See Reality, Choose, and Do
Animals in the No Hunting area of the Mine
There are a few opportunities one runs into that just amaze one.
These big horn sheep have come down into the protection of the mining leasehold to eat the lushes green grasses.
And they stand almost without any concern just off the roadway.
The young ones in the least desirable areas.
The next oldest in a good spot of green feed.
The oldest resting.
And the other oldest still looking for their hearts desires fulfilled.
Real Beauty
When I wake in the foothills at the late hour sunrise, and the sun dances off the mountaintops out the window at the foot of the bed I get my camera on the tripod and shoot.
But the delay of that simple preparation allows the light to shift and the mountain is by comparison less than dancing alive.
Looking around there are other light plays to focus on.
But the best of the light is past.
So I decide to make a study of this, having encountered a photo of a young photographer, untrained but able to naturally see and capture and process photos to make them amazing for many around.
I often use hdr software, though I miss the really good hdr software I have on my desktop, to bring out the light in bracketed exposures. And then these images also play better than any of the single exposures as I pull the various light level out to play anew.
The fun and somewhat surrealistic use of the software is available.
The surrealistic leaves one craving a return to planet earth.
I rarely enjoy nature turned into a nightmare, rather a somewhat alternative view of what never was is good enough playing with reality for me. Creation has it’s own beauty that the right light brings to life.
That’s the reward of good photography, and the fun of playing around getting there.
Chill
Chill ‘in
Chill out
Chill
Sun Appears to Set
After a sunny morning that turned overcast, rainy and full of thunder through the afternoon, it was a pleasant, not forecasted, delight that the sun appeared as an orange smudge, then fireball, and reflected a trace across the lake, just in time to set, leaving a quiet hush after a windy day.
Free Air, Free Sun, Free Tornado Warnings
5 am
After the winds blew tremendous and the lights were mostly off but then suddenly, momentarily full back on as if daylight again …
The froth kicked up by the wind borders the beaches
The fishing boat is still secure
The moon still wanes
And the birds are still soaring about.
Mostly life goes on, though a few trees met their end and some hopes were dashed,
But life mostly goes on
Limited as it is by families split, and wars started, villages burned out and camping spots still riddled with bullets and glass.
Who heard of leaving or putting a 22. Bullet in a campfire ring!
And the young women is on her way to the hospital.
The Dance of Grace
My Beloved,
Dance in the morning as you come to wake and see light again, bright or fuzzy, broken or brilliant, light is not light, but the music that you have in you by Grace provides the rhythm to see far into the present.
Dance in the morning as you begin your day, for the tasks can be overwhelming, the burdens impossible to lift even on ones shoulders, and the debt owed so many can with just one straw of fiction removed come crashing down all around, but the music of Grace plays within you even so and even if so faintly, but it guides your heart at every beat, to remember the steps from birth through to today and beyond as the shadows and darkness of sin (your own and others’) were want to prevail and still your heart beat and beats now still by Grace alone, and the music sustained and sustains you, and the rhythm continually invited and invites you still to dance.
Dance in the mid-day as the bright light burns hot or the skies pound the ground with vicious water or the fog drips from up high, always burning or drowning out the expectation of what might be somehow finally this day … but now simply cannot be, and as hope fades into Jerusalem’s lament, listen to the soft persistent music of Grace which is the element that holds all elements together, the particle that holds all particles together at the fundamental basis of realities’ waves constructed into this universe, listen and if in the din of the day you cannot hear, then simply remember, remember the gentle music of the bearers from generations upon generations of Grace, hear or remember, and hum softly along and silently almost imperceptivity move your feet and fingers, your chin and your knees, your belly button and your hips into the dance, the dance of Grace. For here is life, here alone is life, here alone is all manner of life.
