Still In This World
Posted: June 7, 2014 Filed under: Ontario, Plant Life, Toronto | Tags: blossoms, computers, dwarf irises, flowers, gardens, irises, spring, Toronto Leave a commentHi people. I’m still alive after my recent break from posting. The old computer suddenly ceased functioning with an electrical short and a puff of the scary scent of electrical burning filling the rooms. Since then I’ve been learning a new system. These dwarf irises are from a Toronto garden in May. Since then great blossoming has taken place. We’ve had daffodils, tulips, hyacinths, redbud trees, magnolias, crabapples and cherry blossoms. These have all gone and now we’re awash with the fading, but still romantic scent of lilacs, lilies of the valley and peonies.
Spring is Coming to Todmorden Mills
Posted: April 8, 2014 Filed under: Animal Life, Inspiration, Ontario, Plant Life, Toronto, Water | Tags: birds, buds, climate change, green, spring, Todmorden Mills, Toronto, trees, urban nature, woods 2 Comments
On Sunday, I went again to Todmorden Mills in Toronto. It was sunny and relatively mild–around 8 or 9 Celsius. I walked on the little wildflower path through trees and by a pond and streams. On the way, I’d seen a cardinal atop a naked tree–pointed out to me by a young couple passing by. In the woods, I heard chickadees and a red winged blackbird. And a woman walking her dogs pointed out a woodpecker–I think it was a downy–on a nearby tree that she was photographing. I searched the ground for tiny green shoots, leaves and moss, looked in the trees and shrubs for buds and came upon a squirrel looking down at me while munching a nut.
I was thinking about the latest climate change report that came out several days earlier warning again about the changes to the climate that are already here and that will be coming. I thought about what we gain and lose when nature is protected or harmed. When I am in a natural setting, urban or more wild, I feel a link to something larger than myself. I am a living being among others in nature. I know my experience is not unique and that the companionship of humans and non is vitally important for my, and others, well-being.
More Spring Dreams
Posted: April 5, 2014 Filed under: Ontario, Plant Life, Toronto | Tags: cold, dreams, flowers, garden, spring, Toronto Leave a commentIt’s very windy and hovering around freezing today. Back to dreams of spring. This is another photo from last year, soon to arrive in Toronto, believe it or not.
Coming Soon to Toronto Gardens
Posted: April 3, 2014 Filed under: Ontario, Plant Life, Toronto | Tags: crocuses, dreams, flowers, gardens, spring, Toronto 2 CommentsThe temperature goes up and down as we make our way to warmer weather. I found the following photograph of crocuses that I took in mid April last year. Crocuses have even entered my dreams–I came upon a scene the other night very much like what’s pictured in the photo.
Crocuses in a Toronto garden, April 2013.
Trees around McMichael Gallery
Posted: March 30, 2014 Filed under: Ontario, Plant Life | Tags: ice storm, Kleinburg, McMichael Gallery, Ontario, spring, trees Leave a comment
We went to the McMichael Gallery this weekend to see an exhibit of Mary Pratt’s work . The gallery, which is surrounded by trees, is 45 minutes to an hour north and west of Toronto, near the town of Kleinburg. We walked around a bit at the end of the day and saw that many branches were down. I wondered if this was part of the aftermath of December’s ice storm and the harsh winter we had. Despite that, the melt is on and spring is gradually arriving.
Black Locust
Posted: June 12, 2013 Filed under: Ontario, Plant Life, Toronto | Tags: black and white photography, black locust tree, black locust trees, bloom, blossoms, flowers, June, nature, nature photography, Ontario, spring, Todmorden Mills, Toronto, trees Leave a comment
Black locust blossoms, Toronto, June 2013
Last week, black locust trees were in bloom in Toronto. Their sweet perfume filled the air at Todmorden Mills where I’d walked. I love their profuse, cascading blossoms.
Black Locust tree in bloom, Todmorden Mills, June 2013
Ferns in the Wildflower Preserve
Posted: June 10, 2013 Filed under: Ontario, Plant Life, Toronto | Tags: black and white photography, don valley, ferns, fiddlehead, forest, nature, nature photography, Ontario, ostrich ferns, spring, Todmorden Mills, Toronto, wildflower preserve 2 Comments
June 2013
I saw what I believe are ostrich ferns on a recent walk in the Wildflower Preserve at Todmorden Mills. If I’ve misidentified the ferns, do let me know. The day was moderate–around 18 degrees Celsius, with a mixture of sun and cloud. The ferns seem very much at home in this moist forested area in the Don Valley in Toronto. I find their shapes very beautiful.
June 2013
June 2013
Kortright Centre in Spring
Posted: June 1, 2013 Filed under: Ontario, Plant Life, Water | Tags: black and white photography, Canada, ferns, green, hike, Kortright Centre for Conservation, natural world, nature, nature photography, Ontario, peacefulness, spring, Stream, trees, walk in the woods, wildflowers, woods Leave a comment
By a stream at Kortright Centre for Conservation, May 2013
Last weekend I went to Kortright Centre for Conservation for a walk in the woods. The day was cool and sunny—perfect weather for hiking in comfort. The woods were a vibrant green, a little deeper in hue than the first yellow green of spring.
Green Kortright, May 2013
Ferns by the stream at Kortright Centre, May 2013
I photographed the woods and stream in colour and when I wanted to emphasize patterns, I moved to black and white.
In the woods at Kortright Centre, May 2013
As always, when I am at Kortright, I felt a great sense of peacefulness to be in those welcoming woods, so close to Toronto and yet in a world so different.
At Kortright Centre, May 2013
At the Edge of the Brick Works
Posted: May 20, 2013 Filed under: Ontario, Plant Life, Toronto | Tags: black and white photography, Brick Works, Evergreen Brick Works, landscape, natural setting, nature, nature photography, Ontario, spring, Toronto, trees, Victoria Day, woods 1 Comment
By the Brick Works, Toronto, May 16/13
Several days ago and today, Victoria Day in Canada, I went to one of my favourite haunts–the Evergreen Brick Works. Sometimes the textures and shapes of the landscape call out to me to be photographed in black and white. These were from wooded paths around the perimeter of the Brick Works, some of which lead to ravines that wind through the city.
Path just above the Brick Works, Victoria Day, 2013
Willow Tresses over a path above the Brick Works, Victoria Day 2013, Toronto
Abundance
Posted: May 10, 2013 Filed under: Inspiration, Plant Life, Toronto | Tags: beauty, blossoms, Brick Works, daffodils, Evergreen Brick Works, flowers, gardens, grape hyacinths, May, nature, plants, spring, Todmorden Mills, Toronto, trees, tulips Leave a comment
Spring in Toronto, May 2013
We’ve had a week of sunshine and warm weather in Toronto–like a dream of love. This has given way to rain and cooler temperatures which will make the plants quite happy.
Toronto garden, May 2013
Tulips after rain, Toronto, May 2013
The gardens have been bursting with flowers. Magnolias, redbud trees, flowering plums, tulips, daffodils, grape hyacinths, forget me nots, periwinkles and violets have greeted me throughout the neighbourhood. Two days ago, the yellow green maple flowers began dusting the sidewalks and lawns. And at the Brick Works and Todmorden Mills, the sun and leaves of budding trees have formed canopies of light.
These have been joyful days to be alive amidst birdsong and the return of vibrant colour.
Todmorden Mills, Toronto, May 2013.
of humans and nature 
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