CFFC: Kammie’s Oddball Challenge

Tags

forest, macro photography, nature, Photo Challenge, photography, walk, Wilderness Wednesday, woods

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.

Margaret Hungerford

Cee’s Fun Foto Challenge this week hooked up with Kammie’s Oddball Challenge. It’s an opportunity to showcase photos that “don’t make the cut” because they don’t quite fit in any category, yet they exist because something of visual interest caught the eye of the photographer.

Today I had to reign it in a bit because I have lots of “oddball” photos. You should meet my family! Instead, I focused on subtle signs of people deep in the woods. (Don’t worry – I skipped the dead raccoon photo)! 😉

Relish being an oddball: Well-behaved, well-adjusted people are hopeless storytellers and, honestly, terribly boring.

Twinkle Khanna

Which Way

Tags

Fall, home, leaves, nature, nature photography, path, photography, walk, Weekly Photo Challenge, which way, Wilderness Wednesday, winter

Sometimes the journey is more imporant than the destination…

Sometimes you have to forge your way ahead alone…

…and sometimes a friend will walk with you.

There may be lots of colour…

…or darkness ahead.

The path isn’t always clear…

…other times it’s wide open!

Don’t be afraid to ask for help.

So whether you are walking…uphill all the way…

…or riding in style…

…whichever way you are going, may it always lead you HOME.

This is my post for Cee Neuner’s Fun Foto Challenge: Which Way, part of the Which Way Challenge by Alive and Trekking.

Wilderness Wednesday: Winter Walk

Tags

nature, nature photography, photography, River scenes, walk, Wilderness Wednesday, winter

If we had no winter, the spring would not be so pleasant: if we did not sometimes taste of adversity, prosperity would not be so welcome.

Anne Bradstreet

Into the Fairy Woods

Tags

CFFC, fairies, nature, nature photography, path, Photo Challenge, photography, walk, Wilderness Wednesday

Come away, O human child! To the waters and the wild
With a faery, hand in hand,
For the world’s more full of weeping than you can understand.

William Butler Yeats, The Collected Poems of W.B. Yeats

Every great story seems to begin with a snake

Nicholas Cage

Stay on the right path, even if you have to walk alone.

Unknown

And into the forest I go, to lose my mind and find my soul.

John Muir

Few humans see fairies or hear their music, but many find fairy rings of dark grass, scattered with toadstools, left by their dancing feet.

July Allen, Fantasy Encyclopedia

You’ve changed. You’re daring. You’re different in the woods.

The Baker’s Wife, Into the Woods

This is my post for Cee Neuner’s Fun Foto Challenge: Ground.

Dear Quarantine Diary #32

Tags

covid-19 diary, covid-19 humour, humour, walk

Dear Diary – Christmas is coming and I don’t know how long the line will be at Bulk Barn, or if we’ll face another flour shortage! So last week, while Dad was waiting in the woods for Bambi to wander by, Mom and I made…Salvation DOUGHNUTS! The only hiccup was how to cut the hole, since I forgot my “hole cutter” in the city. Crafters always find a way! After several failed attempts, we discovered that a spool of thread works well. Except that we ended up with a spool full of dough too.

They taste even better than they look…

Especially with tea!!!

Dear Diary – I got an email this week from unsplash.com that said I’ve received “500,000 views on your photos! More people have seen your work than the summit of Mt. Everest”. This is the closest I may come to being “popular”.

Dear Diary – We’ve been very blessed with beautiful warm and sunny weather. On Tuesday, I took advantage of it and went for a long walk with my ipod!

It wasn’t long before I was peeling off my sweater and wishing more time had passed so I could go home and be lazy! Just then, a heavy metal song came on, one I used to run to when I was training for Mud Hero. Just thinking about it made me very tired. I decided a long time ago that unless someone is chasing me, I’m done wih running. I even compiled a list of 10 reasons Why I Don’t Run Anymore!

By the time I was 2/3 of the way through my long walk, and really “feeling the burn”, I noticed an older guy with a red cap. He was standing in his yard with his arms crossed and a mean scowl on his face. At first, I thought he was glaring at me and I started running through the list of things I might be doing wrong? Was I dressed inappropriately? Did I miss a “no walking” sign? But as I got closer, I realized he was giving the “evil eye” to the maple tree in his front yard. A row of brown yard waste bags already lined the end of his driveway. I guess, as far as this dude was concerned, he was done his yard work for the year! I felt sorry the tree.

I made it home from my walk without setting my pants on fire from my thighs rubbing together, or traumatizing any children or other innocent bystanders. I rewarded myself with a chocolate chip cookie! So maybe, just maybe, I will try it again some time. Or I’ll go straight for the cookie.