Dance in the evening as the energy of the day gives up and the work is left to another day to be engaged, and the darkness begins to slowly invade the skies pushing the light to the far north’s horizon distant and beckoning, and as you lay yourself down to know none of this at all any more, as the darkness invades your mind and the horrors of past, present and future play free upon unprotected anxieties; Dream, dream and dream all that darkness freely for the beat of the music continues on even then, and dream also the victory of Grace against all that unbridled darkness and evil begat of sin, and dance … dance away … dance with your toes and your synapses freed, for here in this play of the universe of your mind, there also the music continues, continues on, continues on and away, the music of Grace, which frees one from the pervasive power of evil and horrors, and there in that freedom of Grace all powerful even over Evil so freely played, dance … dance on … dance away, a way to embody Grace.
For the sun will rise again, fresh and unsoiled, fully embodied in you … by Grace so that you may dance.
Know by your dance of Grace that you are loved, by God perfectly and so imperfectly by me.
The pier is simple and quiet, even for young men.
Were I a bird to fly.
This was the flock gathering.
And gathered.
simple beauty.
And it’s quite okay if the beach this late is for the birds.
A sign went up in an apartment building recently which reads:
Please be reminded
For Building Security, front and side doors on all buildings must remain closed at ALL times.
Please remember to bring your Fobs with you when you leave as we are secured entry buildings.
If you are having visitors, they MUST use the intercom system or meet them in the lobby.
If you notice anyone propping the doors open, please let office know immediately so we can address the issue promptly.
Thank you for your understanding and enjoy your day.
[name] Site Staff
Well, I will enjoy my day regardless, but perhaps a bit more as I point out that it is only a matter of ignorance and apathy by which the inhabitants can follow any of the ‘rules’ imposed on them.
First to be reminded is not something a person can choose to have happen to oneself. It is a passive formulation of reminding, that is someone else does the doing and it just happens to the person reminded.
So to ask a group of people to have something happen to them is to ask them to do something that is quite impossible.
A person could choose to remember. Another person could choose to remind someone else. But no person can choose to be reminded.
Well I suppose one could stretch one’s imagination to something like an alarm clock: and a person could set up an ‘alarm’ to go off that would then remind oneself that one ought to do what follows.
But then I’m quite sure that no one living in an apartment building would ever want to be reminded to follow, yet alone actually follow the ‘rule’ that follows, namely that all the side and front doors must remain closed at ALL times. I guess that could be possible if the buildings had back doors, but they do not. So all the outside doors are to remain closed all the time, not just some of the time, not just whenever, but always … so that means …
everyone, when coming and going from this apartment building, has to use the windows, which are the only other ingress and egress options … because the doors have to remain closed ALL the time. They can never be opened. Not for coming and going or for any other purpose.
The reason given that this must be so is that the staff (the authors) are secured entry buildings. The staff together make up two or more special buildings, called secured entry. Given that no one can come or go through the doors, it must be a bit secure, or rather very insecure, what with all the broken windows, and ladders giving people access to the higher floors’ windows.
And there is something going on here, because the building does not just use fobs to give tenants access (must be through the windows), rather it has perhaps a Plutonic Ideal of a fob, a Fob, or maybe it is something that has been branded and protected when capitalized as opposed to just the normal word. And the same goes for Building Security; but this may be a ministry of the government or some such official agency recognized by capitalizing it’s title.
And any poor guests that arrive have to use the intercom system (since the doors cannot be opened that’s as far as they get when coming to visit … starts to sound a bit like a gaol) or guests have to meet themselves in the lobby. This is a really odd requirement if your are having more than than one guest. It’s worse if you only have one guest: what is a single guest to do, how should one person meet her or himself in the lobby? Perhaps there is a special service for guests to ‘know’ themselves better by meeting themselves in the lobby. It has to be a special lobby. It would be fun to try it sometime.
