Tag: photography

Out of the mind’s eye

It’s week three of the NaNoWriMo writing marathon and some participants are feeling frantic. I’ve seen comments from writers that they’ve got lots of words that in total feel like a confused mess, or they’re just now getting down to the brass tacks of writing after spending the first two weeks laying out the plot. We’re not supposed to worry about editing, but some people feel they need to in order to get back on track.

There are as many writing styles as there are participants. I went into this with a lot of background research already in the can – I’ve often used that type of research to spark ideas – as well as a pretty solid outline of my first book’s plot with threads that will tie into Books Two and Three. I also created detailed diagrams of two key locations in Book One, a small town where the bulk of the action takes place, and a college campus within that town. To me these places are vivid in my mind’s eye, but laying them out on electronic paper in a way that made them work logically solidified them. Now, when my heroine is exploring these places, I can describe her exact path as if she was navigating a real town or college campus, and I’ll be consistent every time the action takes place in these locales (I hope 😊).

Writing reminds me of taking photographs. For a long time on my travels I took photos of the famous places we visited. My slides of Egypt, for example, where my hubby and I went early in our marriage, are pretty standard shots – the Pyramids, each of us sitting on a block of the Great Pyramid, the Sphinx’s enigmatic face, the Nile, cruising up the Nile… Well, you get the idea.

But as time went on I began to use more of a painter’s eye, to capture more scenes that told a story. Paintings by the old Masters like Rembrandt are tiny novels in paint form – you have to study all the components to understand what they’re telling you, from the choice of colours, the use of light/shadow/emphasis, and the artist’s decision of what to include both in the foreground and in the background. Every single detail was put there for a specific reason, and so it is with good photographs, especially travel photographs.

I began to realize that most of my viewers would never actually see or experience what I was standing in front of at that moment, whether it was beautiful or ugly, so I wanted to be able to bring it to them virtually, through my photos.

A couple of years ago my hubby and I visited Colonial Williamsburg in Virginia, a microcosm of the American Revolutionary war. The docents were exemplary in explaining in unflinching detail what life was like for residents on both sides of the conflict. Walking through one of the original houses from the time period, that of a wealthy landowner, I was struck by this document in the home and had to take a photo of it.

It lists the family’s possessions and their monetary value, and included in that tally were all the slaves. Along with items of furniture and garden tools, each slave was assigned an amount in pounds sterling, the currency in use in the colonies before the Revolution. Each of these humans were valued as pieces of property, and not even of equal value. If you were a strong adult male, for example, you were worth more than someone aged who couldn’t do as much work any more. There right in front of me was something that brought to life the awfulness of the slave system in a way more compelling than many shows I’ve watched, because it wasn’t just a portrayal, it was a real thing. Any person who sees this photo will likely be able to feel the same emotion I felt standing in front of that piece of paper.

As writers it’s our job to do the same thing as this photo or a piece of art, to create a scene which is in our head so vividly that our readers can see it too, and can feel the emotions of the characters, whether love, fear, anger, revulsion, lust, hope, despair. If we’re writing about something that really happened it’s easier, but if we’re creating an entire imagined world in a book we have to be able to see it as if we’d lived it before we can share it with you the reader. So I empathize with my fellow marathoners in trying to get that out onto paper. We do it because there’s a story that simply must be told.

Leisure in the time of Coronavirus

Finally some nice weather is here, and my hubby and I made a beeline for a golf course. It was a still, humid evening, so the air was very heavy, but we chose our tee time at 6pm, past the midday heat and hopefully hordes of fellow golfers.

It turned out that the course was almost empty. It was a little eerie – normally on a weekend the course would be very busy – but the relative quiet was nice, and we enjoyed playing the round at a more relaxed pace without having to worry about either crowding a group ahead of us or having someone come up behind us.

The golfers we did come across on nearby fairways, in a range of ages, all seemed happy to just be out getting exercise in the fresh air for a couple of hours.

Mark Twain once famously described golf as “a good walk spoiled”, but during this pandemic a golf course is one of the easiest places to play at safe distances from other people.  

On the flip side of the outdoors coin, our local news service reported that 300-plus youths crowded onto a lakefront beach on the weekend, making physical distancing impossible.

The hard truth is that, as much as we would all like our lives to go back to normal, they aren’t going to. COVID is going to become a permanent fixture, and, like the increased security in airports and on flights ever since 9-11, the ways that we’re going to mingle with other people will change.

There are upsides to this scenario, though – less crowding at public attractions, for one thing. The last time we were at Disney World, for our nephew’s destination wedding, the park seemed determined to jam in as many people as possible. It was a good thing hubby and I had been there many times before, as we weren’t able to get onto a single ride. We did actually spend 45 minutes shuffling through the long line for the Haunted Mansion, only to have the overused ride breakdown just as we were getting close. Walking around the massive parks, you would have been hard pressed to find any unoccupied pavement, which thronged with harried parents bashing their strollers into everyone’s legs, sugar-hyped children running amok, seniors trying to stay out of the worst of the traffic.

