life as it is in 55 words

it's trying to snow
there is always a cloud
somewhere up there
consisting of snow

out on the highway
i meet a surprise
the wild horses
with a newborn foal

i leave the light on
listening to Beth Hart
my hands frozen
to the keyboard

i will warm them
in between 'my own skin'



for friday 55 go to
Lilacs

guess what the wind blew in

Lots of birds
Yesterday, it was windy here, but apparently stormy in Whitehorse. Tonight that strong wind arrived here. My yard is quite sheltered, because of the surrounding tall trees. I wonder if that has to do with all these birds visiting me.
Also many more Juncos now.

Yesterday i scared the above Yellow-rumped Warbler, out of the outhouse. A small group arrived, and they are still here this morning. I guess the insects attract them to that particular spot. Flies etc. have been zooming since i got back. And since two weeks there is the big, slow mosquitoes (who don't sting me).

And besides the Robin singing away, who was screaming this morning?
The flickers! 3 of them. They seem to always come in three. They hang around last years nest site, scream, two fly or really sweep in great speed with the wind after each other, they join no.3, to scream again.

This wind always makes me happy and maybe reckless. I want to be like the flickers now :) In marriage (two) why not introduce a new lover every spring, just for fun and games. Alexander always says three is the strongest unit. (actually he refers to our existing family of 3)
What do you think?

Sparrows at noon

White-crowned Sparrows rummaging through last years dry leaves and grass.

spring observations

I have to find an organized way to keep the data i always collect in spring! how?

today:
-the robin sings in the top of our spruce, while mountain tops glow pink.
maybe yesterday,but for sure today:
-2 purple finches, sitting in the top of my poplar trees that show their catkins.

elfin creek is running

i am all scratched, my hair full of twigs
the creek is flowing
i follow its path
through tangled forest
dappled sunlight
sparkling water
here and there some ice



It seems late this year, the creek has been open other years in the middle of April.
or do i always think its late, longing for flow?

robins spotted

Yesterday i found that one tiny crocus here on the bank of the Takhini river.
I start walking at the beginning of the Kusawa road, going south east kind of following the high bank. And if you don't know it, walking through the very sparse forest of the Takhini valley, suddenly there is that river.
I met the first Robins on the way.


Of course i was looking for swans, there were 6 of them in that bend. and some ducks. I walk back closer to the 'coulee' which ends up in that swamp there. that dip at a kilometre from the beginning of the road.

Searching for Yukon condom art | Yukon News

as i was reading last month's local newspapers.... :D
Searching for Yukon condom art  |  Yukon News

first crocus

incidents

Here in my dictionary,it says that 'incident' in Physics means: of a beam of light or particles arriving at or striking a surface.
Now isn't that something to think about? Yesterday Don and i walked across part of the river to get to the sandbank, to see the swans close up.
We did not have to cross open water.
Besides the two swans, they formed a group of at least two pintails, a mallard and a teal.

Now, the incidents according to its more obvious meaning.
These little things happen in my life lately, do they tell me that i have to take notice? or do you you believe life is just random?

No, i still didn't fall through the ice. Although on my own i would not have crossed a river, not even a secondary channel.
After our walk, we continued our drive to Kusawa lake. Don as a road builder, who had worked on this road last spring, wanted to see how well the road stood up through the seasons. (very well). I just happy, because this drive to the lake along the river is always spectacular. As it is early in the season, we see only one other traveller half way on this 25 km road.
And there you go at the very end, we have a flat tire on the front. No big deal you think, but was it not that, the spare did not fit!
But it did fit the back :)
Anyway it would have been a looooong walk.

to be

Takhini River

male Barrow's Golden-eye.

swans and probably pintails.

It is already a glorious day today.
I woke up a little lighter today. The money thing had been weighing heavy on me. As it turns out things might not be as bad as they seem. Now there you got it, what kind of reason is that, to not be happy?

something pending, that i dread?
Something i lost or never had
something that i am, and do not want to be
something that i want and cannot earn
this morning i realized again
there's never a reason to be sad
because the swans they did return

a horse kick

exposed probably by muskrats, water plants are helping to melt the ice on the pond
The last few days i have been looking for open water, hoping to see birds.
Today when i arrive at the 911-pond i do see horses.



I park my car on the highway, i turn it around, for a speedy getaway, just in case.
Normally i leave the keys in the car too, 'just in case' if i get lost, somebody at least can drive my car. It's true we do these things. This time i forget to leave the keys, they're in my pocket, oh well.

The weather is lovely, the forest is still, at first at the pond i see no birds. I decide to cross the pond, on ice that is still solid, but breaking up. I know, i will go down with keys in my pocket... No, i am not afraid of that, otherwise i would not. But i do know i am a little bit fearless, (compared to whom?)
Across the big pond, there is open water in little waterholes, and i see here and there birds flying off, before i even get close. (Not like in Holland where wild birds will feed out of your hand) I walk around happily, through swamp grass, still frozen underneath. I go all around and eventually i end up by the horses again, they come towards me and walk with me. I walk on to some other waterholes. Suddenly i hear a cacophony of birds and see two waterholes full of birds. I am happy to be with the horses, they can be my cover. Close to the birds i sit down, to take pictures. I take some of the horses' faces snuffling me. hmmmmmm....
Then i somehow make a to sudden move, the horse kicks my camera, grazing my eyebrow and my shoulder (no scratches) In that split second and by the sound of that kick, i envision my camera in pieces. Not so, but it does make strange noises and the lens is going in and out. I do fear it is broken and now i envision a live without camera (i have no money to spare, Alexanders education is going to cost us $20.000 dollar, which will put me on a budget more then ever)
Happy end as you see, because i did post today's pictures. I did, i am lucky i didn't get hurt. And for the pictures,
i kind of said some prayers and pushed the lens in, holding it down, like an obstinate child, i don't recommend this, but oh well it worked for me. And i am very happy to still have a working camera!

