by Christmas Day walk
I’ve been absorbed with some intense work on a project this week which I completed yesterday. As I now catch up posting holiday photos, I also look back to those relaxing days of our recent Christmas trip and the wonderful walks in the hills around daughter’s home. Aren’t photos a wonderful way to remember the peace and beauty of nature and good times with family?
It’s now Twelfth Day. Odd that it’s not mentioned much here in Canada, yet it’s a public holiday in some countries like Finland. Looking back on past twelth day posts, I see that in 2009 we had a deluge, as we’ve been having here after almost a week of sunny frosty days. Tonight we will take down our tree as is our tradition, except when we had visitors one year. To me, it’s always sad to put away the extra light and colour at this dark time of year, so for a bit longer we do leave the front door wreath up and the little white lights on the Japanese maple that brightens the way up our front steps. Plus all the red candles here and there…
January 6, 2011 in Canada and BC, Culture, Nature, Photoworks by Marja-Leena
I loved every one of these photos and dwelled over them for a long time.
Hattie, I hope you know how much I appreciate your interest and regular comments.
The log, stunned by its age and the long journey it had made, stretched a limb out in supplication to a passer by.
Those pictures say winter. Winter with its quiet sleep. With its promise of a future spring.
oh, not an entirely green christmas for you folks then! lovely to see it so delicately white. x
Hattie, lovely words! There are a lot of fallen tree parts up on those hills as the pine trees have been succumbing to the pine beetle – sad.
Anne, you have also said it well.
Elisa, yes, we did have enough snow to call it a white Chirstmas especially as we crossed the high passes on the Coquihalla before and after.
They are certainly pictures of deep stillness. Did you walk alone or always in company? It looks like a good area for quiet contemplation.
I used to hate taking down Christmas lights and some years would hang them on pieces of furniture until the days started becoming noticeably longer.
Susan, the quiet and stillness is what I love here. (Actually we could hear the traffic on the highway down the hill near the river.) The first walk was just my husband and I, and a couple walks with both daughters, and I poked around the yard by myself taking the leaves-in-ice photos.
The lonely log must have been tempting if you have an facility for open fires. (Parenthetically I should add that open fires – which I abhor as a source of heat and blotchy marks on womens’ calves – were a sign that I had truly moved into the land of plenty when I got to the USA. Here was a place where the occupants not only had central heating which I would have given my eye-teeth for when living in freezing London but had subsequently installed fireplaces for the decorative effect the flames made. And the heat provided by the open fire conflicted with the thermostat setting on the CH leading to all sorts of suggestive metaphors.)
Back to the log. I suppose taking that home would have required you to rethink the concept of “going for a walk”. Having a horse and sledge (which you North Americans call a sleigh and thereby get into all sorts of semantic tangles. In fact I myself have got into a tangle, you call it a sled, seemingly forgetful of the last two letters.) or more likely a quad bike might invade the sense of tranquillity you are after.
This comment is an excellent example of failing to consider the structure of what would ensue before putting a finger to the keyboard. The literary euphemism is “stream of consciousness” but this is more “stream of unconsciousness”. Will do better next time.
BB, I enjoy your “stream of (un)consciousness”! I wish the speed and accuracy of my typing would keep up with my occasional moments. As it doesn’t, my writing is kept short. I hear you about fireplaces and central heating – the two don’t quite work well together. If we use our living room fireplace for atmosphere, the thermostat being nearby the rest of the house gets chilly. The rare times we have power outages, it does come in handy but the rest of the house stays chilly. Our daughter and partner have boarded up the fireplaces in their house and intend to install gas ones sometime in the future. None of this hauling and chopping and stacking of wood for them even though the hills are full of fallen pine-beetle killed wood.
What a beautiful walk! The images really bring out the expanse and feeling of the place. Japan rarely has scenery like that, so it is always surprising to see it.
Also wanted to let you know that besides my blog, I’ve finally gotten my photoblog up and running. That took a long time to get to fruition! http://laughing-knees.com/chamber-moon/
Miguel, wonderful to have you visit! I wish you could see more of this amazing province for it has such a variety of landscapes. We still haven’t seen it all. Thanks for letting me know about your beautiful new photoblog. I’ve just set up my log-in and left a comment there.