Season Of Enchantments & A Christmas Wish

 
When he was a boy, my nephew carved several wooden reindeer to give as Christmas gifts to the family. Mine is a particularly delightful fellow. His stone nose, twig antlers and red ribbon held up beautifully over the years. The creativity and kind thoughts behind the handmade present still leaves me feeling a little enchanted as do many seasonal marvels that, this year, appear wrapped in the finery of fluctuating weather.  

We've had buckets of rain. It's caused a lot of pain in some areas but for me it's been about capturing the luscious and large bouncy waves in agitated puddles. 

 

At night the light from a street lamp casts its golden glow making the rain sparkle.

On some mornings, frost covers the roofs of houses making it all the more cozy inside. 

Cloudy cosmic ice patterns form on abandoned patios. 

Seasonal lights, float like musical notes in the air, bringing colour to the night. 

Benches catch the drops, and bouquets, where someone once enjoyed the view.

Sea splatter sprays on wind-tossed days as if to refresh the spirit of the season.   

Since my last post, everything from slushy snow to needle-sharp hail fell but no tornadoes. The vast devastation caused by extreme weather in Mayfield, Kentucky recently is difficult to grasp. Poignantly, a factory making Christmas candles was one of the hardest hit. As we now light candles to honour the lost let's also honour life by illuminating leaders on how seriously we wish they would address climate change. 

Explore more at 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.

Rosy Creations At The Crescent Beach Artisan Fair

The urge to create is vast ... people are busily gluing, nailing, moulding, shaping or painting physically and/or virtually, diving deeply into their imaginations that often stay hidden from public view until a fair comes along. Crescent Beach businesses, in conjunction with Bayview Arts, said good-bye to Halloween and hello to the Christmas season by hosting an outdoor artisan event. It was a chilly Saturday but spring was in the air with my rosy umbrella and particularly the floral prints and wearable art (pictured below) by Caroline Baasch with whom I shared a spot along Beecher Street. 

A few remnants of the Halloween spirit could still be seen in the community.  

Autumn leaves cushioned the cold ground. 

 My umbrella was a calling card. 

Although it didn’t rain during the event, there were some large puddles and, in other areas of British Columbia, major flooding due to an atmospheric river weather system.

I showcased prints of some of my favorite photographs. The children's book, handcrafted greeting cards as well as prints of Penelope paintings were also on hand. 

Caroline's work (below) made beautiful bouquets at her table. 

Her floral depictions were a breath of fresh air amid the creeping wintry chill.

Each scarf, covering and tea towel was a retreat into a warm welcoming spring garden.

Explore more at Mosaic Monday and OUR WORLD.

Still the kid I used to be

Visit Postcards From Penelope Puddle and Musings of A Puddlist In B.C. 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.

Extinct Critter Makes A Spooky Comeback

World peace, perfect health, no poverty anywhere or extreme weather ... sometimes it seems our ideals are suspended in space like leaves dangling from an invisible thread, spinning in circles until a snap happens and goals become dashed or less clear. The gates of more minds need to open on a global level and ladders to higher priorities scaled for a carbon-free future. United Nations current statements about looming extinction whisked me away on a breezy day into flights of fancy and an old nursery rhyme: Like a leaf or a feather in the windy, windy, weather we will whirl around and twirl around and all fall down together. (See the extinct critter come back below.)

 

I took this last photo in 2014 of a dinosaur statue placed amid the flowers and shrubbery at a nursery.

This long extinct critter (some say evolved into birds) bears a striking resemblance to the one featured in the United Nations video posted below. If you have a minute, take a look.

Explore more at Saturday's Critters and OUR WORLD.

And as if this weren't scary enough, Halloween arrived with its ghosts and goblins!

Beneath The Pillowy Blue

"What is unknown until you do it is that there is this pillow, this soft blue. Look at the beauty of that colour - it’s so thin and you’re through it in an instant." - W. Shatner 

Barely audible amid the gleeful chatter of his younger fellow travelers, 90-year old Star Trek star, William Shatner, was rife with emotion and teary-eyed when he returned from his first true encounter with outer space. Seeing Earth pale and vulnerable in the distance, floating in an inky black well, was clearly impactful. He saw the planet's thin covering hovering, like the flimsy substance over an eyeball, absorbing harmful ultraviolet light. Varying from some nine and 18 miles above us, this ozone layer is a necessity for life. Poking through the protective "lens" with human inventions likely does it no good yet first-hand visual reports such as Shatner's provide remarkable awareness and empathy for the globe. Although no view compares to Earth in space, here are the autumn scenes I found recently on the ground beneath the "pillowy" blue.

Explore more at OUR WORLD.

Still the kid I used to be

Visit Postcards From Penelope Puddle and Musings of A Puddlist In B.C. 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.

Keep Calm & Go Fishing

“People often think they are going fishing but in reality they are seeking something that fulfills their life and their dreams.” - Henry David Thoreau

Cast out in a sea of stars, Earth is an imperiled spaceship where storms, earthquakes and irrupting volcanoes traumatize, from time to time, the passengers onboard who never can be fully at ease. Fortunately, more peaceful wonders soothe the troubled human psyche. With vivid imaginations at the helm, we explore the corridors of enchantment fishing in calm waters, petting puppies, replicating and imagining seahorses drifting in cloudy skies or building stone inuksuk for passersby. Crescent Beach is a dot on the map of recent sightings I caught when fishing with my camera.

Explore more at OUR WORLD and see Saturday's Critters.

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.