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“Winter is the time for comfort, for good food and warmth, for the touch of a friendly hand and for a talk beside the fire: it is the time for home.” ― Edith Sitwell This image, made on the same day as yesterday’s post, this view of the beech lined trails of one of the East Duffins Headwaters trail system, near Uxbridge, Ontario, is a testament to the beauty that can still be experienced in… Read More
I found this lovely beaver pond at the end of a trail. Spending a few days in the wild.
“The best part of the journey is the surprise and wonder along the way.” ― Ken Poirot As I’ve done a few times in the past, I turned this image into a painting, through the wonder of Topaz software. There are times when I envision an image with the camera and it does not quite meet my expectations. The above image is one of those. The sunlight was beautiful, casting long autumn shadows on the golden… Read More
“Fall has always been my favorite season. The time when everything bursts with its last beauty, as if nature had been saving up all year for the grand finale.” ― Lauren DeStefano One of the beautiful effects of autumn is the glow of sunlight through changing leaves. My son referred to it a few days a ago as “looking like stained glass”. There are times when the forest glows in surreal colours,… Read More
“The best remedy for those who are afraid, lonely or unhappy is to go outside, somewhere where they can be quite alone with the heavens, nature and God. Because only then does one feel that all is as it should be and that God wishes to see people happy, amidst the simple beauty of nature. ― Anne Frank Such a menacing name for such a beautiful, delicate flower. But, the Dogbane… Read More
“Spring turns to summer and delicate pinks and whites, give way to bright reds, oranges, and yellows, as nature shifts her palette to match the temperature” – Ed Lehming Today’s photo is another attempt to understand and enjoy the world of macro photography. The bright Orange Hawkweed (Pilosella aurantiaca) is a smallish meadow flower that is common in this area through June and July. It blooms a few weeks later than it’s yellow relative,… Read More
“I think it pisses God off if you walk by the color purple in a field somewhere and don’t notice it.” ― Alice Walker This diminutive member of the geranium family has been on my mind since I first encountered it a few weeks ago. I’m finding I’ve missed seeing so many of the smaller wildflowers in the past, then, suddenly, they are everywhere and in unexpected places. The first time I… Read More
“Do not let your difficulties fill you with anxiety, after all it is only in the darkest nights that stars shine more brightly.” ― Hazrat Ali Ibn Abu-Talib A.S Hmm, this sounds like the title for a love story involving some damsel and some adversary. This single daisy shone like a beacon in the distance, against the dark forest, as I turned a bend in the trail a few days ago. It… Read More
“Many collectors died in the process of searching for new species, and despite persistent reports that the men died from drowning, gunshot and knife wounds, snakebite, trampling by cattle, or blows in the head with blunt instruments, it is generally accepted that in each case the primary cause of death was orchid fever.” ― Eric Hansen Perhaps I got a touch of the aforementioned ‘orchid fever’. I have to admit, I’ve been… Read More
“I must have flowers, always, and always.” ― Claude Monet This strange, flowering bush has fascinated me for some time. The blossoms form from the outside of the flower disc. I had a hard time finding good specimen this year but the photo above should suffice. The central bud clusters are rimmed with beautiful white blossoms. At first glance it would appear to be a form of dogwood, that is till you get… Read More
“Only when we pay attention and notice small moments, do we make the connections that lead to a change in our perspective.” ― Andrea Goeglein It’s pretty amazing what you see over a 5km forest hike, especially in a forest as diverse as Secord Forest. Which, fortunately for me, is only a few kilometers from my home, which makes it a super convenient place to go, without a lot of preparation. Back… Read More
“Despite its dark veins, the transparency of dragonfly’s wings assures me of a pure, innocent world” ― Munia Khan Ah, warm weather walks. As plants grow taller and spread across the forest floors, their insect companions abound and show in ever increasing displays of colour and variety. Some are tougher to photograph than others. This female emerald jewelwing, with her distinctive black body and white wing spots, is fairly common around here, but they… Read More
“Our green valleys will be greener once we fully grasp the infinite vitality of the green!” ― Mehmet Murat Ildan Despite the clouds of mosquitoes that call this forest home, I enjoyed, with the help of a good bug repellent, observing all the fresh new growth emerging from the brown litter of last year’s leaves. There is still a lot of brown showing interspersed with rapidly expanding carpets of foliage, like the Oak… Read More
“See that path in front of you? That path has been laid before you, the one that you’re supposed to take, the one you’re told to take through life…just like everyone else. If you follow that path, you’ll be following all the rules, you’ll always know that you did what everyone wanted you to do and you’ll make it through… See that path in front of you? I dare you to step… Read More
“Oh, the wonder of it! The outrageous beauty! God didn’t have to give us cherry blossoms you know. He didn’t have to make apple trees and peach trees burst into flower and fragrance. But God just loves to splurge. He gives us all this magnificence and then, if that isn’t enough, He provides fruit from such extravagance.” – Lynn Austin I was not expecting to see cherry blossoms this year. All indications were… Read More
