Fairies and Flowers
A fairy sleeps, dreaming of summers past and the summer yet to come. While at the window a fairy waits to join again the garden. Join our merry band of colour and scent. Hear the birds singing and the bees buzzing in anticipation of another sweet harvest. The warm sun spreads out the blanket of freedom on which we dance with the breeze, while leaf and tree keep time.
Impressions of The Rock-ELSS
The Rock stands opposite the Elliot Lake Secondary School. It was there to watch the school first be built and the student population to grow to over 1000 students. It has watched the same population shrink to about half of that. Teachers and students have come and gone. Some students have returned as teachers themselves. One past student is now the music teacher, while another has become the Vice Principle, still another has become the school nurse. Other students have returned as parents of students now attending the school.
The Rock has seen it all. Graduation, dances, the great Elizabethan Banquet, school plays, the Aboriginal Culture week, first days and final exams. It has witnessed the highs and the lows. It has seen enter those who would lead the young to greater self-knowledge and self-worth through a wide education in the arts a, technology, sciences & mathematics, business, computers & mass media, and the humanities. It has seen those who tried to hide in the shadows of trees and bushes or a in parked car, ready to lead young minds down less favourable paths. Success and failure, the Rock has been witness to both.
Tears of laughter and grief have fallen on and near the Rock. Not all students graduate, not all students grow into adults. Not all teachers get to a well-earned retirement. Thankfully such events and the tears they give birth too are infrequent, though it would be better if no such tears need fall. Better the tears of teenage heartbreak or a minor set-back in the road to independent adult life. Better still the tears that come from joyous laughter that echoes through the halls, out the doors, and across the parking lot to be heard on The Rock.
Monday: Moon & Wires
The moon suspended between wires.
Who is the prisoner ?
Above the hill the pale moon rises.
Signs of Spring Awakening
Spring is sooner recognized by plants than by men. ~Chinese Proverb
SPRING, DANCING
Here April wanders from the rainy Sound—
Ethereal Beauty in her shining veil,
Like a slow-dancing Sibyl comes with joy.
Enraptured we behold her mystic form
Gleam through the silvery showers against the hill,
And must forever follow on her trace,
Enchanted as in some old fairy tale
By the enthralling sorceries of the earth.
And hark, what music for her pomp is made
In the awakening meadows, where the stream
Murmurs at twilight when the moon is large,
And through the alders in the marshy ground
Rises the watery treble of the frogs—
The eerie and haunted Pan-pipes of the Spring.
A little madness in the Spring
Is wholesome even for the King.
~Emily Dickinson
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Antique Impressions: Elliot Lake Ontario
The above scene was taken a few years ago looking across Elliot Lake from the senior’s manor. The colours and saturation levels were modified and combined with a texture layer to age the image.
Highway 108 Heading South_April23-2012
As I have mentioned before in earlier posts, the contrast between the natural environment and human activity can be very dramatic. You can drive outside of a community and in a manner of minutes feel like you are in the middle of empty wilderness. There are times when we take this for granted or just blend into the scenery. If you look carefully at the next image you will see a student sitting on the rock reading her book. Each year the grads paint their year and names on the Rock. There a multiple layers going back to the 1950′s.
Elliot Lake Secondary School Parking Lot _ The Rock
Time is dictated by rock, trees, and sky. Step a few feet from a road or a school parking lot and turn in away from human occupation and you are suddenly alone. You face an ancient and powerful environment. You can feel both its power and age.
On the Rock 2
Our humble efforts at leaving an impression on the world seem like faded aged paper. The details becoming less and less sharp as time goes by.
Antique Impressions: North Ontario Trees
North Ontario Trees
Clinging to dreaming old rock.
Spring slowly returns,
Trembling roots await the sun;
Chilled stone recalls summer.
North Ontario, Trees
Suspended between seasons,
Trapped on a page.
Time taped at the corners,
Old photographs recall spring.
On my way to work,
Passing those trees so often.
They have grown taller.
Spring slowly returns again.
My bones, like the chilled stone,
Recall the summer.
Should’ve I tarried longer ?
Note: More photos of current area just beyond the school parking lot. Poetry form - mostly Tanka.
Surreal Thursday: North Ontario Rock
When you live in North Ontario, you acquire a different perspective on things. You see things from a different angle. It is the rock. It juts and protrudes & intrudes from any variety of directions. It creates patterns that merge with the more organic forms that cling and grow on and between the rock.
Trees, shrubs, small plants, moss, and lichen live and thrive on and amongst the rock. Yes, it should be rocks, but really there is only one rock. The Precambrian Shield strong and united, even when fractured. It is one rock on which we stand, commute, build, work, play, and sleep. You never escape the rock.
