Spring Wanderings

We have been enjoying the trails around home. There are lots of things to discover. Wildflowers, birds and landscapes take up most of our time these days.

Sandbanks Provincial Park, ON

Picton Courthouse, ON

It always seems to be windy here. It makes shooting flowers a challenge.

Sharp-lobed Hepatica

Red Trillium in Snow

While we walked a trail, a woman told us she was seeing lots of salamanders. It took us awhile but we found a few as well.

Eastern Red-backed Salamander

Warblers are starting to move through. I found Ruby-Crowned Kinglets in the local graveyard.

Ruby-crowned Kinglet

I didn’t get many shots of these frantic little birds. But I did have good luck with a Pileated Woodpecker.

Pileated Woodpecker Male

Pileated Woodpecker Male

It has been cold and wet the last week but we will keep walking the trails and see what we can find.

Life without a Schedule

When I worked as a college professor I had large blocks of time when I did not have a set schedule. True freedom is an open agenda. So I have had a lot of preparation for a pandemic! Boredom is my inspiration. When you let the tank empty you can fill it with whatever you want. These days I fill my days with music, art and literature.

Prince Edward Point Lighthouse, ON

My world is in many ways smaller lately but I’m able to watch the seasons change in one place. I’m able to know my backyard better than I ever have. There are so many worlds within worlds.

Surface Hoar Frost

When all this is over and we get back to life as it once was before masks and constant hand washing, what will you have learned about yourself and the world around you?

Snowy Owl

Mariners Park Museum Lighthouse

I have learned that I have just enough self motivation to keep me moving forward. I have just enough curiosity to keep me interested in the world around me without a timetable to get in the way.

Sharp-shinned Hawk

Goodbye 2020...

Prince Edward Point, ON

What a year! A new house, a new town and a pandemic. Such mixed emotions. Still we are hopeful for a better year in 2021. Not that this year has been bad for us. We have been limited in where we could go and what we could do but we made the best of it. I’m so glad we moved when we did. Just in the nick of time.

I worked most days. There is so much to see here in Prince Edward County (PEC) and nearby area. Here are a few images that stand out to me.

Point Petre, PEC, ON

American Mink (PEC)

Gray Ratsnake (Frontenac Provincial Park)

Male Northern Bush Katydid (PEC)

Beaver (PEC)

Barred Owl (PEC)

Cardinal Flower (PEC)

All the best for the New Year and bring on the vaccine!

Working Close to Home

Ostrander Point

The world seems a little smaller these days. We are adjusting to our new reality. Sometimes limits can enhance creativity. Keith Richards once said about open G tuning on his 5-string Telecaster – “5 strings, 3 notes, 2 hands and 1 asshole”. One of the first songs he used this tuning on is the brilliant “Street Fighting Man” from Beggars Banquet. Limits sometimes create a box that forces you to work differently.

I love reducing images to black and white or at least monotone. About 7 years ago, I started using an aging process to “rough up” my images.

Old Shed

Vegetable Stand in the County

This process starts with a colour image. I convert it to black and white and add layers of texture and blur parts of the image. The result is a photo that looks damaged and worn.

Old Trucks

Nude in Nature

Sometimes I will leave a bit of colour.

Red Doors, Yellow Flowers

The resulting images become more of an illustration than photograph.

Tree in the Fog

Engine 1095, Kingston, ON

Steam Engine

With all that is going on in the world, I find I’m escaping into my own world of creativity. The world around us is as big as we make it, even if we are confined.

It's Been a Year

I taught my last class a year ago. It has taken this long to actually feel "retired". It has been a busy time. We are finally starting to slow down a bit. We love our new house and the town we live in.

The New House

Things are starting to return to a bit more normal. We still wear masks when we shop but restaurant patios and many stores are now open.

Our deck is starting to take shape.

The New House

The park nearby has continued to be productive.

Beaver Swimming

Young Red Fox

Common Yellowthroat Warbler Male

Great Blue Heron

Giant Swallowtail

Giant Swallowtail

We hope to be able to do a few small trips in Ontario this summer. We will see how it goes. But even if we end up spending the summer close to home, I will be content to work here.