World of small

[vaneramos]

I made a decision about finances, but will deal with than in another post.

At 26°C it was a typical summer weekend in cottage country, but there were no leaves on the hardwood, few insects and hardly other people around. The other clue was a patch of soft ice in our bay, and even that had vanished by this morning. The cottage always pulls me out of my head and into my senses. The stillness does it. So do tiny things overhead and under your feet. I am continually drawn onto my belly to photograph mosses, ferns, fungi and last year's leaves.

Saturday morning Dad, Danny and I clambered up the leafy slope to a granite escarpment behind the road. The cliff faces north so sunlight rarely reaches it. A few ice formations still clung to the rock, and it was entirely covered in moss. We had to go up and touch. It felt thicker and softer than shag carpet, like petting a large, untidy Muppet, and this secret forest nook would have been just the place to find a Jim Henson creature.

The first eight images in this Flickr set were taken over the weekend.

Comments

[jwg.livejournal.com]

Nice to see some of your photos again.

[vaneramos.livejournal.com]

Thanks, it's nice to get around to taking and posting some.

[danthered.livejournal.com]

Whoah…that is some seriously furry moss!

[vaneramos.livejournal.com]

There are whole walls of it where the rocks and tree roots are conpletely covered.

[threestarblue.livejournal.com]

wait, so that first photo is ice formations?

[vaneramos.livejournal.com]

No, that is fungus on a log!

[abendstille.livejournal.com]

how wonderful that you could spend some time at the cottage!

[vaneramos.livejournal.com]

It was a welcome retreat.

[bellakara.livejournal.com]

I really like these photos - I'm particularly interested in looking at nature close up these days. These odd shell-like formations are interesting, and there was another similar photo where they were like mushrooms. The last blue photo with the leaves caught my eye too. Your cottage is certainly in a lovely place.

[vaneramos.livejournal.com]

The lake and landscape are beautiful, too, but like you I am drawn to look closely at small things. Those shell shapes are fungus!

[djjo.livejournal.com]

That moss was pretty amazing. Kinda how I figure Totoro would fee like.

The ice was also neat. The day was pretty warm, but the air right by it was quite chilly. Amazing to see how it formed shelves and to listen to the dripping and tinkling sounds.

[vaneramos.livejournal.com]

So glad I could share it with you, Love.

[pippasporch.livejournal.com]

Oh Van, your cottage sounds like a retreat for the soul. Loved every one of the photos on your Flickr. You say it well, the cottage pulling you into your senses. Getting up close and personal with nature does that to me, too, and I understand very well the pull to get down on hands and knees and capture the world of small. Thanks, it's been like a retreat for me, falling into your world like this.

[vaneramos.livejournal.com]

It really is my home. I set up a new gallery of photos for every summer. The one from 2006 is particularly rich.

[pippasporch.livejournal.com]

I viewed them all, and what beauty, Van. You really show the spirit of the place, and the wonder of things big and small. It was like taking a vacation just viewing each photo!

How great that you can immerse yourself in nature this way, even if just for a few stretches of bliss in the year.