Gift at the Lake
On a beautiful day recently, A and I walked for 4 hours. At Sunnyside Beach, where in another time people danced to the music of big bands in the Palais…
Beautiful
Sunrise on New Moon
(click to enlarge) Part of my project for 2014 is to pay attention to the day. Every morning I jot down in a notebook the time of sunrise and sunset,…
Real Winter
kitchen window (click to enlarge) I thought that climate change would end winter. Instead it ricochets from one season to another. Everything at hyper-speed, plants, animals, viruses on the move.…
Cat’s Eyes or Owl’s
Winter night It was pitch black to my human eyes, but this is the way an owl sees or a cat, I thought. The camera was on a tripod, the…
Creatures in Lake Ontario
Today I rambled along the boardwalk of Toronto Island and this is what I saw: Cormorant The cormorant stood drying her wings for as long as I was taking photos.…
Elephant
Toronto Zoo Click to enlarge and see her beautiful eyes as she looked at me on my birthday. The elephants are being prepared for transfer to an elephant sanctuary. It…
Art in Progress
Artist at work: an Ancient Egyptian style decorative collar by M (click to enlarge). And it’s finished! Filed under: Beautiful Tagged: young artists
Railroad Ramble
It’s been a while since I’ve had one of these. It was beautiful up there in the sun with new leaves all around. I saw so much in that peaceful…
Wordless Wednesday
Spring (click to enlarge) Filed under: Beautiful Tagged: spring buds
Wordless Wednesday
Filed under: Beautiful Tagged: urban nature
Starling
(click to enlarge) This is a starling, not one of the nobility like eagle and hawk, but a common bird. I see them around here all the time. They’re extroverts,…
Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera
Portrait of Diego Rivera and Malu Block and Frida Kahlo de Rivera by Carl Van Vechten (Click photo to enlarge) I am drawn to survivors whose spirit pushes through trauma…
Hanukah Last Night
click to enlarge Do you see the blue lights? And the evanescent ball hanging out with the plant? Who can say whether they are optical effects or angels? Filed under:…
Sea Turtles Swim to Freedom
Sea Turtles Swim to Freedom – YouTube. Filed under: Beautiful, Fun Tagged: good news
Indian Horse by Richard Wagamese
This is a beautiful, heart-breaking, and ultimately redemptive novel about an Ojibway (Anishnabeg) man’s journey from childhood in the bush to his undoing in residential school, experiences in the Native…
‘Small Damages,’ by Beth Kephart
“Dreamlike” is one word for Beth Kephart’s latest novel, “Small Damages,” in which an American teenager is exiled to Spain after she gets pregnant. Her percolating story emerges through Kephart’s…
Panda Playground
If you need a smile today, here it is: Cute pandas playing on the slide – YouTube. Filed under: Beautiful, Fun Tagged: nature videos
My Hawk and Grad
A week ago today, M graduated from middle school (grade 8). I tried hard not to bawl as the class procession walked through the gym and that was quite a…
Heat and Skyline
Spring came early to Toronto. Summer arrived early too and I don’t like heat. Thank goodness it’s supposed to break next week. But we’re on the way to the island…
Saving The Children | Tales from the Reading Room
Inside our minds great forces rage and collide and strange convoluted processes are developed in order to avoid internal obstacles and keep the status quo. Former versions of ourselves wander…