Location Taken: Newfoundland
Time Taken: July 2012
I need more cliffs in my life.
Seriously. Cliffs. Why? Because they’re awesome.
Location Taken: Gros Morne National Park, Newfoundland
Time Taken: July 2012
It’s no wonder so many fantastic photos are taken in red rock deserts. That beautiful red-brown just goes so well with both the greens of plants and the blue of the sky.
Not that I took this in a desert, mind you. This particular spot on the planet happens to have unique chemical properties that make it difficult for plants to colonize the rock, creating a very desert-like look with plenty of rain.
Still, red and green is such a marvelous combination. And then add in a dash of another color and oh my!
Location Taken: Deception Point, Washington
Time Taken: June 2010
I wonder if those who grew up in the Pacific Northwest really understand how mind-boggling tall their trees are. I’ve visited the area several times and I still spend a lot of time just staring at trees. You look up, and up, and up some more, and the tree keeps going…
It’s similar to how I felt when I lived in Chicago, now that I think on it. Instead of trees, it was buildings, but the concept was the same.
I wonder if others feel the same sort of way about things I’m accustomed to. I don’t really consider Washington DC and all its history and museums all that impressive. But people I know keep listing it as a place they really want to visit.
It’s all just what you’re used to having around you, I guess. Perhaps you, the reader, should take a moment to appreciate the everyday wonders around you, be it city or farm or forest or anything in between. I certainly am.
Location Taken: Chaplin Lake, Saskatchewan
Time Taken: June 2010
Did you ever think about how amazing salt is?!
It’s tasty, it’s plentiful, and it’s necessary for life!
Did you know if you don’t get enough salt in your diet, things can really get messed up? Especially if you combine it with drinking a lot of water. It’s called water intoxication, and if it goes too far it can be fatal. An imbalance in the various electrolytes in your system can lead to water literally flooding into your cells to try to restore the balance, which works about as well as you’d expect.
It’s pretty rare to actually encounter water intoxication these days. Most people have too much salt in their diet rather than too little, and most of what they drink contains plenty of tasty electrolytes of varying sorts. But if you tend to cook from basic ingredients (like I do) and drink a lot of water (like I do), you have to keep an eye on your salt intake. Especially if, say, you get sick with a cold that includes a cough, and you find drinking extra water quells the cough for a while, so you drink gallons each day. The first signs that something’s out of balance is a general absent-mindedness, a small headache, and a touch of dizziness. Not that I’ve had recent first-hand experience with such things, not at all…
Luckily, if you catch it, low level water intoxication’s pretty easy to fix. Just add more salt and electrolytes to your diet to bring things back in balance. It’s amazing how fast it works…
Time Created: December 2006
Simplicity. It’s such a (heh) simple concept, and yet, the more you think on it, the deeper it gets.
It can be saying exactly what needs saying, and nothing more. Stripping away all the extraneous clutter until you’re left with only the essentials. Seeking some deeper happiness rather than the instant gratification of the day. The trick is in how to determine what can be removed.
Take this image, for instance. I think of it as a luminous sailboat, on a perfectly clear ocean under a starless night sky. And its reflection, of course. The lines for the ocean and sky aren’t needed. Nor is any of the many details that real sailboats have. The mere shape is enough to suggest meaning.
And yet, that intricate coil of light inside the sail? At first glance, it seems far too complex for an example of simplicity. But take it away, and all you have is basic shapes. It stops being Art.