Nature

Thursday Thoughts – Hiking, but not 2020

/ Leya / 36 kommentarer

For so many years we have hiked this beautiful national park during April…

…but not this year. We used to go the whole family, and all our dogs have made it to the top of the mountain at least a dozen times each. We follow the water for about an hour,

then the track turns around the bend and for a while we walk the footbridges.

I searched my archives to find some memories from years gone by,

and here is something of the early spring loveliness as we struggle up the tough slopes.

On the plateau, old trees have come to rest, and younger ones softly lean over the precipice. We stop to admire before the long walk down to the pond where we started.

I miss this hike, but this is 2020, the year of corona and covid-19.

I will be back though – I promise…maybe next spring.

 

 

 

Thursday Thoughts – Thankfulness

/ Leya / 33 kommentarer

Camera and binoculars packed – an Easter walk one of these beautiful mornings. The stillness in the air promised some lovely hours in my favorite place.

The old sallow stands waiting for its summer guests again – a different spring for us this year, but not so for the birds. Nature is still out there for us whenever we return.

The giant beech with sweet wood anemones at its feet. A joy that they managed to survive the freezing cold nights we have had for weeks. Down to 8 degrees below zero.

Glorious blackthorn in the sun! They grow everywhere here in the meadows, and I always walk up to the top fields to see them basking in the open air. They Are Sunshine.

Today the farmer was out too – his growling tractor the only sound disturbing the merry flute tones of thrushes, chaffinches and robins.

In April I always walk to the wetlands looking for the first marsh-marigolds. In 2018 many of them were lost because of the heavy drought. This year another blow came from the numerous wild boars. But I found a couple of them. When I was a child I tried to pick some for my grandmother, but alas, I soon learned they drop their petals immediately put in a vase. Grandma’ just smiled, saying they only love the outdoors.

I am so deeply grateful to be allowed to walk in the forest this spring too. I know that this year not all of us have this possibility – but there Will be more opportunities for us to go. We just have to be patient. Mother Nature will open her arms when we arrive.

Stay safe, stay well and stay in contact with each other.

 

 

Lens-Artists Photo Challenge #92 – Going Back – the Second Time Around

/ Leya / 80 kommentarer

”Considering the current world situation, I decided to focus my challenge to your sharing images from your previous travels rather than asking you to go out to photograph new examples to share. If you visited a favorite place more than once, how did you approach the second trip photographically? If you’ve only been somewhere once, what would you do differently the second time around?” This week we welcome guest-host John Steiner – please visit his post at Journeys with Johnbo for more inspiration!

My choice for a walk down memory lane, is the tiny island of Madeira, a hiking paradise I have visited five or six times.

Two times with our children and my mother. These images are all from 2010, when my mother turned 75, and we celebrated with Madeira for the second time together. This is the first time I brought a camera. For the orchids and for our hiking.

You often go by bus to the staring point, early in the morning. Then, you walk the chosen hike along the levadas – long or short, and return with another bus from the end point.

My mother used to be an avid hiker, and we walked together until one or two years ago. She loved Madeira, and with the youngsters on the path as well, we had so much fun.

In the early morning, it was rather cold in the mountains, but so quiet and beautiful.

Madeira 2010 370-2

Following the lifting mist, and listening to the murmuring of water – always running by your side. Once built to bring water from the mountains to the different parts of the island – the levadas are now also used by hiking tourists.

The air vibrates with bird song, and the soft scent of mosses and soil – everything breathing harmony.

This year there had been a storm, bringing down many trees. Still impressive though.

Lush green wherever you walk – and the stream always accompanying you.

Nature is reflected in their art as well – and I happen to love the tiny lizards –

Maybe some day…I will return. Who can tell. My mother turns 85 this summer, and can no longer go hiking. When I show her the old photos, she can still remember – something of those days, sometimes.

 

In closing, I’d also like to add a special Thank You to all of you who joined our “Simplicity” challenge last week. Thank you for sharing so many moments of peacefulness, beauty, and fun.  In these challenging times, you help make us all feel better and know that this too shall pass.

