It's been a while ..

 

 For sometime now i have been considering reviving my blog.

A great deal has happened since I last posted in ..2016? 

I retired from my business, sold the house and made a new life in Nova Scotia with my 'new' partner Karen.

We live in a rural area that is surrounded by natural beauty in the small artistic town of Parrsboro.

So come along for a journey as we explore our new world, our new life here in paradise :-)

Once again the pine-tree sung:—

'Speak not thy speech my boughs among;

Put off thy years, wash in the breeze;

My hours are peaceful centuries...'

~Ralph Waldo Emerson, "Woodnotes, II"

First Light Challenge 2016

 https://www.flickr.com/photos/ajn_photography/23521088944/in/dateposted-public/


2016 already, my how time does fly, time for another challenge..

I started the "First Light Challenge" a long time ago way back in 2006 or 2007.
My friend Doug was the first to take up the gauntlet and has been completing the challenge since 2008. For the last few years Doug has been 'Up North' separated by distance but not by time.


http://djenglandphotography.blogspot.ca/2016/01/first-light-2016.html

The challenge is simple 'record an image in the first light of the new year'.
It's the doing that can be the real challenge, to get out of a warm bed and hit the streets. Usually the only ones around are the party stragglers or those who have to work and th eoccasional crazy photographer.

So here is this years effort from a windy, snowy (very snowy) morning -4c and the clock ticking towards dawn which one again was a lightening of the gray overcast more than a sunrise.

Then out through the gates of the midnight—
      The door of the past was ajar—
      His robe like a shroud wrapped around him,
      The Old Year vanished afar.
And as morn with her soft rosy fingers
      Flung open the gates of the East,
      The New Year looked out from its chambers
      With a smile and a blessing of peace.
~Eliza A. Wetherby Otis (1833–1904), "The Old and the New," December 1873

On a frosty morning ..

See it large here:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/ajn_photography/23294264202/in/dateposted-public/

Because it needs to be seen large ;-)

A walk in the crisp morning air, along familiar trails with good company, what better way to spend a Saturday morning?

This old tree has seen and survived so many winters, you can see them all in his countenance.
That's why I love old tree's and Winter. 

"The shed of leaves became a cascade of red and gold and after a time the trees stood skeletal against a sky of weathered tin. The land lay bled of its colors. The nights lengthened, went darker, brightened in their clustered stars. The chilled air smelled of woodsmoke, of distances and passing time. Frost glimmered on the morning fields. Crows called across the pewter afternoons". ~James Carlos Blake, Wildwood Boys

Is that ... SNOW ??

https://www.flickr.com/photos/ajn_photography/22581800294/in/dateposted-public/

The best camera is the one you have with you!
This is a shot of Ghost and Winter in the first snow early this morning.

Friends of ours were having to take their dog 'Ghost' to the humane society as they can no longer look after him. We asked if we could test drive him for the weekend  to see if he and Winter would get along.
Unfortunately this house belongs to Queen Bee Winter and she was having non of it :-(

So Tomorrow Ghost will be at the Guelph Humane Society awaiting new owners.
If you or someone you know is looking for a big dog Ghost is the most gentle of creatures and would make a great addition to your family.

Good luck Ghost I wish we could have kept you here ...


"I talk to him when I'm lonesome like; and I'm sure he understands. When he looks at me so attentively, and gently licks my hands; then he rubs his nose on my tailored clothes, but I never say naught thereat. For the good Lord knows I can buy more clothes, but never a friend like that". ~W. Dayton Wedgefarth

Revisiting the Grinstone Marsh Trails ..

https://www.flickr.com/photos/ajn_photography/22617093817/in/dateposted-public/

Despite the wind and threat of snow it was a great day for a walk along the Royal Botanical Gardens Grindstone Marsh trails.

Down in the valley and in the tree's the road noise all but disappeared along with the wind resulting in a pleasant walk.
Grant and I spent several hours wandering, then sat for a while watching and attempting to photograph the local wildlife that was arriving in droves for a handful of seeds.

