along my trails

Gill Brook is an amazing place. The colors and textures and forms keep me coming back every year. It changes with every movement of the clouds. I see newness every time I venture there.

Gone swimming

It's hot but the water is NOT!

birds of a feather

I think these cedar waxwings are my favorite birds, until of course I meet the next ones....

eye pad

I put my i pad in my backpack and left my canon camera home. I felt weightless, and resigned to a limited experience. The hike would be glorious but photographs, not so much... 

But after taking the time I discovered the patterns in the surface of the water. Every push of the button left me with an i pad surprise. 

Another freezing lower lake experience!

cow stories

It was love at first sight. Our eyes met and that was it, we were smitten. Just thought you should know that I've found my 22....

on my way

What is it about these trails that I love so much, is it the soft mossy cushion under my boots or is it the roots of the old trees that are so familiar to me. I love choosing that space that allows me to move forward without getting caught up in the complexities of the surface. When I walk in the woods I feel such depth beneath my feet.

rain rain make way

Late afternoon walk along the bank of the Ausable River after a very heavy downpour all day long. I especially love the way the water moves out of the way of the boulders and rocks that have settled in the river. Two powerful forces competing for space.

rain rain go away

We have arrived to a very rainy wet day in the mountains. My camera would get wrecked so I'm forced to imagine the rivers and their swirling waters. Can't wait to walk barefoot in the streams.

the ties that bond

Staying connected is part of the important stuff.

The important stuff

Had dinner with old friends last night. The sunset tells a bigger story, the intricacy of the piles on the pier, the dark and stormy clouds and the warmth of the setting sun. A fleeting moment, much like our whole lives. I don't want to miss a moment of it.

an attempt

This is dad trying to feed his youngest. I have watched this family and I'm amazed at what they will do to get these kids fed. It's not easy. (The older of the two is out of our view on the tippy top of the tree.)

A feather full of excitement and chaos and oh no, a dropped fish. The littlest almost went with it!

Dad eventually went and got the fish and ate it himself...

Really I'm not kidding..

fully fledged

I went out in my kayak heading for the osprey nest, and when I got there I was not surprised to see it empty. I had mixed feelings, but mostly happy. I looked everywhere for them but found no family member. I paddled my lonely paddle checking along the shore line, but no, nothing there.

There is a high tide nook that is a favorite place for me to go, I'm often found in there just floating and taking it all in. And that's where I saw them. Both brave littles had flown all the way across the harbor and were sitting in a tree, waiting for me.

Well ok then maybe not for me, but definitely for a parent to come feed them!

 And there below them in the tree was one of the great blue herons who calls this place home. And to think they are all living in our watery front yard.

fractured lens

I know you think I've made a mistake, and I suppose I have but a happy mistake! If you just look at this image on it's side you see the world in a different way, it helps us to use our inner eye when we are out in nature. When that happens we don't use our brains as powerfully as our hearts. We don't use our taught labels to express ourselves but rather our creative energies, or maybe our intuitions? 

Go ahead out there and squint until you see something that surprises you.

Be your own kaleidoscope!

all a flurry

This small Great Blue Heron family built their nest at Wakodahatchee in Florida. Mom had one precious chick left and was raising a very demanding and hungry little one. Look at her! She gives new meaning to the term "don't ruffle your feathers"!

off wing

He flew overhead and left me a reminder of him.