Archives
“When we tug at a single thing in nature, we find it attached to the rest of the world.” ― John Muir I’ve spent a lot of time of the trails this year, watching the earth grow greener with every passing day. The brown forest floor literally exploded with life, which kept expanding,growing, thriving and eventually blossoming with flowers, providing beauty for me and nectar for bees and butterflies. The forest has… Read More
“A fine work of art – music, dance, painting, story – has the power to silence the chatter in the mind and lift us to another place.” ― Robert McKee I could not resist posting one more dogwood image before the season passes. The image above was transformed into a painterly image using Topaz Impressions software in Photoshop. I can’t paint well and this plug-in allows me to create images in such a… Read More
“Someone was playing piano nearby and the music drifted slowly in and out of my mind like the ebb and flow of ocean surf. I almost recognized the melody, but I could not be sure, it slipped like a cool and silken wind from my grasp.” ― Chaim Potok Today’s image is another foray into the world of macro photography and I’m loving the effects and subtle details the naked eye misses…. Read More
“The little boy nodded at the peony and the peony seemed to nod back. The little boy was neat, clean and pretty. The peony was unchaste, dishevelled, as peonies must be, and at the height of its beauty. Every hour is filled with such moments, big with significance for someone.” – Robertson Davies I’m not sure what the formal designation for this variety of peony is, but in my home it’s know as… Read More
“Everything in me feels fluttering and free, like I could take off from the ground at any second. Music, I think, he makes me feel like music.” ― Lauren Oliver I’m finding these wonderful small butterflies everywhere lately. In this case, what I believe to be a mating pair, based on the slight size differences and colouration. It was interesting to watch numerous butterflies floating around in search of a suitable mate…. Read More
I have several interpretations to the OPEN theme. It could be open to any category of post or it could be the ‘opening’ of something, like a door. In this case, it’s the opening of the natural spring cycle in my area of Canada. Throughout the winter, this large creek lies frozen. Within a few short weeks it transforms from ice to a living place once more (another opening of sorts), as the… Read More
“The human body may need to receive sunlight through the tree canopy in order to be in a healthy state. I call this light “Interference Green Light” and it may be the top thing that you need to be receiving in order to be in good health and free of pain.” ― Steven Magee I don’t know how true the quote is, but I know I need my ‘green’ time. To walk… Read More
“Bees do have a smell, you know, and if they don’t they should, for their feet are dusted with spices from a million flowers.” ― Ray Bradbury Spring flowering shrubs and all their awesome scents are now on. It’s good to see so many bees out and about, including this carpenter bee, one of many enjoying the fragrant flowers of a local Russian Olive. The ornamental trees were planted along walking trails… Read More
“It is spring again. The earth is like a child that knows poems by heart.” — Rainer Maria Rilke A final visit to the magnolias of Edwards Gardens in Toronto, at least for this year. I so enjoyed my day of walking the grounds and enjoying all the wonderful flowering trees. This is a great time of year. There are splashes of pinks, purples, whites, and purple among the new foliage in… Read More
“Most European nations identify themselves with eagles or lions, with some predator or creature of the air, ascendant and belligerent. I would like to visit the country which adopts the groundhog as its mascot, somewhere peaceful, some place that curls against the secrets of the earth, a little Belgium of the imagination, tables piled high with cakes, the Sunday bells ringing (not too loudly), the light falling on rolling hillocks studded with… Read More
“The columbine and iris bowed down to make way for bolder sprays of red valerian, and a mingled profusion of clustered Canterbury bells and sweet william, pale blues and pinks intertwined, danced at the feet of more stately spears of deep-purple foxglove and monkshood.” ― Susanna Kearsley On the trend of pinks and pastels, yet another beautiful native spring flower, the Wild Columbine (aquilegia canadensis), is found on rocky outcrops in the Bancroft,… Read More
“If you want a happy ending, it just depends on where you close the book!” ― Orson Welles A final image of trilliums for the season. This has been a fine year for them. Moderately warm days brought on a slow bloom and cool nights preserved the delicate blossoms. As I roamed the forest a few days ago, I could not help but make a few more images to look back on… Read More
