Saturday, May 24, 2014

Amherst Island

On this mist filled morning, Alanagh, Molly, and I, unanimously decided to go to bucolic Amherst Island to see the lambs at Topsy Farms http://topsyfarms.com. For those friends and family on East and West coast Amherst island is just West of Kingston


The ferry to the island sets expectation for the unusual: You drive on to the ferry and back off it. 

The earliest settlers on the island were United Empire Loyalists who laid claim to lands in the early eighteen hundreds.  The  Irish came later and in 1842 there were 2000 Irish souls calling the island home. 

Amherst Island  is a remarkably flat island with wetlands in the interior, haunting meadows, and alluring lake vistas. Startling exquisite stone walls made by the Irish compel captivation.

The Murray family,  who have owned and operated Topsy farms since 1972, are entirely charming, and totally engaging.  I encourage all of my local friends to visit, especially now during lambing. The wool shop is a real treat.

Hope you enjoy today’s outing with Alanagh, Molly,  ’n’ me.

Love to all
Maggie

Ferry shot lake Ontario

Caramel




Caramel checking out the equipment

Nathan and Curly. Nathan is Sally and Ian’s grandson












Rain drop markings on a muddy truck door: Coming home on the ferry





Thursday, May 22, 2014

Last 3 from today's walk

I really do have to look up the botanical names. I use common names on walks but one of my erudite correspondents told me to “clean up my act!”  so in deference to her  I have this time.

Antennaria plantaginifolia (Plantain leaved pussy toes)



Birch Polypore fungi ( I think… don’t take this to the bank. Barb do I have this right?) living on dead birch. (Life after life) The red slug is for Rosemary. Hugs Rosemary. It really has a lovely hue! 

and finally 
Fragaria vesca: Woodland Strawberry flowers. One spent, two there and two buds along the way


She will take you

She will take you

You want to go out with her, you say, and I will say, “She will take you”.  
Your hurried mind quips silent, “I’ll not be had!"


You are uncertain.  
She walks with you,
To the now tall, damp, grassy meadow, flanked by birch, and maple.

In silence, into the stand of beech and birch, 
So close you feel an intimacy,
Not yours, theirs.

She shows you slugs, and you recoil.
Your mind is getting quieter now
Are you beginning to see?

Busy mind:  
Wants to make this a tear. Not a slug. 
An eye. Not a scar.
Busy mind:
Sees two fleshy tentacles bearing eyes at their bulbous tips, waving dark eyes to see you.
You are starting to see the beauty, the fawn, the dapple, The delicacy, the graceful slide into your perception. 

Your changing perception.

You are here.
Here now, where the young grey bracken is greening in the sun,

Here, where the violets spread their yellow, and you are Amused-
Amused, that something yellow is called violet.

She will break the silence only fleetingly,
To tell you, 
To tell you only, that,
North American First Nations used sarsaparilla  
To make bitter tea. 
Tea. Used to treat heart pain, their stomach upset, 
Their toothaches, and sore throats. 
When the infections came, and they did,
They rubbed it on their skin. Infections cleared.
When pneumonia struck, the whole plant was used, 
Swallowed in a stock,
But its fruiting stalk stimulated lactation.

You did not know. 
You are seeing now.
You are here,
Somewhere, from some long time ago, you remember, 
You remember the tiny stars,
You had forgotten to see them,
Forgotten to look for the Trientalis Borealis.
Forgotten to see the star flower.

You are here now
Where the granite yields to pine, to columbine, and to blueberry,
And blueberry yields to moss.
Here, where ferns and lily of the valley grow at the base Of the pine,
The pine grows at shore’s edge,
Along with goslings closely guarded by parents.
Unseen but known.

How can this be?
How can something as mundane as a mustard flower
Or saxifrage
Or the soaring of a vulture, whose shadow cast down, Caused your upward gaze

Capture you?
You wonder if you have been had.
But your now quiet mind knows
You will never be had.





















The day looks promising for shooting stuff

Coffee in hand,  and I in night dress,
 my neighbours lilac. 
Nice way to set up the day.





Wednesday, May 21, 2014

Orioles

One year, when I lived on the St. Lawrence River, I went almost daily to see if I could capture the pair of orioles nesting in the poplar tree by the Bay. I failed.
Today though, in my home by the lake, it was different.
Love to all
M