After The Gloom, Signs Of Brightness Along The Way

There's been too much gloom so now that skies had cleared my mission was to focus on small signs of brightness like the billowy white clouds scattered over the horizon.

Someone took the time to carve out a mini library, a literal home for an exchange of literature. Just as a seed knows how to be a flower, the mind knows how to grow, not only by observing, but also through reading books of fact and fiction.

Nearby, I saw foliage reflected in the glass door of a house. It seemed the lovely illusions were a gateway to a magical forest. I imagined stepping inside.

What's real isn't always clear but it's certainly true there are vast numbers of almost everything, from blades of grass, to holly berries, to grains of sand to stars. It's exciting to contemplate existence isn't designed to seed just one of anything.

Out of simplicity a staggering complexity of duplicating patterns emerge that appear similar but are never exactly the same. Giving new meaning to "when it rains it pours", mind-bending cosmic creations are set to "repeat" like the drops that suddenly fell.

Water swirled rapidly down a drain that was strangely reminiscent of our solar system. Rain burst onto the dusty leaves in a drenching good-bye to summer.

Next early morning, if you look closely, you'll see me (below) trying, unsuccessfully, to do justice to the luscious drops streaming down my patio glass door.

Duplicating patterns amaze, particularly when considering that the whole of something is made up of ever-diminishing smaller-scale versions of itself. See what I mean in an earlier post Freakishly Funtastic Fractals. If you have a minute, check it out.

See WEEKEND REFLECTIONS and OUR WORLD to explore more.

Still the kid I used to be

Visit Musings of A Puddlist In B.C. and Postcards From Penelope Puddle to view more West Coast scenes.

Because the state of our planet is the most pressing issue of our time, link up and learn about the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Report.

Predictable Paths & Future Generations

The creeping sweeping nature of climate change as it relates to human activity can be too great to grasp. Complacency and denial are much easier than the hard work and changes needed to decrease disaster and extend life on our lush blue/green globe.

The third planet from the sun, Earth, over eons of time, evolved into an improbable gem of life-sustaining breathable air, lakes, oceans, deserts and greenery. In fact, just two weeks ago there seemed to be more kites than planes flying over Crescent Beach in skies bluer and cleaner than usual because of less travel in a global pandemic.

The atmosphere along the southwest coast of B.C. recently changed, however, due largely to California and Oregon fires. These far-reaching effects were predictable yet somewhat surprising thanks to our sunny attitudes and ease of forgetting.

Out my kitchen window, the setting sun was an orange/red glow. I didn't enhance the photo ... the apparent colour is real and many of you have seen it. It speaks to us in its own unique way, a fireball thermometer of what a celestial body is experiencing. The reason for the vivid hue? When smoke particles fill the atmosphere, longer wavelengths of red light pass through. Shorter wavelengths emit a blue light.

Next morning I saw only pale gray in a toxic cloud of smog smothering the coastal fog. But soon rain will wash through it. We will take long walks again until another dramatic event occurs, yet enjoy life longer if we take to heart the Native American Proverb that said: “We do not inherit the earth from our ancestors, we borrow it from our children.”

Much admired US Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg died today at age 87. When I heard the news, I could not help but reflect on her decades of work for equality and how this, like the quote above, was forward thinking about future generations.

Explore more horizons at SKYWATCH and OUR WORLD.

Still the kid I used to be

Visit Postcards From Penelope Puddle and Penelope Puddlisms: BC Life Is A Whale Of A Ride to view more West Coast scenes.

Because the state of our planet is the most pressing issue of our time, link up and learn about the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Report.

Sometimes All You Need Is A Good Puddle

Penelope Puddle Reflections by Maria Pavlik

It's been a while since I jumped in a puddle or kicked up some leaves. Nowadays there's always the possibility of taking a spill and landing, not as light as a leaf, but with a heavy thud.

Nevertheless, I look forward the colours, cooling breezes, sprinkles of rain and all the puddle reflections that autumn brings. It's far too hot right now so in anticipation of my favourite season I found photos reminiscent of fall and a painting of Penelope hanging onto her windblown umbrella.

Peering into the murky waters of a puddle is like diving into the mysteries of the universe and finding optical illusions at play. What we see in these basins of nature is limited by our senses but fantastical creations abound. The stroke of a finger or stomp of a boot alters the upside down face in a puddle strangely as if in a funhouse mirror.

Puddles are shape-shifters that come and go, dry up or overflow. They snuggle neatly into whatever contains them. On a gigantic scale, oceans and lakes are puddles where boaters float and puppies sometimes splash and bathe. The depth of each pool is more knowable than the origins of its life-giving essence. Water currently covers 70% of the globe and is why we exist. But how it first got here millions of years ago is debated by scientists who pour over this grandest of mysteries without ever having to get wet.

See WEEKEND REFLECTIONS and OUR WORLD to explore more of our globe. To see the more artistic side of life check out Paint Party Friday.

Still the kid I used to be

Visit Postcards From Penelope Puddle and Penelope Puddlisms: BC Life Is A Whale Of A Ride to view more West Coast scenes.

Because the state of our planet is the most pressing issue of our time, link up and learn about the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Report.

Artistic Expressions Explain The World & Our Place WithIn It

“Art enables us to find ourselves and lose ourselves at the same time.” said mystic and author Thomas Merton. Either making it or soaking it in visually, the wonders we find here on Earth capture our imaginations and stimulate our senses. We often are left speechless in the wake of our pondering. Some things simply are not understood through ordinary language. Examining our surroundings through mathematical equations, poetic reflections, music or with camera in hand can be more revealing. For artist Georgian Perkins Hunt paintbrush and canvas bring a glimmer of inner knowing to light. I spotted her umbrella, shimmering over the sea, at Crescent Beach recently. She had just gotten started with her current project but I was delighted to discover many of her completed works HERE. I'm sure she'd be pleased if you had a look.

Explore more at OUR WORLD and image-in-ing.

Still the kid I used to be

Visit Postcards From Penelope Puddle and Penelope Puddlisms: BC Life Is A Whale Of A Ride to view more West Coast scenes.

Because the state of our planet is the most pressing issue of our time, link up and learn about the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Report.