The scenes were a far cry from the video clips on all the shuttle buses that showed happy, smiling families laughing and enjoying themselves.

Universal Orlando park is set to reopen late next week, and one of their primary safety measures is to limit attendance. Prices don’t seem to be very much higher than pre-pandemic, but even if they rise, the trade-off will be greater enjoyment when you’re not cheek-to-jowl with other visitors.

We have the opportunity now to rethink how we want to spend our leisure time.

The Baby Boomer generation, which I’m part of, is arguably the best-positioned generation to weather the pandemic because we grew up without all the electronic gadgets that provide easy entertainment in the 21st century. I know – the horror of growing up without computers and the internet!

Our parents encouraged us to get out of the house, expecting us to more-or-less amuse ourselves from breakfast to dinner. We became very creative at finding ways to play. My childhood neighbourhood edged a large wooded area running along both sides of a river, and we could disappear there for hours! Lots of hiking, ropes strung from trees to swing on, masses of wild roses and plenty of wildlife to hunt for.

In my back yard there was a very large willow tree at the base of which my brother and I constructed a tightly-woven branch-fort that kept us dry in the worst rain. In the winter most back yards had homemade skating rinks and snow forts.

These days I consider our entire region to be my ‘back yard’ – we’ve been exploring nooks and crannies we hadn’t bothered with before when we concentrated on exploring thousands of miles away.

The internet has been a boon while we’ve been quarantined in our homes, and has so many opportunities for trying out new things. You can take online courses in just about any subject, whether just for your own interest or to maybe develop into a new job.

As I write this blog, I’m also watching a show I just discovered on our Netflix stream called The Big Flower Fight. I’m mesmerized by the stunningly beautiful and creative flower creations – on Episode 1, a gigantic and gorgeous floral moth; on Episode 2, breathtaking fairy godmother gowns made of things like orchids and leafy fronds. I can’t wait to see what else the contestants come up with.

I have very little of a green thumb – everything that survives around our home has to be pretty self-sufficient – but if I were a gardener, I would be so tempted to try making a similar creation in my own garden. You could really let your imagination run wild with some wiry supports and an assortment of textures and colours!

Maybe you’ve got a memoir tucked inside of you that’s dying to see the light of day – that happens to be one of my own upcoming projects about some of the wonderful adventures my hubby and I have experienced on our global travels.

I also love photography, and there’s plenty to practice on within a few miles of home, as well as baking, and I finally have the opportunity to try out the hundreds of recipes I’ve clipped over many years. Tea and baking are bosom companions, and I continue to get invitations to do tea-themed talks for our local organizations – I’m booked to do one in October if the situation allows.

Years ago I joined a local Toastmasters club just to learn how to speak at meetings without freezing up. I was a terrified little mouse lurking at the back of the meetings for several weeks, but slowly I learned the techniques of polished public speaking, and with regular practice I overcame my fears about standing up front at a lectern.

Ten years and many talks later, I’ve discovered that I love exploring fascinating topics with enthusiastic audiences. At my tea tastings, one of my favourite things to do is to walk among the attendees, finding out how they like the different teas and food pairings, looking at their favourite tea cups (which they bring to sample the teas with), and hearing their personal tea stories.

I’m so grateful that my hubby and I got to so many of the places in the world that we wanted to see before last December. It’s hard to predict how many more places on our bucket list that we’ll be able to manage while destinations figure out how to welcome visitors again safely, but there are quite a few that we can do within our own country.

When the easy options become limited, it’s time to open your mind up to all kinds of new possibilities. And for those of you who think chasing a little ball across acres of land is absurd, as Mark Twain did, don’t knock it until you’ve tried it!

What new things have you tried, or are thinking about trying out? The results might surprise and delight you 😊

Stop and smell the lilacs

We could learn a lot from animals. Whenever we took our dogs out for a walk, Ramses, the male, loved to find a shrub with branches just at the height of the top of his head. He would then spend several minutes moving his head under a branch, letting the foliage tickle his fur. His face was a picture of bliss while we watched bemused and the female, Isis, pranced around impatiently.

I’m sure you’ve seen many videos of animals enjoying themselves – romping in the snow, rolling around in the grass, grinning happily as they share a surfboard. Animals have a wonderful capacity to suspend all concerns and immerse themselves in something fun, and an equally remarkable capacity to soldier along through adversity while still finding joy in their lives.

We need to do the same: take the time to enjoy even small things as often as we can, perhaps even dedicate an entire day to it. One pastime that most people can enjoy is called a Savouring Walk. The idea on these walks is to appreciate all the positive things you see – a pretty flower, a fresh breeze, perhaps the sun as it slowly sets in rich colours.