The rock is everywhere, even when you try to hide it with pavement, concrete, asphalt, homes, schools, malls, and sundry buildings. It is older than dirt. More confident than the oldest tree. Only its sisters the sky and sea can compare. They however are temperamental, always changing. The rock simply is and will always be.
In North Ontario, time is measured by these things, sunlight, wind, precipitation, temperature, and the rock. The first four divide up human memory into manageable chunks. The rock measures out eternity.
Note: The original shots were all taken right next to the school parking lot, just a few feet from where I regularly park my car.
Monday: Moth, Moon, Mountain & Flower
Moth, Moon, Mountain & Flower,
Moth flies to the Moon;
Moon flies to Mountain Tower.
Follow the road,
Follow the bend,
Seek the beam
That never ends.
Open your Heart
To soft music
Playing
In a misty room.
Watch the Moon-light,
Like a flower bloom.
Silver strands in shadows,
Reaching for the sky,
Dance with the dreamers,
As the players pass by -
Moth, Moon, Mountain & Flower.
Note: The first image is a combination of a shot of a Luna moth that was taken by my son a few years ago and a recent moon shot of mine – I will return to earth eventually.
Antique Impressions: Birch Trees in April
The Birch Trees in Spring
Sing without the breeze’s voice.
Eager green buds swell,
Ready to be embraced
By the Sun’s hot promises.
The Tanka poem has been considered the most important form and the oldest style of Japanese poetry. It dates back to the 1300s. This verse consists of five unrhymed lines of five, seven, five, seven, and seven syllables whose intent is to focus the reader’s attention on a single event, or image and the mood that is associated with it. In it its Japanese form it is considered a lyric poem. While sharing some of the same concerns as haiku verse, Tanka poems often are romantic in nature or concerned with the temporariness of love.
Click images for enlargement & detail.
Surreal Thursday: Heavy Snow Expected Friday ?!
Well, it is definitely a Surreal Thursday. My daughter continues to be sick and my wife had to take her in to emerge. There is a bug going around and some are getting hit harder than other. This was the Canadian Winter that wasn’t and the flu season seemed to be the same. Oops, ………. we are getting hit late. Yes the first image is a modified screen shot of Environment Canada’s anticipated weather for late tonight and Friday, ….. SNOWFALL WARNING IN EFFECT.
A developing low pressure system over the central plains of the U.S. will track over Lake Huron on Friday and reach Western Quebec by Saturday morning.
This system is expected to bring a significant snowfall to the Nickel Belt and Nipissing region on Friday (April 20). Snow in advance of this low will begin overnight with snowfall amounts near 15 cm expected for the Elliot Lake area while the Nipissing region will likely see between 15 and 25 cm by late Friday.
The snow is forecast to taper off in western regions late Friday afternoon and near the Quebec border late Friday evening.
Please note, our snow storms, and other messy weather, comes from the U.S.A. . There is this misconception that all the bad weather in the States comes from “up North” (Canada), the same way they blamed us for those terrorists that caused the 911 attack. We send you Snowbirds who flock to Florida , New Mexico, and Texas. America supplies us with illegal guns and sitcoms& reality TV and we supply them with oil, legal gay marriage, hockey players, and not so legal grass ( from BC’s golden coast, where the Rockies have a blue haze).
As you can see, it is all very surreal. So here a few more surreal images to complete the day.
Surreal Icicle
Confused icicle doesn’t know which way the warm winds are blowing.
Elliot Lake Lookout & Fire Tower
Can you read the secret message in this image ?
Surreal Horse & Signs
How not to place signs when you install an eye-catching sculpture. Shall we say surreal ?
Click images to get a 3d surreal experience of Canada. You have to supply your own D , here is the 3.
What if Wednesday
After my last post, I got to thinking about the line between the natural environment and urban/industrial decay. What if Nature became more aggressive in taking control of the decay ? What if Nature sent us a message marking the territory as a warning ? Would we notice ?
Last week, while we waited for Tasha’s bus, my wife pointed out the neighbour’s roof. The shadow of the tree created a frost silhouette – like a hand grasping the roof.
Just a coincidence – a random act of natural art or an opening shot from a movie by Hitchcock or Lean.
Nature is not that sinister. We need not worry that our buildings are about to be consumed.
Nothing to worry about.
Just sit back and enjoy Nature. Observe the beauty of it all, ……………., while Nature observes us.
Birch Trees & Trailer
In Northern Ontario there is a unique mix of the natural environment and urban/industrial decay. This can be especially true in smaller communities where a small industrial area is next to the tree line. I took the original photos on the weekend when I was doing recycle drop off. The methodology for processing required using the Redfield Plugin and VirtualPhotographer Plugin .
Lilac Dreams & Poppies
We are still awaiting the arrival of flowers.