Bird photography isn't easy, the damn things don't sit still for more than a fraction of a second.

Landscapes however are a different story ;-)

Upon our arrival I was struck by how green everything was, more like Spring than late Autumn.

The scene before me was a juxtaposition of bare tree's standing guard over the lush greenery giving an almost surreal aspect to the landscape.

"Lady Autumn, Queen of the Harvest,
I have seen You in the setting Sun
with Your long auburn tresses...
You sit upon Your throne and watch
the dying fires of the setting Sun
shine forth its final colors in the sky...
Lady Autumn, You are here at last..."

~Deirdre Akins

Fletchers Creek .. across the pit..

.. through the lens of my Fuji x100s

Some have said "it's a camera that doesn't get in the way".

Well the more I use it the less intrusive it becomes, take its black and white engine, combine it with its jpeg engine add a red filter (digitally) and here is the result ..

https://www.flickr.com/photos/ajn_photography/22864764481/in/dateposted-public/

It was a morning of scudding clouds; sunshine one minute, shade the next and it was the clouds I wanted to capture.

"Spring's wakening bugle long is hushed,
Long dimm'd is Summer's splendour;
October yields her easel bright
To "black and white" November"!
~James Rigg, "November," Wild Flower Lyrics and Other Poems, 1897

Autumn's Showcase ..

https://www.flickr.com/photos/ajn_photography/22483839710/in/dateposted-public/

Autumn's colours are fading fast but there are still signs of it lingering on.

Yesterday while walking Winter along a local trail I spotted this maple stubbornly holding on to its leaves, framing the long dead teasel heads that will provide next years flowers..

As the wheel turns once more..

"Magnificent Autumn! He comes not like a pilgrim, clad in russet weeds. He comes not like a hermit, clad in gray. But he comes like a warrior, with the stain of blood upon his brazen mail. His crimson scarf is rent.... The wind.... wafts to us the odor of forest leaves, that hang wilted on the dripping branches, or drop into the stream. Their gorgeous tints are gone, as if the autumnal rains had washed them out. Orange, yellow, and scarlet, all are changed to one melancholy russet hue.... There is a melancholy and continual roar in the tops of the tall pines.... It is the funeral anthem of the dying year". 

~Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

Algonquin ..

Some say it's my "spiritual home"..
They're probably right.

My last post was way back in June.

My photographic adventures have definitely taken a back seat until recently when I met up with my friends Grant and Cathy for curry at the Penny Whistle Pub.
It was then that they invited me to spend Thanksgiving with them in Algonquin and the plans were hatched.

We would be heading out on Thursday afternoon to beat the rush and spend four glorious days drinking tea, wandering, drinking tea, sitting, drinking tea, talking, drinking tea and taking photo's of the amazing colours around us.

How many years have Grant and I spent wandering the back country with only a tent and sleeping bag; but now we have the luxury of a trailer and real beds!

About 20 mins after we had pitched the trailer (is that the right phrase?) and snuggled into said beds, the heavens opened and it poured rain all night long but we were snug, dry and warm.. ahh thats the life!

One of my favourite images from the trip was pure chance, a couple of people were heading up the lake to their 'wilderness' campsites and had put their canoes in in preparation for the trip. Luckily I was there.

So here is the image, I call it 'Classic Algonquin' despite the green canoe well all canoes should be red right ?   :-)

Thanks Grant and Cathy for sharing your trip with me I needed it, but you knew that didn't you.

Alan

A bunch of keys..

https://www.flickr.com/photos/ajn_photography/18611952373/in/dateposted-public/ 

 

It was a rainy day …

So says the Pizzaville ad ;-)

Actually it has been a rainy weekend and as I write this I am drying off after a 2 mile walk with Winter, sitting by the patio door listening to the rain on the leaves and the odd call from the birds.