It turns out that appreciating the things that lift up our souls is great for our mental wellness in so many ways: relaxing us and easing stress, balancing out some of the negativity in our lives, connecting us to the world around us, and ultimately making us more resilient.

I’m fortunate to live near a beautiful botanical garden, the Royal Botanical Gardens in southern Ontario, and it’s lilac time! This past weekend a friend and I drove over to enjoy some much-needed floral bounty amid the barely-spring weather we’ve been enduring. I’ve always wanted to see the famous Lilac Dell in bloom, and we lucked out with a decent afternoon for our excursion.

The RBG is the largest botanical garden in Canada, and a national historical site. With the poor weather, not everything was blossoming yet, but the prevailing atmosphere of peaceful nature was still very relaxing. We visited the Rock Garden first, where there were a number of photographers out focusing on the colourful masses of tulips, and Hendrie Park, where hopefully soon the roses will be back in all their glory. We saved the Lilac Dell for last to let it dry out after a morning of rain, and people were gently clambering up and down the hillside delicately sniffing the fragrant blooms. I’m very happy to report the absence of any selfie-obsessed idiots destroying things.

It was a lovely, rejuvenating afternoon. I recommend finding any similar setting for a quick recharge, but for anyone not able to get to one, I’m happy to share some of the photos so that you can enjoy a little virtual beauty.

DSC01422Some of the wonderful lilacs in the Dell

DSC01370A bounty of tulips drew numerous photographers

DSC01397Plants tumble in profusion down the sides of the Rock Garden

DSC01342A maiden delicately cradles a bird in one of the Rock Garden water features

DSC01373Sunshine in petal-form

DSC01368We spotted a brilliant green Tiger Beetle out for some afternoon warmth

DSC01321Anyone for a funky-looking seat?

DSC01351Exploring some of the enchanting paths in the Rock Garden

DSC01374  Beauty in bloom

Luray Caverns – Mother Nature Wins!

Hi folks — feeling a bit under the weather today, so this week’s post is a celebration of Mother Nature, who IMHO always wins the contest for artwork. Case in point: Luray Caverns in Virginia. The Caverns were discovered in 1878 and became an overnight success (after millions of years of formation, of course). Although not the largest cave system in North America, Luray is very walkable and superbly lit for visitors to enjoy the many spectacular formations.  I hope these photos inspire you to visit!

DSC00295-001The caverns range from small to massive

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Formations, some dry, some still wet and forming, come in a wide variety of shapes and sizes. This one is called The Fish, for its resemblance to a string of caught fish at a market.

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This odd formation is called The Eggs.

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There were so many fascinating formations we couldn’t recall the names of all of them.

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Many formations are still dripping, and have formed large pools below. They form stunningly perfect reflections in the still waters — so perfect that you have to look really closely to understand that the bottom part of what you’re seeing is a mirror image.

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One of the really cool things is a cave organ. It plays a slow and soft electronic tune which resonates through the chamber by…DSC00322-001

…small armatures that gently strike some of the stalactites. Visitors have to be very still to enjoy the soft music.

Visit the website for more information about this wonderful adventure.

Cee’s Which Way Challenge – bridge in the Okavango Delta

Log bridge in the Okavango Delta - photo by E Jurus
Log bridge in the Okavango Delta – photo by E Jurus

I’ve come across a fun participatory photo blog called ‘Cee’s Which Way Challenge’, where the challenge is to post a photo with a directional subject – roads, bridges, walkways, paths, etc. Here’s my first contribution.

This is one of my favourite all-time photos. I took it in Botswana in 2007 on my very first safari. It was a mobile camping safari visiting 4 camps in 4 different parts of the country. Our first camp was located in the Okavango Delta, a world-famous wetland that we’d gone specifically to see.

The Delta is formed by the Okavango River draining directly into the hot, dry sands of the Kalahari Desert. These waters, unlike with most Which-Way-Banner1rivers, never reach the ocean, instead spreading across the sands and forming a permanent wetland around islands created by the higher spots. The waters fluctuate seasonally, with the biggest influx of water taking place in spring as the January & February rains in Angola swell the river waters and wash about 1,200 km southeast into Botswana.

Doing a safari in the Delta is an adventure! Some of the islands are fairly large and dry, with deep sandy roads weaving between towering termite mounds, tall date palms and short wide fan palms, and the pungent salty scent of wild sage. Others may be tiny islands just big enough to land on if you’re out on a mokoro ride (a dugout canoe that has long been a traditional form of transportation in the Delta).

There are bridges across the shallower waters between some of the islands, like the one in this photo. It was close to being flooded over, though – the approach to the bridge was already swamped. I took a shot out the back of the safari vehicle as another vehicle approached to give perspective – if Indiana Jones had ever visited southern Africa, this log bridge should have been in the movie!

The cold winter months here in southern Ontario always make me long for exotic, warm places!