Do you have favorite viewpoints you go back to – for perspective, for nostalgia, for inspiration?
Iron Mountain, Cascades
This week’s Lens-Artists challenge invites us to revisit Landscapes, a theme that was also assigned in 2019. When I did that original challenge, I was living in Wisconsin. You can view the post I created HERE. I wrote that landscapes are my favorite photographic subject and that I wanted my soul to be a landscape – a place where I have a broad view of a larger reality, where Beauty and Life surround me and produce the thing I call Love.
Since then I have moved to Oregon, and found new Love all around.
Nye Beach, NewportStrawberry Mountain WildernessWilliam L. Finley National Wildlife RefugeAlsea Falls State Recreation AreaMy driveway
Thanks to Egidio for inviting us to share our landscapes and for his superb selection of examples.
“We have not long to love. Light does not stay. The tender things are those we fold away. Coarse fabrics are the ones for common wear. In silence I have watched you comb your hair. Intimate the silence, dim and warm. I could but did not, reach to touch your arm. I could, but do not, break that which is still. (Almost the faintest whisper would be shrill.) So moments pass as though they wished to stay. We have not long to love. A night. A day….” ― Tennessee Williams, The Collected Poems
The Wheel of the Year has turned to Samhain, midway between the Fall Equinox and the Winter Solstice. In the northern hemisphere, the solar winter has now begun. It is the time of year when many cultures honor their ancestors, for the veil between the earthly world and the spirit world is thin.
The trail around Cabell Marsh in Finley National Wildlife Refuge is now closed to hikers until April first so that overwintering birds will not be disturbed. Last week, I saw white pelicans, great blue herons, snowy egrets, tundra swans, Dusky Canada geese, ducks, and nutria in the silent fog.
The wispy traces of light and web and cloud and spirit float away in the blink of an eye. What remains is the feeling that I have been visited by beauty and embraced in Life, a feeling that I call Love.
A Samhain Blessing
May the ancestors deliver blessings on you and yours May the new year bear great fruits for you May your granted wishes be as many as the seeds in a pomegranate May the slide into long nights bring you light May the memories of what has been keep you strong for what is to be May this Samhain cleanse your heart, your soul and your mind! Blessed Be. –Unknown
I dream of a world where Love is the currency that matters. It is invested, returned, compounded, treasured, and generously spread. It flows on every level, in every relationship, from the smallest interaction between particles to the most complex interdependence of galaxies. It is recognized as the force and the source of this marvelous gift we call Life. It creates abundance, beauty, goodness, and balance. Like water, it is soft and powerful, creating transformation over time, shaping wonders as majestic as the Grand Canyon.
Thanks, Ann-Christine, for allowing me to dream a bit, imagining the satisfaction of my yearning.
“Well, the sun’s not so hot in the sky today and you know I can see summertime slipping on away. A few more geese are gone, a few more leaves turning red, but the grass is as soft as a feather in a featherbed. So I’ll be king and you’ll be queen, our kingdom’s gonna be this little patch of green. Won’t you lie down here right now in this September grass?” – James Taylor, September Grass
“Well, I’m-a going back down, maybe one more time Deep down home, October road And I might like to see that little friend of mine That I left behind once upon a time Oh, promised land and me still standing It’s a test of time, it’s a real good sign Let the sun run down right behind the hill I know how to stand there still ‘Til the moon rise up behind the pine, oh, Lord October road, an October road October road” – James Taylor, October Road
“And when October goes The snow begins to fly Above the smokey roofs I watch the planes go by The children running home Beneath a twilight sky Oh, for the fun of them When I was one of them” – Barry Manilow, When October Goes
I feel the shift in seasons deeply in my soul. The loss of summer hits like grief falling in raindrops, the darkness descending earlier and earlier each day. But then, those sunny fall days when the colors pop and beckon remind me that I can live in this place of heightened appreciation and nostalgia. I amble more slowly through the leaves, aware of the passing of time and the gift of life. I love this season in a different way than I love summer. And when it gets even colder, I will mourn the fading light and the maple leaves. But I will love the rain that fills the marshes and the ribbons of migrating birds.
Life is a gift, in any season. Thanks, Johnbo, for inviting remembrance of beautiful Autumns. I have two past posts on this theme, with large galleries of photos from my life in the Midwest. You can see them HERE and HERE.