Quite peaceful really and in the words of Longfellow:

“The best thing one can do when it’s raining is to let it rain”. ~Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

I was away on business for most of the week so the artistic / photographic output has been almost non-existent.

However I did manage a couple of sketches, I find it interesting if not amazing how a mundane object like a bunch of keys can take on a life of its own on paper.

It was a rainy day ... again.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/ajn_photography/18588579059/in/dateposted-public/

A rainy weekend and no one around.

One of those weekends where you find a comfy chair and a good book and a dog (optional).

The grass did not get yesterday and it doesn't look like it will be cut today either …

Still there is always another book to be read or maybe a bit of artwork to be produced.

The one shown here was yesterdays effort.

First though it is time to pay the piper... chores around the house.... maybe.

“My theory on housework is, if the item doesn’t multiply, smell, catch fire, or block the refrigerator door, let it be. No one else cares. Why should you?” ~Erma Bombeck

Saturday Morning ...

https://www.flickr.com/photos/ajn_photography/18373445540/in/dateposted-public/

My time, time to wander a trail, a street, a path strewn with woodland detritus, a sidewalk or just sit and catch up with friends.

This Saturday morning was a bit of everything, I met up with Doug in downtown Guelph and we decided to walk wherever our fancy took us, all the time nattering about this and that, catching up, making plans etc.

Before long several hours had passed and we found ourselves at the Farmers Market wandering, people watching and buying a few things.

Then back to the cars to unload our goodies and camera's then on to OX for tea.

Just tea .. no more goodies as we had stuffed ourselves on the walk back from the market!

Even so just tea, talk and camaraderie, what a great way to spend a Saturday morning.

“Friendship is a sheltering tree”. ~Samuel Taylor Coleridge

Do you see what I see ?

https://www.flickr.com/photos/ajn_photography/17989983628/in/dateposted-public/

Yesterday began with a typical day in Ontario, hot and humid but on the horizon storm clouds were brewing.

I met with a friend for tea and munchies and as we left the cafe the weather was upon us. With an eye on the sky I hurried back to the car barely in time as the heavens opened.

I don't know how well Patrick fared.

That onrush of rain was the harbinger of what was to come, since then and overnight we have had rain, rain, and more rain.

The parched ground has has a long soak, one what we badly needed and I get a reprise from the sweltering heat, at the time of writing it is a cool 8c, much better!

Of course Winter (the dog) wanted to go for a walk.

After donning rain proof hat, jacket and boots off we went. As we walked I began to wonder, do others see what I see?

A newly opened poppy resplendent in it's crimson colours reached for the rain which bejeweled it's petals with fecund tears.

A goldfinch brilliant yellow against the rain soaked bark and foliage of the tree who's own colours are intensified by the rain.

My world is alive with saturated colours, everything more vibrant but it also becoming smaller as distance was hidden in a veil of mist.

And the soft sounds of falling rain becomes the backdrop to all of this.

Do you see it or do you sit inside and watch TV and miss one of the greatest shows Mother Nature can provide?

Maybe you should go outside and see the show and risk getting a little wet .

“I am sure it is a great mistake always to know enough to go in when it rains. One may keep snug and dry by such knowledge, but one misses a world of loveliness”. ~Adeline Knapp

The Loooong Weekend

It's that time of year again.

"The long weekend"

“May 24”,

“May two four” .... Whatever.. 

 

Despite the plethora of names it usually means a lot of work... digging, sweeping, ripping up and tearing down, planting, grass cutting, fertilizing and in general wearing oneself out just in time to go back to work.!

Many people enjoy this spring ritual... Don't ask me why because I am not one of them nor am I a gardener.

  

Oh don't get me wrong I love being outside but I'm usually to be found sitting in the shade, as I am now mostly with a good book and a cool drink listening to the spring chorus and watching the aerial dogfights between boy birds and girl birds. ....

