Cold has frozen the creek and floods from the beaver dams, along with the snow, have flattened the grass. Things usually hidden in the undergrowth are seen in the winter, and they tell winter tales. Most of the fallen trees still have large amounts of soil attached to their roots, but this one has little left other than the skeleton. Even in death it seems to have suffered.
Flooding in the Delta
The rain stopped early today and we went down to a woodlands along the Pacific coast. There the high tide and strong winds blowing inland Brough a flood inland. Pathways throughout the woodlands were flooded, some were like little streams. What all the salt water will do to the cottonwoods I’m not sure.
The Lines Over the Cranberries.
This morning, early, I drove up and then down the Fraser River, looking for some magic in the fog. None was found on the river, which cleared sooner than the countryside running along it. Finally, when nearly back in town I saw these wires stretching across the cranberry fields. They were strikingly lonely looking.
A Walk in the Forest on a Rainy Day
A Walk On The Circular Path Around The Bog
For three or four years I have been taking this walk around the bog in Richmond, British Columbia. The hedges grow in around the route and block out the sun here and there, and left it in blazing a few inches away. The contrasts are sharp. The brush grows, often looking like wave formations and explosions. The heavy rains made the season short this year, already there is snow in the mountains.
The Rock Along the Pathway
A large rock along a pathway by the river, how much of it there is unseen, I don’t know. Usually it is covered with kids, as we are still close to the parking lot for the trailhead.
The Meadow Along the Pathway
Near The Wire Fence in the Forest.
There is a wire fence in the forest, I suppose it is to keep you away from the edge of the river, and away from the protected areas of the forest. Here the light barely comes through. Still, things grow, sometimes smaller and slower than you would expect. But they grow.
A photo from the garden this morning.
The light shines through the plastic greenhouses and seems so unreal. Late summer and the plants have stopped paying attention to the gardener’s instructions and gone where they will. As they make this last effort at growth at the same time they begin to falter and die. The colours change and the snails and other small creatures begin to make their way through them. A smell start to permeate the garden from edge to edge.Green turns to yellow.
Gardeners begin packing for the Winter.
The gardeners are just starting to clear out the gardens, some are packing their tools and collecting the sticks, strings, ropes and plastic covers hey used during the summer growth. Things will soon change completely.
Chicken Coop Number 4
On what appears to be some form of government land there are a series of old chicken coops, over the past three years they have become more and more overgrown. A nearby house, also abandoned, was perhaps a caretakers house not too long ago. Now there is some farming, but the roads are all gated now. Three hundred feet or so away is the Pacific Ocean, this is right where the Fraser River flows into the Pacific. According to maps this land was under water 100 years ago, then a dike was built and a landing for boats.
In the Rain Forest Along the Capilano River.
I walk through the forests to find these places where there is chaos, but somewhere a glimmer of oder comes through. That’s it, I just want a touch of order.
Along the Side of the Road in the Cranberry Fields.
The cranberry fields in British Columbia are controlled by pumps and dams, moving water around the fields throughout the year. Often, between the road and the fields talk grasses and bushes grow, taking advantage of the water meant for the cranberries, but also providing protection from the winds.
The Summer's Growth Reaches Into the Pathway.
The Forest Next to the Highway
A pathway runs along the highway, just behind a break of trees, allowing light to flow in from reflections on the road, stones and water.