Olympic National ParkOlympic National ParkCrater Lake National ParkBadlands National ParkBadlands National ParkBandelier National MonumentWilliam L. Finley National Wildlife RefugeApostle Islands National LakeshoreSturgeon River Gorge Wilderness
Everyone should see our nationally protected parks, monuments, lakeshores, and wilderness areas as beautifully sacred places that deserve to be stewarded with respect. Everyone should be given the hope to see our nationally protected lands and rest assured that the government will preserve them for present and future generations.
May it be so.
Welcome, Joanne Mason, guest Lens-Artist challenger this week.
A Town Mouse once visited a relative who lived in the country. For lunch the Country Mouse served wheat stalks, roots, and acorns, with a dash of cold water for drink. The Town Mouse ate very sparingly, nibbling a little of this and a little of that, and by her manner making it very plain that she ate the simple food only to be polite.
After the meal the friends had a long talk, or rather the Town Mouse talked about her life in the city while the Country Mouse listened. They then went to bed in a cozy nest in the hedgerow and slept in quiet and comfort until morning. In her sleep the Country Mouse dreamed she was a Town Mouse with all the luxuries and delights of city life that her friend had described for her. So the next day when the Town Mouse asked the Country Mouse to go home with her to the city, she gladly said yes.
When they reached the mansion in which the Town Mouse lived, they found on the table in the dining room the leavings of a very fine banquet. There were sweetmeats and jellies, pastries, delicious cheeses – indeed, the most tempting foods that a Mouse can imagine.
But just as the Country Mouse was about to nibble a dainty bit of pastry, she heard a Cat mew loudly and scratch at the door. In great fear the Mice scurried to a hiding place, where they lay quite still for a long time, hardly daring to breathe. When at last they ventured back to the feast, the door opened suddenly and in came the servants to clear the table, followed by the House Dog.
The Country Mouse stopped in the Town Mouse’s den only long enough to pick up her carpet bag and umbrella. “You may have luxuries and dainties that I have not,” she said as she hurried away, “but I prefer my plain food and simple life in the country with the peace and security that go with it.”
Poverty with security is better than plenty in the midst of fear and uncertainty. – The Aesop for Children, Library of Congress
Thanks to Tina for suggesting this whimsical and wise tale for our weekly challenge! Do visit HER SITE for a broader interpretation of contrasting City/Country photographs.
A quiet moment In harmony with nature While tourists stroll by
I got an opportunity to visit the Portland Japanese Garden today. The juxtaposition of clean, geometric lines and natural areas was so very calming. The uneven surfaces required a slow pace. Visually and mentally, it created quiet in me, even though there were plenty of people around. And now, at home at my laptop editing and posting the photos I took, I am enjoying a very quiet moment indeed. Thank you, Ritva, for inviting me to share it!
I’ve rummaged through my archives and found some treasures. A small shoe my son wore long ago. A green-eyed friend I once spent Christmas with…
…a glass of champagne from my daughter-in-law…
…some bumpy rope from a three mast Great Lakes schooner…
…my sister’s camera…
…a soft waterfall…
…a round nail-head in an old fencepost…
…and some beautiful jewelry that resembles my daughter’s work.
This Scavenger Hunt reminds me of a favorite song by Dan Fogelberg:
Here is a poem that my lady sent down Some morning while I was away Wrote on the back of a leaf that she found Somewhere around Monterey
And here is the key to a house far away Where I used to live as a child They tore down the building when I moved away And left the key unreconciled
And down in the canyon the smoke starts to rise It rides on the wind ’til it reaches your eyes When faced with the past the strongest man cries Cries
And here is a sunrise to set on your sill The ghosts of the dawn moving near They pass through your sorrow and leave you quite still Sitting among souvenirs
And now, I’m feeling quite nostalgic and content, grateful for my life and the beauty that surrounds me. Thanks, Anne, for this Challenge! Do visit HER POST to see all the possible items to search for in Lens-Artists posts this week.
Sofia invites us to revisit Lens-Artists Challenge #20 – from 2018. Sofia has done extensive and exquisite Door photography – do visit her blog! I found another Lens-Artists Challenge on Doors from 2022. Here’s a link to my response to that one.
How has my perspective on Doors changed since then? Have I found new doors to photograph?
Yes. I have discovered even more portals. And I’ve even learned a new term – “multiverse”. I try to imagine the infinite possibilities of doors.
“The un-wanting soul sees what’s hidden. The ever-wanting soul sees only what it wants. Two things, one origin, but different in name, whose identity is mystery. Mystery of all mysteries, the door to the hidden.” ~ Tao Te Ching