The unseasonably warm weather spoilt us.
As the temperatures returned to normal,
We became impatient.
We dream of flowers,
Over-heightened colour & textures.
Feverish with expectations,
We twist and turn our heads.
We detect ghostly scents of Spring’s arrival.
We eagerly wait for when
We can curse the over abundance of Pollen,
that falls like gently shed
Snow.
Note: George had mentioned in a previous post that I seemed to change styles. “Am I becoming predictable?”, I asked myself. I replied, ” I knew I was going to ask that question”. I took that as a sign that it is time to do something a bit differently. This post started out as something and turned about when I wasn’t looking. The title changed, the visuals were modified further & additional images were added. There was not going to be a poem. I realize I now have to adjust the selected tags. The process of creating and communicating ideas can be organic or chaotic – chaotically organic/organically chaotic ( which of these is healthier and better for the environment? ) .
Haikus: Contemplating Trees in B & W
Snow clings to branches.
Winter, rentals remain empty.
Dreams of Spring flocking.
Tree awaits Spring,
Memories of Autumn cling
As Branches’ Dreams bud.
The Crow sees many levels;
His world is not limited
By narrow perspectives.
Horizon lines
Reveal more than one angle.
NOTE: For those who are concerned with such matters, the last one is not a Haiku, in the traditional sense. I recently read the following related blog posts by Don’t confuse the narrator about the Nature of Haiku: april-Laundry day and fragmented thoughts on haiku . Also check my page on Haiku & poetry for other haiku links of interest, including, “Sixty-five (Conflicting) Rules of Haiku” by Jane Reichhold.
Then & Now
The flower stand covered in a white bloom,
Shadows mark the passing days.
Now look where you step.
Note: Go to seekrazfor another take on Snow Cones.
Frozen Memories
The seasons shift and time is frozen in memory. Winter releases its grip reluctantly. Suspended between coming and going, familiar landscapes slowly alter as we gaze.
Overhead, the signs of the next change soar and hover in the air, finally coming to rest on the shifting ice. Horizon lines recede in the bright sun. Half remembered paths begin to fade.
Memories of seasons past, present, and future merge.
Note: If you click the third image to see the enlargement, you will see the seagulls sitting on the ice, just past the mid-way point .
Memories on Newsprint
These two photos were taken last weekend during our unexpected week of March “Summer” here in Elliot Lake. You can see the snowmobile tracks in the thinning ice. In the first photo, you are looking at Spruce Beach. The shot was taken from Spine Beach looking East. Below in the second shot you can see the view in reverse from Spruce Beach looking west.
I have called this post Memories on Newsprint because they are constructed realities that suggest a more distant past than they actually are. I have been experimenting with creating aged newsprint backgrounds & textures. I used photographs of recent newspaper pages and flyers to create these “aged” pieces. Time passes and we construct memories built from sensory experience and saved within emotional context. Below is another shot looking out from the Spruce Beach parking lot toward the “famous” rock and island beyond. Islands trapped in melting ice, like memories wrapped in yellowing newsprint and sepia tones.
Katrien does this post fit the chronotope definition ? Or are we all creating new examples/forms through the process of blogging ?
Winter clings to the roof
Winter clings to the roof,
Creeping stoically to the eaves.
Its strength drains.
Art of the Drum
In my previous post I featured sketchbook pages done by my wife, Elizabeth Kanski. Besides being an art teacher, Elizabeth has been an artist in Elliot Lake for many years. Liz’s work has concentrated mostly on the animals found in our area of Northern Ontario. Over time she has gravitated to working on a unique range of material. She has been asked to paint animals, Northern Ontario scenes, and specific personal pieces on such materials as, mirrors, walls, milk cans, paddles, saws, and various sizes and shapes of wood.
Her willingness to experiment and adapt has allowed her to expand her range and expose her students to many types of media. As mentioned in the last post, she worked with leather & hides and introduced traditional First Nation art & artisan-ship to students who were unfamiliar with it. This also helped promote First Nation culture within the school, helping to raise the profile of our students who come from nearby First Nation communities.
While you would think that there would be a greater appreciation of these traditions in the Northern Ontario community, it has not always been the case. We have seen many gradual changes in the relationship between First Nations and non-native Canadian communities. Our native students have only recently formed a Native Student Alliance at the school with the support of staff and community elders.
Even Elizabeth’s early work with other materials was not always welcomed. Years ago she entered a juried art tour. Artist from outside our town were brought in from one of the nearby cities to act as impartial judges. She was not accepted . Her work included some painted cans and a table that she had constructed from local wood cut by an individual in town. The only critique given at that time was that she should try using more “traditional” materials. At the time, she was devastated. I was flummoxed. I suggested the next time she should paint on cave walls to ensure she met the criteria.