Dear diary – Someone posted this on Facebook and it amused me…

Apparently I slay each day like a bedazzled boss lady! Sounds about right? How about you?

B&W: Sunday Walk

Tags

black and white photography, Photo Challenge, photography, River scenes, walk, Wilderness Wednesday

Sometimes a short walk down memory lane
is all it takes to appreciate where you are today.” – Susan Gale …

Happy Wednesday!

This post is in response to Cee Neuner’s Black & White Photo Challenge: Vanishing Point.

A Mile In My Shoes

Tags

humour, parenting, walk

This week I was forced to join the rank of “good parents” who walk their kids to school. I’ve seen them, tramping through the snow in single file, parents in the lead while the kids drag their feet at a respectful 10 feet behind them. Like lambs to the slaughter…

I drive a FORD – Fix Or Repair Daily. Or as a friend reminded me – Found On Road Dead. I have spent more time at the mechanics with this “new” car that I bought all by myself than I ever did with my 14 year old car! This week, I tried to accelerate at a green light (always better than at a red light) but my car had a brain-fart and forgot what to do. It made a grinding noise first, then it shuddered and hiccupped, and refused to go over 20 km/hour. The cars lined up behind me like a funeral parade, and the drivers’ hands started wave at me. I flipped on my hazard lights, but they continued to wave. The car eventually sorted itself out and I made it to the school and the mechanics without further incident…but it meant I had no car on Thursday.

I usually drive Little Guy to school. It’s not because I’m anti-environmentally-friendly. Nor am I worried that my child will melt if he gets rained/snowed on (I already know he won’t). When Little Guy started school, I was still sorting out some health problems that meant long walks were not possible. Plus Little Guy was in all-day kindergarten and by the end of the day, he was so tired, I literally had to carry him to the car. Then I started working and it saved me time to drop him at school on my way to work. And let’s be honest…I have trouble crawling out of bed on time!

We walked home once before when the car was at the mechanics. It helped me understand the single file trudge with parents leading – they were trying to get away from all whining.

So, yesterday morning, I crawled out of bed early, choked down a piece of toast, and dragged headed out the front door to walk to school. We were dressed in multiple layers but I was too warm despite the fact that the Radio Guy said it felt like -15C. By the time I got to the school and home again, I had wasted spent 40 precious minutes had doing the “E” word (i.e., exercise). I had sweat off 10 lbs (at least in my mind) and I had lost all feeling in my thighs. I’m hoping that was from the cold, not the sign of a heart condition. I was also ready for a nap.

I had the pleasure again at the end of the school day, only by this time, the wind had picked up. My fingers and toes were burning half way to the school; I had lost all feeling by the time I arrived. And I didn’t time it right so I had an extra 10 minutes to wait. I nearly dozed off sitting on the baseball bleachers…from hypothermia. I prayed for the bell to ring.

I’m certain Little Guy was the last kid to leave the school yesterday afternoon, and when he did finally emerge from the warmth, he moved slower than molasses in January. His path to my resting place was like this:

The Family Circus – Bil Keane

I nearly wept, but my tear ducts were frozen, along with my chin, my will to live, and something nasty in my nose. I kept myself awake by watching for and pointing every doggie pee puddle in the snow banks that I could find. Little Guy was not amused.

I was positively giddy by the time I got home.

Only my car still wasn’t ready…which means another walk today. And bonus. There’s snow falling on cedars! Once I get Little Guy to school and if I survive the death march home, I have to change into a dress and hitch a ride to the dealership for a “loaner” car.

Wish me luck!

Happy Weekend!

Wilderness Wednesday: Quiet Dignity

Tags

flowers, garden, nature, photography, walk, Wilderness Wednesday

I went for a walk the other evening even though it was sunny and warm. An unsettled and blustering wind was blowing, the kind that ties your hair in knots. There were thunderstorm warnings for north of the city.

At one point, I stopped along the edge of the road and just closed my eyes. I spread my arms wide, letting the wind caress them. The leaves in the trees were being tossed and they sounded like a waterfall. Somewhere in the distance, I could hear wind chimes, the kind made of metal and coloured glass. And when I opened my eyes, apple blossom petals and maple keys were floating around me. It was magical.

I’m sure I looked silly to anyone who might have observed me, but I was seizing a moment, a moment that stayed with me for days afterward.

When I got home, the sun was bathing everything in gold. I wasn’t ready to go in so I sat along the edge of the garden. It was then I noticed the intricate textures and patterns on the iris. The velvety petals were covered in dust. Even though it was being battered by the wind and it looked like a delicate flower, it stood tall and resolute, with quiet dignity.

