Its all in your mind...

https://www.flickr.com/photos/ajn_photography/16537783755/

At this time of year, some, well most, people look out of the window, listen to the weather report, shudder and turn up the heat a notch.

Not me, after taking Winter for her morning walk I decided it was a beautiful morning and I wanted to get out on my own for a while.

So I wrapped myself up and headed for one of my favourite spots, the U of G Arboretum.

On this wonderful winters day I had the parking lot to myself, the trails covered in fresh snow, only marked by the off bunny track.

The woods echoed with bird song and the only other sounds were the crunching of the snow and my breathing .

I made two laps of the trails just 'because'.

My excuse was that Whyndam Arts Supply wasn't open yet so I may as well walk some more...

In reality I was just having too good a time, eventually my jacket was unzipped and my gloves were in my pocket and I walked with a stupid grin on my face as my breath formed clouds in front of me.

As the morning wore on I did meet a few like minded individuals but mostly I was alone with my thoughts.

What a great morning to be alive...

“Happiness is an attitude. We either make ourselves miserable, or happy and strong. The amount of work is the same”. ~Francesca Reigler

"Forest Bathing"

https://www.flickr.com/photos/ajn_photography/16278526819/

“Forest Bathing..”

What?

“Forest Bathing” or what later became “Forest Therapy”:

"The purpose of forest therapy is to provide preventive medical effects by relieving stress and recovering the immune system [diminished]by stress,"

Yoshifumi Miyazaki of Chiba University explained. As Japan's leading scholar on forest medicine, he's carried out studies across the country. The results show forest bathing can significantly lower levels of cortisol, a stress hormone, along with blood pressure and heart rate.

Other research points out that walking in the woods can boost the body's immune system by increasing anti-cancer proteins and enhancing the so-called natural killer activity of certain cells.

Ah so that's why a walk in the woods invigorates, replenishes and rejuvenates me!

I always knew that but apparently it's not just me and there is evidence.

Maybe doctors should prescribe “a walk in the woods, take once daily and repeat”

No the major drug companies won't get rich(er) but you will.

Richer in body, mind and spirit.

The whole article is here:

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/life/travel/destinations/in-japan-healthy-minds-rejuvenate-in-healthy-forests/article4266258/

“There is a pleasure in the pathless woods,
There is a rapture on the lonely shore,
There is society, where none intrudes,
By the deep sea, and music in its roar:
I love not man the less, but Nature more”.
~George Gordon, Lord Byron, Childe Harold’s Pilgrimage

January Man

https://www.flickr.com/photos/ajn_photography/15774828904/

 

I look out of the window and see the gray dawn rising, the temperature a cool -8c. 

The weatherman tells of a storm approaching; snow, blowing snow and cold.

But I am safe at home looking forward to a walk with the dog.

Others face a long drive through these worsening conditions.

My thoughts are with my friend Doug and his wife Lynn who face such a drive.

Be safe my friend...

Now back to my post for this week ..

There goes January:

January has taken it's turn for this year and February steps in.

How quickly the days, months and years disappear into history..

Yesterday we celebrated my daughters birthday, ** years ago she was brought into this world, now she is a woman and I am older and wiser(?) and the wheel of life continues to turn.

This train of thought brought to mind the song by an English comedian Mike Harding

January Man

The January man he walks abroad and woollen coat and boots of leather
The February man still brushes snow from off his head and blows his hands
The man of March looks through the Spring and he wonders what each year will bring
And he hopes for better weather

Through April rain the man goes down to see the birds come in to share the summer
The man of May stands very still watching the children dance away the day
In June the man inside the man he's young and wants to lend a hand
And he welcomes each new comer

And in July the man in cotton shirts he sits and dreams of being idle
The August man in thousands takes the road to find the sun and see the sea
September man is standing near to saddle up and lead the year
And Autumn is his bridle

Then the new October man he takes the reins and early frost is on his shoulders
The poor November man sees frost and fire and wind and rain and winters cold
December man looks through the snow to let eleven brothers know
That they're all a little older

Then the January man comes round again in woollen coat and boots of leather
To take another turn to walk along the icy road he knows so well
The January man is here for starting each and every year
Along the road forever ~ Mike Harding

If you want to hear it :

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uo73dabbnGk

https://www.flickr.com/photos/ajn_photography/16331088476/

Photographic outings with others can be both stimulating and distracting, both in a good way!

When I go out with friends I find the way I see things changes, not only for the moment for for several days after.

We all have differing points of view which on their own define a persons 'style' but allowing your mind to open up to other possibilities and by stepping out of your comfort zone you might just find a new 'style' a blend of your own and another.