The above section was written earlier this morning before the piper demanded his due and who has now been paid with a pound of sweat.

A section of fence that didn't winter too well has been rebuilt and the gate has been fixed. Much to the other winter's consternation, she watched and I suspect took notes as I worked. The moment I was finished she was there, checking out the workmanship for that fatal flaw that means a way of escape..

There is one but don't tell her...

So that's it for today, debt paid, the back lawn can wait until tomorrow and I am writing this on my laptop under the newly erected gazebo enjoying a iced (green) tea 

 

Have a great weekend everyone …

"Your hair may be brushed, but your mind's untidy.
You've had about seven hours of sleep since Friday.
No wonder you feel that lost sensation.
You're sunk from a riot of relaxation".
~Ogden Nash, about weekends

*For those in different lands who do not celebrate Queen Victoria's Birthday (that is what the May long weekend is) Please don't ask me to explain why Queen Victoria's Birthday, which is May 25th became the excuse for a long weekend in the colonies but it is on May 18 this year... ask a politician  

Once more around ..

 

 https://www.flickr.com/photos/ajn_photography/17270111880/ 

"Wondering what others think of your photography, stifles your creativity".. part of a conversation with Doug where I decided to 'shoot for me'. this usually means black and white 

 

 You can read the blog post that started me thinking here....

http://jhdricker.blogspot.ca/2015/05/why-i-added-nothing-to-this-blog-for.html

It was a result of this article by Canadian photographer Darren Wiggett

http://www.oopoomoo.com/2015/05/self-awareness-as-a-barrier-to-seeing/

You might know or maybe not that I have been in the photographic doldrums for months now, nary a shutter pressed, definitely no prints made in what seemed like an endless struggle...

Well recently a few things have happened;

Primarily I had a blank wall at the gallery which is due to open today!

Two printers have gone virtually unused, something that is not good for printers so I had to print 'something'

A comment from my friend Doug a few weeks back about getting back to basics .

All of these started to gnaw at me and culminated/gelled in the moment I read the above articles.

Then the light went on or should I say “back on”.

I had been walking the same path, trying to please others, worrying about how others felt about my work, instead of just doing it for me.

So what you see here is that one small step back to the basics, which to me means black and white photography it's what I love so that's where I will start ….

“Know well what leads you forward and what holds you back, and choose the path that leads to wisdom”. ~Buddha

and a very Happy Mothers Day to all our Mom's both here and 'there' .. 

29 ...

29 Years ….

Today is our 29^th Anniversary and I ask myself where did the time go?

I am ashamed to say that I have forgotten so much of what has happened over the years but I will always remember that when we met I was broken and Cathy, with patience and a gentle hand, fixed me.

 I don't know what she saw in me all those years ago but it is because of her I was able to become who I am and for that I will be forever grateful.

“Let us be grateful to people who make us happy, they are the charming gardeners who make our souls blossom”.  ~Marcel Proust

All my life's a circle ..

https://www.flickr.com/photos/ajn_photography/17266029671/

As Harry Chapin said/sang:

“All my life's a circle”

Yesterday part of it went full circle, back 7 years to the start of a friendship and the start of a long walk.

It was Doug who suggested gong back to the beginning; first that meant a stop at the local Tim's.

Fortified with tea and treats we headed up to Elora to wander the gorge trails, then find a place for more tea and conversation.

With friends you slip into these times like slipping into an old glove, they just fit, no struggle no thinking involved it just happens.

It was supposed to be a photo outing but ended up more as a walk and talk outing but that's OK we enjoyed ourselves and more importantly for me it broke me free of the chains of recent months where everything seems to have been sidelined...

So it is fitting that my “Photo of the Week” be a black and white study, after all it is where I began..

So for my quotation I turn to Rumi ..

“Let yourself be silently drawn by the stronger pull of what you really love”.

The man from Bell..

No “Photo of the Week” this week not much of anything really, I have been out of commission.

So just a story to fill the void.

