 Visiting with family in Alberta, we had a lovely day for visiting the Aga Khan Garden in the University of Edmonton Botanical Gardens. It combines water features and geometric designs with Alberta skies and flora. And then there are the small whimsical brass amphibians scattered around the main fountain...  The Source Fountain on the Talar or upper terrace, with a glimpse out to the rest of the gardens     Closer view of a brass lizard that can also be seen in a previous photo. (I didn't see any of these little critters the first time I went past this area -- and then discovered six or seven.)   The Mahtabi, a platform with intricate patterns connecting the formal garden with more informal wetlands and other gardens -- and another view of that big Alberta sky  The rose garden and fountain   The Ice Bagh (ice garden), whose paving pattern suggests the molecular structure of snow. And then there is the occasional wafting of water in another form.  Woodland Bagh, reflecting the forest canopy and sky -- just a few inches of water in the dark stone base  Back at the Source Fountain, another brass amphibian, and another photographer
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 Back in Goshen, the summer is in full swing. Coneflowers, beebalm, and Queen Anne's Lace are blooming, and I found my first monarch caterpillar on the milkweed in my garden. Dragonflies and dewdrops abound.       MennoCon 2019, in Kansas City, early July. The view from the top -- my hotel room was on the top floor, overlooking the plaza and the convention city. Cloud displays, 4th of July airshow jets practicing (six of them in tight formation), and fittingly, a double rainbow over the convention center.    If not raining, most mornings lately have at least been moist. I don't recall seeing this sort of beading of water droplets on morning glories before, but I found it again this morning. These are early bloomers, so perhaps other years the mornings weren't so damp when the morning glories started blooming. Raindrops on roses and delphinium and serviceberries, also known as saskatoons. They are ripening now and we picked a quart. In the prairie plantings, coneflowers are starting to open.        The prairie plantings on campus are starting to bloom and one of the first flowers to open this year was the spiderwort. Here are six variations on the theme -- and one baby grasshopper of the many that hopped away as I stepped through knee-high plants to get closer to the spiderwort. (Actually there are three in the last photo, but only one that's in focus.)        Weeks of rain in May, and then, right at the end, the peonies, daisies and hosta opened. And the sun came out, after a rainy morning.       First week of May and at Pathways Retreat Center, the haze was green as new leaves opened to the sun. And then it proceeded to rain for most of the next three weeks. . .      First week of May and a pinkish haze infiltrates Witmer Woods, near the college cabin -- redbud in bloom.       A rainy month, this May, leaving everything decked in raindrops even after the sun came out. The annual spring transformation felt like it arrived all in one week, but that was mostly the trees filling out with leaves. Crabapple blossoms, miniature iris, flowering quince, and a jack-in the-pulpit led the procession.      April's spring is unfolding -- from early crocus and the first sighting of pollinators, to tiny daffodils and windflowers, to snowdrops and geese and feathers blowing in the breeze, to Lenten roses, and trees in blossom. And days of rain and days of sunshine, mixed together.       What a difference a few weeks make! In mid-March the snowdrops were finally open and the early crocus started to poke up through the March mud. There were glimpses of sunshine -- and streetcleaners. And now the crocus are open -- first a few random lonely blooms scattered in the grass, then the clumps in the flowerbed, almost closed on cloudy days and exuberantly open in the sun.   Street cleaner       The bright red of cardinals are a cheery sight on a winter day but we also enjoyed the many other birds at the feeders -- tufted titmouse, juncos, sparrows, woodpeckers, nuthatch, chickadees, morning doves, towhee, bluejay, and more. Including one squirrel. Here are photos of a few of them.         This week we took a couple days vacation at Pokagon State Park, managing to get there on dry roads, enjoy a couple days of heavy snow, and then get home again on clear roads before the big freeze hit. One highlight was watching the many birds at the feeders on a blustery, snowy day.  A clear view of the feeder just outside the window -- and then the next minute it's hidden by a swirl of snow gusting down from the roof.    A chickadee that looks like he wants in out of the cold -- and a snowy view of the lake, with the opposite shoreline barely visible. For some reason, no one chose to sit out in the lawn chairs to enjoy the view.   A visit to Benton dam on a warmish winter day -- some ice, but no snow. And the amazing orange of duck feet, and the patterns of ice, oak leaves, acorns, branches and blocks.       And one more post before December disappears. . . It's been a warmish December, but there were moments of fire and frost.      December's dominant color scheme may be brown, gray and white, but bright notes of red bring a spark of cheer.       The winter woods has different treasures from the other seasons. The colors are more muted, but the shapes stand out.       (This was supposed to post last week, but didn't, so it's a little belated -- but the glimpses of November color may be welcome with these gray days we've been having!) We are slipping rapidly toward winter and the leaves are all down now, but before November has completely vanished, here is a bit of fall color from earlier in the month. Let the leaves fall where they may....       Reflections of various kinds -- sunrise over and in the dam pond, a blaze of fall color on a gray day, windows and reflections at the calendar garden, roots and more roots, and the view from our hotel in Pittsburgh.     View from our hotel in Pittsburgh. We were on the 4th floor from the top, so while it seems like you should be able to see me taking the photo, I'm hidden by one of the non-reflective parts.  If seeing human characteristics in nonhuman objects is anthropomorphism, what is it called when you see critter characteristics in plant life? After a month's hiatus due to internet connection problems, I am finally able to post this little cohort of critters.    Swan or dodo?  Jiminy Cricket!  How many antennae does this critter have? I see two in the shadow. For the longest time I could only find one on the actual grasshopper. I finally figured it out. How about you?  One entrance to Allegheny Cemetery is just up the street from where Beth and Jesse live in Pittsburgh. The cemetery has 300 acres surrounded by city, with about a third of it still undeveloped and the rest rolling hills scattered with crypts, tombstones and memorials. And wild life. We encountered geese, deer, and squirrels as we wandered on a recent visit.      This one is for you, Rosanna -- finally, enough time to read!   A sunny fall day, just before our first frosts in the middle of October, and there was activity everywhere I looked. The little white or yellow or gold butterflies (or perhaps moths) were too restless to record, but some of the other insects dallied long enough to have their portrait taken. So three photos of bugs, three of seedheads, and one broader view of billowing plants and clouds.        Into the woods, to see moss and fungi growing on stumps and trunks and branches.       It was a foggy morning for the Day Away at Pathways Retreat a week ago. I headed out to the labyrinth in the walnut grove and on the way saw a small spider web in a dried plant, very visible thanks to the fog drops that filled it. I recorded it from several angles and then, as I stepped back, saw a second, sparser web outlined in drops, suspended more or less vertically beside it. And it was only when I zoomed in with the computer back home that I saw a whole constellation of silk strands and scattered drops above the first web -- and the spider at its base. Elsewhere small yellow leaves covered the ground, falling on the dewy green leaves of a sapling and serving as bright backdrop for a large drop on the tip of a blade of grass. By the time I returned to the retreat house, the sun was starting to break through, lighting a drop on another stem as I passed.   You can see the bright semi-circle of the first web behind this web, on the right about halfway down.     |
My approach to contemplative photography --
"Pay attention. Be astonished. Tell about it." Mary Oliver in "Sometimes" Categories
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