Saturday, August 27, 2016

Cracked But Not Broken

THE EARTHQUAKE last Tuesday in Italy is yet another example of the fragility of existence.

I created digital art (left) for Earth Day and am re-posting it now, suspecting but not knowing to what degree humanity plays a role in agitating earthquake prone zones.

Warring factions disregard how interconnected the planet is and how exploding bombs in one area can destabilize the underground in another. In this age of conflicts, our earthly home can seem as breakable as an egg shell being tapped by a multitude of spoons. (Postscript September 3, 2016: See how fiddling beneath earth's crust to produce oil and gas also plays a role HERE.)

The loss of precious life, and the historic buildings that survived the ages yet now crumbled into ruins, is heartbreaking. A tourist in Italy once, I was awed by its beauty, historic importance and strong resilient people. May they find strength now and support from around the globe.

Later in the week I took a solitary walk through Kwomais Point Park in South Surrey to clear my thoughts. Birds were chirping in the forest and, for the moment, everything seemed right with this part of the world.

Boundary Bay is at the path's end. The sun brought sparkle to the water that recently changed from gray blue to greenish and more tropical aqua hues. Perhaps this has something to do with warmer sea temperatures and how algae is growing. You can read about it HERE.

A sweet lingering fragrance from a forgotten bouquet was at a railing overlooking the scenery. People like to get married at Kwomais Park this time of year and I wondered, since relationships can be fragile too, if the bride and groom together will find the integrity, compassion, humor and resiliency needed to withstand the challenges sure to come their way.

I visited Elgin Heritage Park with my husband at the end of the week. This was a great place to to see the seasonal changes. Summer is clearly on its way out and autumn is beginning.

A sailor who found no breeze to move his boat pedaled rather than paddled along the bordering Nicomekl River.

A spider caught in a sunbeam was rebuilding its web yet again.

Continuing our walk throughout the park it seemed to me that, yes, there are cracks in life but the spirit does not have to be broken.

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Copyright by Penelope Puddlisms

Saturday, August 13, 2016

Granville Island Treats

WHAT A TREAT to recently meet up with my photogenic friend, Carol, from birdsbikesnbeasts with her buddy Black Jack at Granville Island. It was great to see her face-to-face as we most often communicate digitally. The weather was warm and the setting was sublime.

The usual suspects watched us enjoy a chat and a snack. Ready-to-swoop seagulls hoping for handouts and sharp-eyed pigeons and sparrows were poised to scoop up crumbs from messy eaters.

Not looking for handouts but rather a bit of applause and some coinage were talented buskers who entertain regularly at the outdoor plaza. Serkan Sogukpinar (pictured above) was truly a treat to hear.

Serkan played old favorites with fresh flair. His fingers slid comfortably over the strings of his unique electric guitar. You can listen to its sound and see more of Granville Island HERE. Playing at various Vancouver seaside venues, Serkan's rendition of the familiar toe-tapping, hand-clapping Hungarian Dance No.5 can be heard HERE.

Good company and good music in a peaceful setting ... can there be anything sweeter? I like what scholar William Lyon Phelps had to say: "Those who decide to use leisure as a means of mental development, who love good music, good books, good pictures, good plays, good company, good conversation - what are they? They are the happiest people in the world."

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Copyright by Penelope Puddlisms

Tuesday, August 2, 2016

The Gift Of Seeing

MY MOM nurtured an unruly tall thistle by our front yard when I was young and even though I begged her to get rid of it she wouldn’t. No one else treated a wild thistle like a cherished rose and, as an adolescent wanting to fit in with a neighbourhood of neatly clipped shrubbery and manicured lawns, this prickly weed was a bit of an embarrassment. Eventually her gift of seeing grew in me and I wholeheartedly could agree with her view and Albert Einstein who said, "Joy in looking and comprehending is nature's most beautiful gift."

The thistle I recently photographed along the shoreline at Crescent Beach, an invasive species in parts of British Columbia, reminds me that within the plant's thorny existence is an untouchable nobility.

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Copyright by Penelope Puddlisms