I suppose the lesson in this is that as the Stephen Sondheim song goes, “Art isn’t easy”. One person’s innovation is too “untraditional” to another. One person’s cultural worth is unrecognized by another. Society is full of assumed beliefs, values, and ideologies. They have unintended consequences on everyone., whether you are a local art teacher & artist, senior citizens or teenagers.
The pieces presented in this post includes some of recent work, as well as some older pieces. Elizabeth signs her work using her family name Braune.
Antique Impressions: Sumac
Sumac is a common, well-known and easily recognized feature of the rural North American landscape. These small trees with thick twigs and an almost tropical appearance are familiar to most country dwellers. Their shape and large cone-like, dark red berry clusters are distinctive and their bright red autumn foliage is hard to forget. Yet few people know that these little trees have provided a delicious and refreshing summer drink throughout much of the world for thousands of years. Sumac :The wild lemonade berry (Link)
All of the true (edible) sumacs have dark reddish or purple fruit borne in erect, tight clusters. (On some of the western species, the clusters are pretty small and may not be as tight as on the eastern species, but they are still distinctly red.) The surface of the fruit is fuzzy or grainy.
Sumacs grow in subtropical and temperate regions throughout the world, especially in Africa and North America. The word sumac traces its etymology from Old French sumac (13th century), from Medieval Latin sumach, from Arabic summāq (سماق), from Syriac summāq (ܣܘܡܩ) – meaning “red.” The First Nation people also used the leaves and drupes of the Smooth and Staghorn Sumacs combined with tobacco in traditional smoking mixtures. Sumac stems also have a soft pith in the centre that is useful in traditional First Nation pipe-making and the plant was also used in traditional healing & to make dyes.
Sumac was used as a treatment for half a dozen different ailments in medieval medicine, primarily in Islamic countries (where sumac was more readily available than in Europe). An 11th-century shipwreck off the coast of Rhodes, excavated by archaeologists in the 1970s, contained commercial quantities of sumac drupes. These could have been intended for use as medicine, or as a culinary spice, or as a dye.
Variations: Seagull in Flight
Seagulls are birds -
Closely related to the terns -
See how they turn .
The acrobats of the sky
Float motionless in midair.
Catching wind currents,
Like pieces of bread
Thrown in white clouds,
At just the right angle
Their bodies
Appear effortless.
Most gulls
With perfect timing and precision
Belong to the large family,
Larus.
“Ravenous sea birds” float above,
While positioning
Around the oceans worldwide.
Distantly related to auks, and skimmers,
Seagulls can be misleading inland,
At just the right angle.
Easing human-bird conflict,
Swedish city toilet train seagulls.
Impossible antics inland
Are so numerous.
Conflict appears effortless
At just the right angle.
White feathers bright with sunlight
Twist with ease in the air.
Ravenous white birds
Drink
Sea & Fresh water
Without conflict -
With the exception of some
Central Pacific islands.
White vehicles ,
See how they turn ?
See how they turn !
Droppings
At just the right angle
Catch the wind currents.
In Southern Ontario / GTA
Gulls in large numbers
Are Larus all year round.
Catching wind currents,
The CN Tower recedes,
As they await the Blue Jays.
Many people
Consider the gulls.
A Nuisance ?
Sanitation engineers with wings ?
See how they turn motionless .
Impossible antics are numerous.
Numerous Provincial and Federal laws
See how they turn
Without conflict ?
Note: This found poem uses several sources. Each link leads to location. The CN tower link leads to an earlier post about the tower. The bird on the wire link leads to a very interesting news photo from the Canadian Maritimes.
On Ice
The weather changes and shifts. The ice is still holding up in our area. No way of knowing what the conditions will be by the weekend. These images were based on photographs taken from the boat launch near the West View Park in Elliot Lake Ontario. Experiments in colour and texture., they hopefully represent how warmer temperatures are on ice.
Note: My plans for this post changed when the combination of a phone call and a glitch in the computer resulted in lost work and revised images. Enjoy the day & the days yet to come.
Snow Caps & Winter’s Touch
Winter is not harsh,
Those in her charge
She covers with
Rolling blankets,
White sleeves, and snow-caps.
Winter is not harsh,
She communicates with reeds
Of crystal light:
Her meaning is clear.
Winter is not harsh,
If we reflect upon
Her gifts,
Hear her lullaby
In misty white:
“ Rolling blankets,
White sleeves, and snow-caps.“
Note: This is for all those of you have been so supportive during my anxious whiny moments this weekend, and for all my followers(new & old) and regular visitors & commenters who have made this blog such a pleasure to do ( not to mention addicting). May none of you find your winters harsh.
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