Saturday, February 25, 2012

"Out of the bosom of the Air,
      Out of the cloud-folds of her garments shaken,
Over the woodlands brown and bare,
      Over the harvest-fields forsaken,
            Silent, and soft, and slow
            Descends the snow."

Snow Flakes
              Longfellow


The predicted storm having missed us I went out to see
what gifts winter had bequeathed me today. It turned
out to be a day for close study rather than sweeping vistas.





"Thus having prepared their buds
against a sure winter
the wise trees
stand sleeping in the cold. "

                             Winter Trees
                                      William Carlos Williams

Sunday, February 19, 2012

Diary of a Mad Blogger

Why hello there I thought we should finally meet
and give you a chance to see me in action.
This is my Ernest Hemingway look.

Last Wednesday I arrived at work early, without
even my normal moderate level of enthusiasm. As
I mentioned in a previous post I had not been able
to blog recently and since I was very early I decided
to check in on a few of my favorite blogs.

First stop was
Birds Eyes and Butterflies to see Laura's
beautiful bird photographs. She had
a wonderfully detailed photo of a Cardinal
and a swimming Gull whose lovely colours
were complemented by the brown tones in the
blue water.

(All the blogs mentioned in this post can
be found in the Favorite Blogs section of
my website)




Next stop Cate at Beyond the Fields We Know
She had a lovely shot of a Chrysler Imperial rose
a rose I grow here ( when all goes well ) in memory
of my father who worked at Chrysler and tended roses
in Windsor where I grew up.

She also had a beautiful shot of a Bison in the snow.
Again there was a connection there, while in archaeology,
many years ago now, I helped the faunal analyst
( still one of my best friends ) cut up 8 Bison which
died of natural causes or accidents at Elk Island Park.
The bones were then used in comparative collections
for archaeologists in the field. This certainly gave me a
life long appreciation for the strength and beauty of
these iconic creatures

A trip to Kathie's Birds to see another blogging buddy.
She had posted a scary tale about almost slipping through
a park fence into a river. She also posted lovely shots
of Robins flying among the tops of trees against a blue sky.
If you visit her site make sure you follow the link to her poetry
site as well.




Yes I lick my nose when I am concentrating
Spelling is a real problem for me.

From Kathie's I went to Nature's Splendor where Julie
had posted lovely photos of the birds at her feeder
there were lots of great photos to choose from
the shot of the Red Bellied Woodpecker was just
wonderful I really loved the detail.

Then on to Red and Peanut where Kelly had posted a
lovely gauche painting of a Great Horned Owl along
with interesting information and views about the
various stages of the process and a colouring book
page that people can paint. Kelly always provides
great information to go with her lovely drawings or
photos. I may have to open my drawer of art supplies
and take a stab at something. But I may need a tiny smock,
paint on the sweater Rigmor knitted me would not be cool.
Also check out the photos of the Blue-Winged Teal
in the previous post on her blog it doesn't get any better
than that.



 The last blog I visited was Bill's Wildramblings where I was
rewarded with a lovely post about the book Dandelion Wine
by a favorite author of mine Ray Bradbury. As you can see
above I am lost in thought. Bill's thought provoking posts about
nature the environment and the importance of memory do that to me.

But it was time to go to work and I could not visit the blogs
of Sandy, Gary and Boomer. Roy, LenĂ©, Nina, Hilke, Bev, Wanda and
the many others who have shared their thoughts and experiences with us.

But I did notice one thing, my mood which had been sour for
days was really improved by visiting all the people that are
looking at, remarking on and loving the world and the critters
both little and big we share it with.


And now back to work.


" The final words waited to be written. But he
went instead to the window and pushed the screen
frame out.  He unscrewed the top of the jar and tilted
the fireflies in a pale shower of sparks down the windless
night. They found their wings and flew away."

Dandelion Wine
Ray Bradbury


Wednesday, February 15, 2012


These pictures are from Tuesday we had a bit
of snow so I took my camera to work and walked
around the Research Park to see what I could see.
My camera has been acting up recently it is a  
Canon Rebel T2i and I normally use a zoom lens
(ef-s 55-250 mm) but it seems to have a problem
with the auto focus if I point it at the sky or a distant
landscape with nothing in the foreground it whirs
in and out but never allows me to take a picture,
then if I point it down it will take a picture. You will
be relieved to know I do not intend to blog my photos
of my feet. Maybe a sensor problem?

The park was nice a very blue sky and
plants bejeweled with ice crystals.



This magpie was hiding from his friends
in the bushes and strangely quiet.
I guess it did not want to share.


I heard chickadees everywhere but could not get a
photo until I was going home. I did not see any
jackrabbits despite looking, very rare for the park.
Not much to see, nothing very dramatic going on
but a lovely day for a walk.






"Where stars past the spruce copse mingle with fireflies
Or the dayscape flings a thousand tones of light back at the
     sun—
Be any one of the colours of an Earth lover;
Walk with me and sometimes cover your shadow with mine. "

Live With Me On Earth Under the Invisible Daylight Moon
Milton Acorn


Sunday, February 12, 2012


Having a few connection problems
so I am behind in my blogging.



" Nothing is alive in this tunnel
of winds at the end of winter
except the last raging of winter.
the cats peering smugly from the homes
of strangers, and the great stunned sky
slowly settling like a dark cloud
lined only with smaller dark clouds."

              I Sing the Body Electric
                   Philip Levine

Saturday, February 4, 2012

As someone who once worked in archaeology and who reads and aspires
to write poetry I loved the quote from Howard Nelson below. Is the
Internet with all its modes of communication the modern equivalent of the
cave paintings of Lascaux? And attempt to say, see, I saw this, I  thought
this, I said this, I shared this?






" A shaggy man is sitting alone late at night scratching at a sheet of paper,
and like the marks carved twenty thousand years ago on an antler
in a cave which say "someone is alive here"
these scratches are secret messages told to everyone.
" The dark threw its patches down upon me also....""

                                     Reading " Crossing Brooklyn Ferry " on a
                                     Summer Morning
                                          Howard Nelson