And then if the tenants or anyone else sees someone propping open the doors, they are to inform office (not someone in the office, or the office, but simply office whoever office is) so they can deal with the issue promptly. It would seem to me that a well written notice may deal with the issue at any time, now for instance, would be good. But after an individual contravenes the rules, then it is no longer time to deal with the issue, rather it is time to deal with the person breaking the rules that have arisen to deal with the issue fairly and effectively. The issue should be settled long before, otherwise there is no basis for ‘rules’ which were made and enforced. That would be like a police state where one can impromptu try to force people to do what one had no right to make them do. So let the issues be dealt with now . Later the people’s behaviours of breaking the rules, if need be, can be dealt with according to the ‘rules.’ As for the issues, they have been resolved by the creation of rules.
But the line that prompted me to write this blog was the last:
Thank you for your understanding
OK, I think I understood part of the sign, but it was not easy, especially that I had to stretch pretty hard to see past what was written to imagine what probably was intended to have been written or at least hoping to have been written.
And enjoy your day
Okay, I tried to enjoy writing these comments, a bit tongue in cheek.
But honestly, my whole day … that was determined by a completely different set of circumstances, this was only a few moments.
And this writing will be enjoyed if offence is not taken and learning and understanding increase.
New Kinosoo Beach
Wonders come in good surprises.
Like the improvements to parks and recreational areas.
Like wonderful sunsets at the Marina
The line of sunset visitors is slim, but always comfortable in their own skin.
Riding back the greatest colour took even me back a bit.
I almost passed them up, not to disturb their fun, but with the light so marvelous, and they having so much fun as a group of teens at the beach, I made the request and demonstrated what could be done with the sunrise and even just a cell phone camera.
Teaching photography I repeated often what I heard from a host of other photography instructors: always have a camera on you, and always see the photos that are possible even if you do not stop.
This paid off, and this group of young adults was 1) obviously having a simply good time at the beach, and 2) they were clear enough with themselves to know if they were willing to pose as the silhouettes against the sunset.
The guys were ready and willing, and one of the girls stepped in to make a good demonstration:
When they saw how fabulouse the photo could be, and heard that I was asking them to do something to show how much fun they were having at the new beach.
There were a few that we shot, but they made something like this and I kept shooting as fast as the little cell could, and it evolved into this.
All agreed this is the best of the lot.
I didn’t recognize any of the young adults, so I could not give you names or give them anything but anonymous credit.
But anonymous credit is greatly due: look at what this groups of young people thought of with little to no notice!
This is the past, the present, the improvements, the joy of life, and these young people are the future of Canada. We should do all right, in their creative hands, finding solutions and possibilities in the complicated world.
Rehabilitating Hilda Lake Random Camping Area
This is the ‘bush party place’ left with broken glass, burned out campers and all sorts of results of obviously irresponsible behaviours and disrespect for the land. There just is no excuse for this.
A huge clean up and accounting project was undertaken, and it is a pleasant place now, still needing lots of ‘small piece’ cleanup.
This was someone’s idea of a good use of the resources here: hack at at live tall mature pine tree and leave it to suffer.
Our fire area had a second fire spot, no rock rim or metal container, right on top of live roots, or maybe formally live roots.
We started to pick up pieces to finish burning them in the proper fire ring and noticed lots and lots of nails.
So out came a garbage bag and the shovel.
Then, with all the nails we could find and the junk they were attached to in the bag, we brought over some sand from the roadway, and then spread some forest floor decaying matter on the spot.
And then we turned to clean up and remake the rock rimed fire ring. And there were more nails and broken rocks … and a second heavier garbage bag filled with the mess.
Done we had two heavy garbage bags of mess, and a lot neater fire ring.
The brown bag was the start and finish effort. We’ve kept picking up broken glass shards and debris and detritus from around this and the other campsites. Into the brown paper bag. And it along with the fire pit mess of nails, metal, glass and pieces of half burned wood goes out with us into an appropriate garbage receptacle.
It can be clean if everyone who enjoys a few days here does the same, cleaning up, collecting garbage and hauling out more garbage than they themselves make.
My challenge is that each of you, who can use Canadian Parks this year, document your stories with photos or video of you clean up contributions.
Tell the story, be the story, make us all proud.