Monday, January 29, 2007

Costa Rica



My sister Lynn built this modest home on a hillside overlooking a quiet bay on the Pacific coast.

























Great Egret



Green Heron. The first Green Heron I saw was in Boca Ratan. Since then I have seen this wonderful bird all over North and Central America.



Sunrise
Sunset
Monte Carlo


I don't gamble, but if you do, this is the casino. Posh.
On the water and next door to one of the world's most exclusive hotels in the world. Couldn't be that exclusive. They let me in.
There were more luxury cars parked on the curb on any one evening than Calgary likely has within the city during any one year.













My Maserati was illegally parked, but when you have that kind of money, the police don't tow and don't ticket.












Vasarely by the sea. I worried that I arrived at the wrong sun time for this picture. But, I think his bold geometric shapes compensate for the sun, and might well do so at any time of the day, and likely he knew that.












My first recollection of Monte Carlo was the Grand Prix. I am still a boy at heart. This is one of the hair pin turns thru the city.

















Up on the hill where the royal family live, this old turret survives to watch over the harbor. Imagine the ships that have sailed under the watchful eye of these old bricks?



































Sunday, January 28, 2007

The Sun, Rising and Reflected, Setting and Shining.


We couldn't afford to stay in the lodge. One of the men who worked at the lodge was sympathetic and suggested we could sleep in a rickety hut on the ridge above the lodge. We did and the next morning we witnessed dawn over Mt. Kenya, a vista not visible from the lodge. Life is like that.

Los Cabos. Each morning I drove in a different direction in search of birds and beauty.
Driving just South of Boston, en route to Exeter. Christine and I saw this rainbow phenomenum. Not sure about the physics that created the undulating colors.
Spring evening in Paris.
Flowers

A totally overcast and drizzly day at Heart Creek, about two decades ago. Kneeling down in the mud, I leaned over, my wide-brimmed hat sheltering the camera, and I held my breath. I've been back many times but the lilies are gone.




A blustery morning, on the bluff over the ravine at Strathcona Tweedsmuir School. Individual flowers of Wild Blue Flax open for only one day. Waiting for the right moment between puffs of wind seemed like an eternity.












Tulips in Holland. Karen and I spent an enjoyable day at Keukenhof Gardens. Windmills and more varieties of tulip than I ever knew existed.






Goatsbeard in the Purcell Range.
Vancouver Tulips, on the street, the spring Dad died. The cherry blossoms covered the sidewalks. A Samurai sendoff for a guy's guy.

Sunday, January 14, 2007



Ghent









I had two hours in the late afternoon to poke around this beautiful city. The sun cooperated.
















Everyone touched this sculpture as they walked by. Good luck. Might need to be Catholic or at least Christian to collect, but I like to think the charm was non-denominational.








Gaudi

The dragon at the entrance, the marvelous plates on the ceiling, and his unique architecture. No right angles. Nothing right about it in some respects and everything natural in others.











Manneken Pis
































Street sculpture.



















Street art in the country of Tin Tin




















Walking in the steps of Erasmus.



















and Goethe



Ah, Miro.