Next week, it is my time to be your host – and we are back to our ordinary schedule.

Stay well and safe, keep connected to your loved ones, and keep creating!

Lens Artists Photo Challenge #91 – Simplicity

/ Leya / 76 kommentarer

And I learned what is obvious to a child. That life is simply a collection of little lives, each lived one day at a time. That each day should be spent finding beauty in flowers and poetry and talking to animals. That a day spent with dreaming and sunsets and refreshing breezes cannot be bettered. But most of all, I learned that life is about sitting on benches next to ancient creeks with my hand on her knee and sometimes, on good days, for falling in love.
― Nicholas Sparks 

There is no greatness where there is not simplicity, goodness, and truth.
― Leo Tolstoy,

Like all magnificent things, it’s very simple.
― Natalie Babbitt

The older I get, the more I desire simplicity. – Andy Mineo

If you will stay close to nature, to its simplicity, to the small things hardly noticeable, those things can unexpectedly become great and immeasurable.
― Rainer Maria Rilke

We have lost contact with reality, the simplicity of life. – Paulo Coelho

 

Patti’s challenge is to show what Simplicity means to you. Visit her blog and get inspired!

”As the coronavirus pandemic spreads and intensifies, many of us around the world are spending a lot of time at home, following governmental regulations to shelter in place.” … ” For me, this time also highlights the value of simplicity.” And I agree, in simplicity lies a great amount of love and harmony. Maybe we now are starting to resume contact with reality, and simplicity of life. Our planet and everything living is in great need of it. Let us stay in contact – always.

I think my images speak for themselves, but the opener…what is it? It is the soft edge of a rose petal – from a vase with ten roses standing on my table right now. I love them. Flowers, I must have flowers. Always.

Thank you, Tina, for the beautiful Distance theme! And, we’re delighted to announce that next week’s challenge will be led by our next guest host–John Steiner of Journeys with Johnbo.  Welcome, John!  Please stop by and visit John’s site next Saturday at noon.

Here’s our schedule for the rest of April:

As always, stay well, stay safe, and keep creating!

 

 

 

 

Lens-Artists Photo Challenge #90 – Distance

/ Leya / 79 kommentarer

For many years, I have been moved by the blue at the far edge of what can be seen, that color of horizons, of remote mountain ranges, of anything far away. The color of that distance is the color of an emotion, the color of solitude and of desire, the color of there seen from here, the color of where you are not. And the color of where you can never go.
― Rebecca Solnit

Tina’s choice of Distance for this week, gives room for many interpretations. Some images from the Sahara desert illustrates my first thoughts. And the poor scarab has an endless distance to crawl…

I think sometimes you need distance to reflect. – Lynn Nottage

Some extra time on your own these days gives new possibilities for this. Hiking or writing a diary might help keeping your thoughts together. And outdoors you can easily keep the distance.

Hobbiton, NZ

Fantasy is usually considered an escape, but it’s also a way to deal with weighty real-world issues from a safe distance and in a context where you usually have some kind of power that you don’t have in real life. – Noelle Stevenson

Maybe a chance to re-read old favorites – or new acquaintances!

Keeping social distance is what we all do these days – a necessity. Essential to stay healthy and save lives. These cats know how – an image from Madrid, often used, because I love it.

Finally some photos from last weekend, when the sun decided to throw some golden rays our way. Families together, couples sitting alone drinking coffee, enjoying the lovely outdoors. And so did we, Milo and Totti.

In Sweden we are still allowed to go out, and the forest and open landscapes are there for us to savour. Every country has its own rules in this Covid-19 crisis, but I hope many of you still have the possibility to go out. – But, we also don’t know for how long. A garden or a balcony is also great for some fresh air. I am convinced we all use different media to stay in contact with friends, and personally I find Zoom a perfect alternative as well. Thank you for being out there in the blogosphere.


Nothing makes the earth seem so spacious as to have friends at a distance; they make the latitudes and longitudes. – Henry David Thoreau

 

Be sure to link to Tina’s original post, and to use the Lens-Artists TAG. And remember –

Stay safe, keep the distance – but stay in contact!