching 'Bloodline' right now and I love this opening them song

by Book of Fears...

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uYvrhP8EZi8&feature=youtu.be

Big deep breaths...

So hopefully the rushing to and fro and is over for you 

and life is winding itself back down to a sense of routine and calmness.

So for now...take some deep breaths and take a minute or 

two to gaze at some lovely winter skies...it will do you good...

hello out there!

To all of you out there who come to peek inside my world

and who have left such thoughtful comments throughout the year...

Love and Light to you and your loved ones from here 

on this Island in the Pacific to where ever you may find yourself this season...

 But most of all I wish for Peace on this beautiful planet of ours.

Fresh...

I spent last week travelling over to the mainland to visit my nieces.

My middle niece Rachel and I then took an alternate route home.

There's nothing like having the leisure time to take the long road home.

And so we did...

From Tsawwassen on the mainland you can take the 1.5 hour ferry to points

south near Victoria or you can take a 2 hour ferry to the middle of the island

to Nanaimo. 

I've only done this route once at night so it was such a treat to be sailing

on a gorgeous clear morning...

...there was a beautiful dusting of fresh snow that lay like icing sugar across the landscape...

I've never been up into these mountains but I've looked at them from down below

for half of my life when I lived in Vancouver and the many many times I've taken these ferry rides...

...and still they catch my breath...

The two 'bumps' standing out here are called The Lions...

Sometimes from certain angles they really do look like two majestic Egyptian 

sculptures of regal beasts keeping watch...

As the sailing continued I said to my niece "people pay money to go on cruises

like this...how lucky we are to have this as part of our highway system!"

Closer to Nanaimo we passed the Entrance Island lighthouse station.

Built in 1885, one of the rare, still manned lighthouses on the coast,  it was built to

guide ships into the Nanaimo harbour from the Straight of Georgia, now renamed 

The Salish Sea by the Chemainus First Nations People who have lived here for thousands of years.

After an hour and a half drive we arrived on Denman Island to visit old friends and the mountains

up that way, the spine of Vancouver Island, looked just as lovely as ever...

There's a magic feeling of snow in December, right before the Solstice...

Winter skies travel gladly with us on our road trip...