“The world is exploding in emerald, sage, and lusty chartreuse – neon green with so much yellow in it. It is an explosive green that, if one could watch it moment by moment throughout the day, would grow in every dimension.” ― Amy Seidl Another image from this past weekend. The trees are a yellow-green with fresh leaves bursting from buds and pollen laden flowers. It’s not the best time of years… Read More
“It’s spring fever. That is what the name of it is. And when you’ve got it, you want—oh, you don’t quite know what it is you do want, but it just fairly makes your heart ache, you want it so!” ― Mark Twain Spring fever, that must be it. I spent this past Sunday, hiking some 14 miles, visiting all my favourite trails, seeking out the diversity of fresh wildflowers and foliage…. Read More
“I am learning my way toward something that will make sense of my life, and I learn by going where I have to go, with whatever companions I am graced.” ― Dean Koontz At the base of a dead beech tree, these companions add brightness and life, among the dead and decomposing elements surrounding them. For some unknown reason, the large beech trees in this local forest all died a few years ago…. Read More
“Is the spring coming?” he said. “What is it like?”… “It is the sun shining on the rain and the rain falling on the sunshine…” ― Frances Hodgson Burnett Interestingly enough, despite the cold April we experienced in my neck of the woods, the first white trillium blossom I found, appeared exactly to the date of last year’s. I though for certain that it would be a full week behind, but this beauty,… Read More
“This life is yours. Take the power to choose what you want to do and do it well. Take the power to love what you want in life and love it honestly. Take the power to walk in the forest and be a part of nature. Take the power to control your own life. No one else can do it for you. Take the power to make your life happy.” ― Susan… Read More
“Rest is not idleness, and to lie sometimes on the grass under trees on a summer’s day, listening to the murmur of the water, or watching the clouds float across the sky, is by no means a waste of time.” ― John Lubbock When time allows, I like to visit Duffins creek and stroll the riverbank, especially at this time of year. The narrow wooded trail follows the shoreline, through grand cedar… Read More
“Come with me into the woods where spring is advancing, as it does, no matter what, not being singular or particular, but one of the forever gifts, and certainly visible.” ― Mary Oliver The inevitable cycle of spring continues with its succession of flowering plants. First to bloom is the Coltsfoot, the next, which just started to bloom yesterday, predictably, about a week after the Coltsfoot, is the Bloodroot – Sanguinaria canadensis. I love this… Read More
“When the time has come, every leaf turns to face the sun!” ― Akilnathan Logeswaran “Ramps” or wild leeks (Allium tricoccum) are native North American plant and among the first plants to appear in moist woods, once the frost comes out of the ground. Because of the mild start we had to March, I thought I’d go out to see if anything had started to push through the ground yet. To my… Read More
“Whenever there is stillness there is the still small voice, God’s speaking from the whirlwind, nature’s old song, and dance…” ― Annie Dillard Chilly water flows beneath icicles formed by the spray of the creek below. I found this to be an odd sight. April in my area has been ‘confusing’. We had beautiful sunshine and mild temperatures, followed by a deep freeze, snow, freezing rain, and strong winds, all within a… Read More
“The tree which moves some to tears of joy is in the eyes of others only a green thing that stands in the way. Some see nature all ridicule and deformity… and some scarce see nature at all. But to the eyes of the man of imagination, nature is imagination itself.” ― William Blake I absolutely love the William Blake quote above. It goes beyond simply this image. Number 6 in the… Read More
“No one is without troubles, without personal hardships and genuine challenges. That fact may not be obvious because most people don’t advertise their woes and heartaches. But nobody, not even the purest heart, escapes life without suffering battle scars.” ― Richelle E. Goodrich The dark shape hovers, just below the surface. Defying the rush of the frigid spring waters. Moving neither forward, nor back. Fixed in it’s intent, it’s goal. Progress from… Read More
“One ought, every day at least, to hear a little song, read a good poem, see a fine picture, and, if it were possible, to speak a few reasonable words.” ― Johann Wolfgang von Goethe One of the many benefits I find when hiking is the abundance of free art nature provides me. As I walked a forest path a few days ago, the ground was just starting to melt, but it… Read More
If you should go skating On the thin ice of modern life Dragging behind you the silent reproach Of a million tear stained eyes Don’t be surprised, when a crack in the ice Appears under your feet You slip out of your depth and out of your mind With your fear flowing out behind you As you claw the thin ice – Pink Floyd This image is the second in a series… Read More
“Solitude is the soil in which genius is planted, creativity grows, and legends bloom; faith in oneself is the rain that cultivates a hero to endure the storm, and bare the genesis of a new world, a new forest.” ― Mike Norton Solitude, sweet solitude, the place where I flourish, dream, recharge. I crave the quiet places, the forest trails, the meadows, and riverbanks. Each experience is such a part of me, and… Read More
“For me, the camera is a sketch book, an instrument of intuition and spontaneity.” ― Henri Cartier-Bresson Spring thaw, though not officially spring, has begun in southern Ontario. The scant snow and ice of this past winter is releasing it’s captives to open air once more. This scene, which I titled “Left Overs” is so typical of some of the trails I hike on. The local conservation authorities have put great effort… Read More
Ed Lehming Photography 
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