“One’s dignity may be assaulted, vandalized and cruelly mocked, but cannot be taken away unless it is surrendered.” – Michael J. Fox

Winter Walk

Tags

family, humour, snow, walk, winter

Saturday morning. I think Little Guy got up on the wrong side of Hubby’s bed (he thought it would be cool if we all “camped out” in a different bed Friday night – so he slept in Hubby’s bed, Hubby slept in my bed, and I slept in Little Guy’s bed…) Little Guy was surly, snappy, and sometimes downright rude. Everything was frustrating him – from an Xbox game to homework (I’ll give you that homework can make anybody angry). Apparently even the sound of my voice was “annoying” to him. He crashed things, he growled, he snarled – and he was getting on my last nerve.

Meanwhile, Hubby was AWOL.  He had gone to meet a friend for coffee, but after 3 hours I was seriously beginning to wonder if that was an excuse to buy time while he ran away from home (which was the exact thing I was contemplating). I tried to play the piano to relax (because I was starting to snarl too), but the louder I played, the louder Little Guy hummed. When he started to stomp on a sticker that wouldn’t stick, I gave up, took 2 Tylenols, and went to bed!

As soon as Hubby came home (10 minutes later), I grabbed my camera and fled in a hail of gunfire left before one of us snapped (I was still in the running for first place). I was headed to a brave new world, a place I have never been, a place I drive by everyday – a community “green space” (which is currently buried in a ton of snow). The sun was shining; the air was crisp. The temperature was hovering just below -12C, which was reason enough to celebrate.  I went without a plan and just let my feet wander. I never crossed paths with another person…and most of those paths were not paths, but snowdrifts up to my knees. I trudged through anyway, using others’ footprints as much as possible. I found the Children’s Garden, the Rose Garden, and the Wedding Garden – everything is blanketed in white – right up to the seats of every bench I passed. Lured by the sound of music, I ploughed onward until I found the Water Park (which isn’t popular this time of year) and a skating rink (which was very popular). I snapped a lot of pictures, and most of them sucked failed to capture what I could see.

The sun made the snow sparkle, its surface rippling in frozen waves untouched by man. Little birds were darting in and out of the pine trees, singing joyful songs. The snow crunched. It felt good to take a deep breath of fresh air, and to feel the sting of the wind on my face. It was peaceful and refreshing.

I went home for hot chocolate and a handful of mini marshmallows. My winter walk gave me time to reflect on some other much-needed reminders:

• In every season, whether related to the time of year or a time in life, the world is full of hidden treasures, if we just take the time to look.
• Some blessings are worth a little inconvenience, a little discomfort, or a little effort.
• Sometimes we need to take a moment to “disconnect” – from people and from things – and simply take a “deep breath”.
• Being alone and being lonely are not the same thing.
• Trying something new doesn’t always have to involve making a big decision or taking a huge leap of faith – it can be as simple as taking a walk.
• It’s ok to take chances, to go new places, and to try new things. The end results may not be what we hoped for, but we are still richer for the experience through what we have learned in the journey.

And who knows, you may just make a new friend along the way…

Be Still

Tags

faith, humour, photography, shoes, walk

It’s hard to believe that 2 weeks ago, this is what I was doing…

…and I was enjoying it! And I want to be doing it again. Right now! There’s something soothing about walking on the beach, letting your thoughts wander everywhere and nowhere. To let the tension and deadlines go, let all the voices simply be…still.

There won’t be “stillness” in my day today. Today, I will be wearing many hats, dealing with many voices, putting on my “I’m in control” facade so I can organize and speak intelligently (at least I hope it’s intelligent). Normally, I can do it, graciously and relatively sweat-free. But today I am feeling a little panicked, a little out of control, a little spastic. All week I’ve felt like a hamster on a wheel – running, but not really getting anywhere. I make lists…and promptly lose them!

Today is the first day of Morning Break (that’s the ladies ministry at my church and which I mysteriously became chair of a year and a half ago…I need to get Scooby-Doo and his sleuths on that one! In addition to bringing some of the food, I am teaching the first class (that only requires 5 boxes of stuff) and emceeing the first open session (the morning joke is critical!). I’ve done it several times before – it shouldn’t be a big deal…but for some reason, this time it is.

So as you take a break and read my pondering, I will do what I do best – lay it before the Lord, strap on a pair of sassy heels and head into the day. My flip-flops were comfortable, but my heels are fierce! One of these days I’ll get around to printing this picture and posting it some place where I am always busy just to remind me…sometimes it’s okay to take a breath and be still.