During the week we had a phone call, ostensibly from Bell. 

 

“We have noticed that you are having trouble with your internet connection” -Said the man from Bell

“Have I?” -said I

“Yes our servers indicate your modem drops the connection quite frequently”-Said the man from Bell

“Okaaay”-said I

This went on for several minutes and I was dubious to say the least, but I went along with it, don't ask why, the man from Bell set up a service call and said goodbye.

I looked up Bell's technical support number and called them, expecting a scam but no they really had called and there really was a problem, go figure Bell being proactive!

AND they answered the phone within seconds not minutes or hours !

So fast forward to yesterday, the man from Bell showed up and spent most of the afternoon testing stuff, rewiring outside, adding new stuff, tearing out old stuff and running wiring into the house.

He left after about 3 hours, and about 2 minutes later he was back, “I was just looking at the test results and I am not happy with what I see” - Said the man from Bell

So more ripping, tearing, rewiring and generally fiddling about (it's now supper time!) and he was satisfied.

So off he went, leaving me with a whole new view of Bell Canada.

His parting words were “ We realise that there is a lot of competition out there now and we want to hold on to our customers, so this new project, 'Project Eagle' is helping us find problems before they become problems.”

Well who would have thought !

The Joy of Seeing ..

https://www.flickr.com/photos/ajn_photography/16846138579/

I was thinking about a quote from a friend this last week and realised it does sum me up.

"I think you are a man who can find interest and pleasure and be in the moment, so you only need to take Winter for a walk……the rest of us have to go to Europe.”

While I love to travel,

to see,

to explore,

to learn

and

to know

She is right; I don't have to go very far and it is oh so true, I can find pleasure in the most benign of things.

Several weeks ago I picked some fallen Milkweed; old, stark, weather beaten though they are I keep returning to them and draw and paint them trying to capture their essence.

Fascinated by their structure.

And while doing this I wonder just how many people walk right by them and if they think of them at all they regard them as 'weeds' ..

Oh but here on my desk they are beginning to reawaken, the few remaining seeds are opening, and deploying their little parachutes, waiting for a breeze to send them off on their journey, fulfilling the promise.

I see this happening before my eyes and wait for the story to unfold...

"The real voyage of discovery consists of not in seeking new landscapes but in having new eyes." - Marcel Proust

Just once more ..

 

.. could also be "an ode to my dog" ...

Instead of a 'photo of the week' I went back to November of last year when I was able to catch Winter sleeping on the couch.

Snow !

I don't know who was more excited Winter or me.

One more time we were able to walk in a chill morning with snow underfoot, the trails silent except for Winters panting, my huffing and puffing and the occasional bird making himself known.

Through the trails, across the school yard to the pond; following the stream back around. It was then that I heard it, I think Winter did too but chose to ignore it, that unmistakable plaintiff cry of the Kildeer and then there they were, a pair circling above.

A welcome sight but another harbinger of Spring.

A Spring that we had forgotten about on this delightful winter morning...

“I talk to him when I'm lonesome like; and I'm sure he understands. When he looks at me so attentively, and gently licks my hands; then he rubs his nose on my tailored clothes, but I never say naught thereat. For the good Lord knows I can buy more clothes, but never a friend like that”. ~W. Dayton Wedgefarth

Milkweed and Spring

https://www.flickr.com/photos/ajn_photography/16345204653/

Birds are arriving daily, the tree's and yards are coming alive with their song but winter hangs on. However, as the sun climbs higher in the sky it's strength increasing daily, it is a futile battle Spring is coming and nothing will stop it.

I walked the woods and for several weeks I have been looking at the Milkweed, their stalks brittle and gray, their pods almost empty, their job done, as the seeds are scattered on the winds.

Still there is an eloquent beauty just as in the old tree's that I love so much.

.”The sun has come out... and the air is vivid with spring light”. ~Byron Caldwell Smith, letter to Kate Stephens