“Art is unquestionably one of the purest and highest elements in human happiness. It trains the mind through the eye, and the eye through the mind. As the sun colors flowers, so does art color life.” ― John Lubbock The wonder of spring, as the forest explodes in greens and yellows, never fails to impress me. Tiny buds burst open and within days, full sized leaves adorn the branch. What I like… 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
“In a rich moonlit garden, flowers open beneath the eyes of entire nations terrified to acknowledge the simplicity of the beauty of peace.” ― Aberjhani Can you think of a more appropriate name for these delicate spring flowers, in tones of pink and purple? The Spring Beauty (Claytonia virginica) in my area seems to prefer the bases of Beech trees as their habitat, yet some small patches grow in the open. Most of… 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
“I can still bring into my body the joy I felt at seeing the first trillium of spring, which seemed to be telling me, “Never give up hope, spring will come.” — Jessica Stern The entrance of spring continues. After a day of cutting grass and getting gardens ready, I ventured out to a trail literally in my backyard. My hope was to see a few wildflowers emerging from their winter slumber, especially… Read More
“Nobody sees a flower – really – it is so small it takes time – we haven’t time – and to see takes time, like to have a friend takes time.” ― Georgia O’Keeffe Yet another, early emerger, Blue Cohosh. This beauty emerges from the forest floor looking more purple-blue than this image indicates. However, I wanted to capture the delicate flower and blue fruit. When they first sprout from the ground,… Read More
“I wandered lonely as a cloud That floats on high o’er vales and hills When all at once I saw a crowd A host of golden daffodils Beside the lake beneath the trees Fluttering and dancing in the breeze.” ― William Wordsworth At long last, I feel I might be able to say that spring and warmer weather are here to stay? I’ve posted about ‘false starts‘ and the change of seasons,… Read More
“If you change the way you look at things, the things you look at change.” – Wayne Dyer April is a strange time to visit a botanical garden, since there are no blooms to enjoy. Yet, if you look closer, vestiges of last year remain in tones of brown, gray, and yellow. Yet, amid shrivelled shells and dried branches, hints for life begin to emerge. I can’t recall the variety of tree… Read More
“Little yellow flower Like a dandelion shrunk Yet she’s not its kin at all She blooms there without leaves Shows her face in early spring Shines brightly like the sun In my childhood, she was dear Quite precious to be true She it was who truly said That spring had just arrived I picked bouquets in my small hands And brought them home to mom Even now, quite old and grown Coltsfoot… Read More
“The most fulfilling adventures happen when you start your journey without knowing where you’re going, because only then are you free to experience the unexpected detours you’re meant to take.” ― A.J. Darkholme Ah, yes, the unexpected, one of my greatest delights. I set out to make photos of fish spawning in a local creek and come across a large, beautiful cluster of spring flowers I have never encountered before. They looked a… 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
“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
“The whole tree when in flower looks as if covered with snow. In the spring when the streams are in flood it is the whitest of trees. In Indian summer the leaves become bright crimson, making a still grander show than the flowers.” – John Muir Recent reports from Yosemite are informing me, in my absence, that the Sierra Dogwoods have begun to bloom. A clear indication that spring is here and… Read More
“When spring came, even the false spring, there were no problems except where to be happiest. The only thing that could spoil a day was people and if you could keep from making engagements, each day had no limits. People were always the limiters of happiness except for the very few that were as good as spring itself.” ― Ernest Hemingway After a few ‘false starts’ it looks like spring has finally… Read More
“As the soft spring sun begins to set, an ethereal light strikes the trees and boulders on the far shore, setting them ablaze in gold. The dark, cold, meltwater rushes by in a mad dash through ancient rocks. Intent on the calm of the lake below, where they foam and swirl, momentarily, then merge with the now still waters that preceded them. The day ends, in peace, and light, and water.” – Ed Lehming… Read More
Ed Lehming Photography 
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