ducks at the 911-pond

two Ring-necked Ducks

at least a dozen Northern Pintails

and looking at the picture i spot a Green-winged Teal

a least 2 dozen Mallards


guess who?

soft pink petals

i feel so soft and pliable, fragile like a petal. maybe it's this weather here, softer yet today.

it's been warm since i got back, the snow is almost gone. i walk through moss and puddles, and over paths of spruce needles. the ground underneath still frozen, the trees still bare. mosquitoes big and slowly, not biting yet.

i wonder if it will rain, but somehow i know it won't, i am not sad enough

swans fly overhead

forsythia

i am the sun

a summer queen in snow

i must have been

a child of spring

remembering

endlessly creating

forsythia castle gardens

in my sandbox

always climbing weeping willows

now here in March

the first tree to show it's green

the willow so recently cut down

but forsythias still blooming

bright yellow blossoms

reflecting sun

I love my home

Still more pictures of Dutch flowers (more to come)
But i am very happy to be home, i love my wilderness, i had a long a lovely walk today and the weather is amazingly warm, especially after the cold in Holland, the rain in Chicago and the horizontal snowstorm in Camrose (Alberta).
And whatever the weather, if the swans are early in the North, a late snow fall in Grassy Lake, purple sunsets in Europe, even if all air traffic comes to a halt, i do like to say:

The butterflies didn't miss a beat
right on schedule
every year the same day
the mourning cloaks are on the wing
i spotted one today

de keukenhof

These photos are taken in 'de keukenhof', in Lisse, Holland.
the place to go to see spring flowers.


As i am promoting Holland here in red white blue and orange for it's oranje wimpel,
I do want to add, Holland has wild spring flowers too. Thanks to Gerrit and Helma, who took me to the Tenella Plas in Oostvoorne. Before i came to Canada i lived in it's Park for 2 years, I cried when i seen my old boyfriend's house. I did not bring my camera that day, so i can't show you how idyllic it is. Anyway i was also taken by the amount of wild flowers in the park.

Matisse

These pictures probably give away to some of you which city we fell in love with.
As i can't keep secrets very long, i will probably say it anyway in this post.

The initial reason Alexander and i made this trip, was that he needed an MRI for his knee. This needed to be done in Edmonton. Yukon Health Care paying for us to fly down.
March 23 we fly down. As it is snowing in Whitehorse we are delayed. Everybody in the plane stays calm about maybe missing connecting flight in Vancouver, so i try to stay calm too. And beautifully, we walk out of the plane walking on to the next plane, which departs right away. Arriving in Edmonton, we still have to figure out how to get to the Hospital. There is a shuttle bus, which leaves, now. We arrive at the Hospital, check-in in the out patience residence, carry on to see where we have to do that MRI, in an hour. As it will be they have an opening right now, Alexander sleeps for the 20 minutes of the duration of the procedure. We walk a few blogs to find a restaurant, eat, back to the 'hotel', where we try to sleep for a few hours, at 4.45 am we take the first shuttle bus back to the Airport.

We had booked a ticket to Holland, as from here it is way cheaper as from Whitehorse.

We have a layover in ! Chicago. We have never been there or on that side of the continent for that matter. So my only wish was to see the Great Lakes.
Arriving in Chicago, we ask how to get down-town, beautifully the train leaves right from the Airport. And where as our shuttle bus in Edmonton cost us $50, here we pay 10 bucks for two return tickets. Chicago here we come!

Ahhhh the city is beautiful! The high rise and the big boulevard. And lake Michigan... oh well. I can say now i have seen one of the Great Lakes and i am glad i did. We eat something, catch the train back, and catch our flight to Amsterdam, where my sister is waiting.

What i wanted to say here, is that our travelling went so smooth, which totally amazes me, it's a world so far removed from my life in the woods in more than one way.

I don't know if i like travelling though. It's the line-ups, waiting for check-in and security etc. that do me in. I look at the other people in the line, and wonder how they do it, how they can stand still and shuffle along for that long. Why is nobody falling apart like i do. Some are even happy, anticipating their trip. Here i can learn to be patient. Once in the plane i am okay again. Even lounging in the waiting areas i can enjoy. It's the standing in line.

And I hope you can handle the length of this post, about...what?

So i suffice to say how we enjoyed Chicago on the way back.
It just so happened to be that Matisse had an exposition in the Art Institute of Chicago. I was thrilled about this, as a few people had recently told me that my work reminds them of Matisse. Well now, when there is any comparison, i have to go bigger. I loved it though, was surprised about the roughness of his work, the energy of it, the power, Never ever am i going to worry about perfection anymore. His perfection clearly in the totally letting go of all rules.
We didn't had much time to see much more. The building itself already totally awesome. mmmmm Chicago, i hope i'll be back one day, you're like one of my mountains that i love to climb again.

Oh and about mountains, you know how the weather can be brutal, well Chicago had a torrential rain storm the day of April 7. Under the overhang of the skyscrapers we somehow did make it to the Museum, which i didn't know exactly where it was, other than on the boulevard close to the lake.

Tomorrow; spring time in Holland.

i'm back

Yes, i went to Holland and the tulips were starting to bloom.
I am sure they are in full bloom now. As it is already a week ago i left Holland.
Alexander and i did a little more travelling, and we fell in love with this city.
Can you guess where it is?

I will post some more pictures of our travels, some time. I am rather busy now.
trying to catch up.
See you soon!!!