A case in point:

Recently I have been influenced by two of my friends to the point of creating an 'Homage' photograph.

The first was not deliberate, it just happened.

The second was deliberately chosen to reflect someone's 'style'.

Yes I may tease them but it is more than that, it is an admission of a style that I am impressed and altered by.

So here is the homage to two fine photographers who's work I have tried to emulate in recent weeks:

Vartkes

https://www.flickr.com/photos/the_armenian/16051533402/

Patrick

https://www.flickr.com/photos/50144691@N02/15683822505/

Classic defining photographs from each of them.

And in seeing their work I have been changed, hopefully for the better!

“The goal is not to change your subjects, but for the subject to change the photographer”. ~Author Unknown

Dawn ...

https://www.flickr.com/photos/ajn_photography/15679208554/

I've always been a morning person.

Watching the sun rise on a new day is deeply satisfying.

To do it 'out there', in a frozen field of a meadow full of flowers is even more satisfying.

Now most would disagree but that's OK I like the wild places to be empty.

Around here, within a half hour drive, we have so many choices for an early morning walk.

“Blessed” is the word I guess.

Yesterday was one such morning, Fletchers Creek was the location. 20 min from home and a bit of a walk as the sky lightened we found a spot and watched the sun crest the distant tree's painting the sky with an ever changing palette.

In about 5 minutes it was all over but what a five minutes !

“I’ll tell you how the Sun rose—
A Ribbon at a time....”
~Emily Dickinson, c.1860

The season of the mind ..

 https://www.flickr.com/photos/ajn_photography/15627623713/

The season of the mind ..

Cold out?

It's all in your head!

You see, if you look at the forecast or the thermometer you would not go out until Spring.

But if you bundle up in layers, add an extra pair of socks and your warmest gloves it can be invigorating!

Yesterday the 'mercury' dipped to -17c and the windchill took that down to -27c.

Was I home by the fire ?

No I was out with other like-minded friends wandering through Rockwood Conservation Area admittedly staying in the tree shrouded hollows away from the wind, but out non-the-less.

What an invigorating morning!

We wandered together and apart for several hours marveling at Winters handiwork and then on the Ridge Trail Patrick spotted a shape in a tree .. “is that an owl'?

Then it took off, yes an owl!

What a treat!

You see only moments before we had been discussing the Great Horned Owl that Doug had heard recently nr Tobermory and there he was! 

 

People think that the woods are full of wildlife but to see an owl is special.

Actually to see anything other than a squirrel or a or a chickadee is always special!

Often heard but not always visible the creatures of the great outdoors chatter back and forth in a tongue we cannot understand but it is a joy to listen in..

“What nutriment can I extract from these bare twigs? Starvation stares me in the face. "Nay, nay," said a nuthatch, making its way, head downward, about a bare hickory close by, "The nearer the bone, the sweeter the meat.... If at any time the weather is too bleak and cold for you, keep the sunny side of the trunk, for a wholesome and inspiring warmth is there, such as the summer never afforded...." "Hear! hear!" screamed the jay from a neighboring tree, where I had heard a tittering for some time, "winter has a concentrated and nutty kernel, if you know where to look for it."... [A] red squirrel... came running down a slanting bough, and as he stopped twirling a nut, called out rather impudently, "Look here! just get a snug-fitting fur coat and a pair of fur gloves like mine, and you may laugh at a northeast storm."” ~Henry David Thoreau, Nov. 8, 1858

First Light 2015

  https://www.flickr.com/photos/ajn_photography/16163868141/

Here at least, the New Year arrived with a growl or was it the old years departing shot?

The gauntlet of the 'First Light Challenge” was picked up by a few hardy souls who ventured out in the pre-dawn light of a new year to be faced with high winds and cloud from Hamilton to Tobermory.

So much for inspiration..

After standing on a windswept dock in LaSalle Park my little group happily agreed to head out to find somewhere that might be open at 9:00 am on this morning.

Bacon, eggs and tea/coffee served somewhere warm!

We found an oasis in AJ's in Waterdown were the smiles were as warming as the tea.

Thank you ladies for being there and thank you my friends old and new for taking up my silly challenge and braving the new dawn with me.

A New Years wish for one and all..

“And ye, who have met with Adversity's blast,
And been bow'd to the earth by its fury;
To whom the Twelve Months, that have recently pass'd
Were as harsh as a prejudiced jury -
Still, fill to the Future! and join in our chime,
The regrets of remembrance to cozen,
And having obtained a New Trial of Time,
Shout in hopes of a kindlier dozen”.
~Thomas Hood