High Flight

High Flight
Originally uploaded by Alan Norsworthy

I met someone new today, a kindred spirit.
Although he died many years ago his spirit lives on in his writings.

It is in his writings that I saw myself.

“In some men, the need of unbroken country, primitive conditions and intimate contact with the earth is a deeply rooted cancer gnawing forever at the illusion of contentment with things as they are. For months or years this hidden longing may go unnoticed and then, without warning, flare forth in an all consuming passion that will not bear denial. Perhaps it is the passing of a flock of wild geese in the spring, perhaps the sound of running water, or the smell of thawing earth that brings the transformation. Whatever it is, the need is more than can be borne with fortitude, and for the good of their families and friends, and their own particular restless souls, they head toward the last frontiers and escape”.

~Sigurd Olson~
http://www4.uwm.edu/letsci/research/sigurd_olson/theology.htm#In

My thanks to Patrick for pointing the way

Winter Wonderland - Fletchers Creek

Winter Wonderland - Fletchers Creek
Originally uploaded by Alan Norsworthy

The work week went by so fast but the weekend went even faster.
Saturday morning we were up and out before dawn and arrived at Fletchers Creek as the sun came up.
The trails are long there and do not loop back so it’s a straight out and back walk but what a walk!
It was Patrick who introduced us to this place, Doug did a quick reconnaissance with his trusty sidekick “Murf”.
So it was decided, Fletchers Creek was the place, the time early, the company cordial.

The trail ahead rapidly became the trail behind as we walked, talked and enjoyed all that this place had to offer. Patrick has walked here many times and in all the seasons so his insights were and will be invaluable in the year ahead as we get to experience this great place.

What I called ‘The Fortress’ really caught my attention as did the Quarry area.

The stands of Birch with the morning light laying softly over their branches was simply breathtaking.

The whole area is breathtaking.

We are truly fortunate to have area’s such as this protected, not just for me but for our children to enjoy and to know what I know ....


I know the thrill of the grasses when the rain pours over them.
I know the trembling of the leaves when the winds sweep through them.
I know what the white clover felt as it held a drop of dew pressed close in its beauteousness.
I know the quivering of the fragrant petals at the touch of the pollen-legged bees.
I know what the stream said to the dipping willows, and what the moon said to the sweet lavender.
I know what the stars said when they came stealthily down and crept fondly into the tops of the trees.
~Muriel Strode, "Creation Songs"

Winter Jewels IX

Winter Jewels IX
Originally uploaded by Alan Norsworthy

Sitting around the table in a Downtown Cafe after our walkabout on Saturday morning the question “ why do we photograph” came up.

I have been pondering that ever since.

Yes we can merely observe and register the un-photographed image in our minds eye where we can pull it up to see it at anytime. In doing that we have fully explored, felt, seen what was before us.

There are those who say that to stop that flow by composing and recording what we are experiencing as a physical thing, a photograph. We are denying ourselves the true pleasure of ‘being there’.

Does Susan Sontag have the answer?

In ‘On Photography’ she writes;

“In teaching us a new visual code, photographs alter and enlarge our notions of what is worth looking at and what we have a right to observe. They are the grammar and more importantly the ethics of seeing”.

So do we photograph to become the author of the ‘visual code’?

One thing is for sure I think Dorothea Lange put it quite simply

While there is perhaps a province in which the photograph can tell us nothing more than what we see with our own eyes, there is another in which it proves to us how little our eyes permit us to see. ~Dorothea Lange

So maybe the answer is not quite so grandiose, maybe it is more simple.

We photograph to expand our vision, to see what normally is not seen and share that with the world at large....

The Watcher, Watched

The Watcher, Watched
Originally uploaded by Alan Norsworthy

On December 29th We visited the Halliburton Wolf Sanctuary.

On that morning patience was rewarded by the sight of wraith like figures silently appearing from the woods.
The wolves were here, catching my breath I began to press the shutter, the images through my viewfinder permanently etched into my minds eye. For to me, wolves are special, majestic creatures that have for a long time been maligned as killers and pests so that man could hunt and kill them with impunity.
Yes I was hunting them but after my shutter fired they were still alive

but not for long ...

On New Years Eve some misguided people ( some call them much worse) decided that the pack should be free and cut holes in the fences so that they may 'escape'.
Unfortunately this pack was raised in captivity and although they have had no contact with man and still retain their 'wildness' they have never had to hunt for themselves, they don't know how.
Releasing them into the wild signed their death warrant from a slow lingering death of starvation and cold.

So much for freedom.

Four wolves left the compound that night, the Alpha Male and female and their two cubs. a few hours later the alpha male was shot, killed and dragged away by persons unknown, the blood stained snow an opprobrious monument to human stupidity.

Luckily the remaining members returned to the only home they know, unfortunately the door was closed, the holes had been patched to stop the remaining pack members from leaving also. So they wander outside, afraid of mans approach, even those who do approach now are those who wish to help.

So the struggle to rescue those that remain after being 'rescued' continues, while we that care stand behind them if only in spirit and support their efforts and wish them well ....

What is man without the beasts? If all the beasts were gone, man would die from a great loneliness of the spirit. For whatever happens to the beasts, soon happens to man. All things are connected.
~Chief Saeth'tl (Seattle)~