The most gnarled tree still holds out attraction and our love.

The tortured trunk of a gnarled tree stands alone on a rocky point. Moving with the pressures that have exerted themselves on its life, it has formed itself into a beautiful and unusual, unique form. It clings to life still, and fulfills its unique purpose. Its roots move tenaciously through the rocky soil, finding nourishment wherever they can, sustenance to continue its survival.  See it against the early sky, you see its beauty. Lean against it on a stormy afternoon, you feel its power. Think about it in the quiet of the night, you may learn its secret. Love it, and you will be endlessly nourished.

It is the most interesting tree in the park. Especially so in winter when it is bare and we see its true form. Those winter moments in our lives that strip us bare and gnarl us up are what make us interesting and unique. If we suffer no hardship or pain, feel no resistance to our growth, we may grow straight, tall and be admired, but it will be admiration in passing. Eyes and attention will soon turn towards the unique ones, where the crowds gather and conversation flows. They are more approachable because they are less perfect - more like us.

We may admire the beautiful people. We may even envy them. We may follow them around and try to be like them. But when it comes to the people in our lives that we love the most - that are our best friends - that we would help in any way we could - it is the ones who are less than perfect. We know they are approachable. We believe they are more likely to accept us as we are, with our imperfections, because they have lived life with all of its ups and downs as we have. They know that everyone makes a decision that is less than perfect when under duress or in the midst of heady excitement. They know that we all need more than one chance at taking the right action. They know that life is a series of choices (sometimes difficult ones) and is lived, much of the time, by trial and error, if it is actually lived with enthusiasm and curiosity.

But if we examine very closely, we will find the flaws of the beautiful people - and in the end, they are no different than the rest of us. We just think they are. What is it about our nature that compels us to pick at seemingly 'perfect' people, looking for the ugliness beneath the beautiful facade? We do not find the most beautiful flower in the garden and pick off all the petals looking for ugliness, but we do have the desire to do it with other human beings. Why are we so uncomfortable with beauty? Is it perhaps that we don't like the image we see in our own mirror - or is it that we feel there is no perfection and want to set the records straight?

I like to think that there is perfection in all form. Regardless of whether the form suits the purpose to the highest degree is a moot point to me. The less than efficient forms still suit their own individual purpose to perfection. And the perfect ones give us cause to examine our own thoughts and actions- an opportunity to decide if we might want to change something in our lives.

"The moon in the gutter shines no less clear than in the swimming pool on Rodeo Drive."

Found a website one day that I find very interesting. You have the ability to start a campaign for or against something. Your choice. Then you broadcast to all your friends and promote getting people to sign up and join your campaign. To quote their About page "The Point lets anyone start a campaign asking people to give money or do something as a group, but only if the campaign hits a predetermined tipping point." I think that's a great idea! Granted some of the campaigns are localized, and some of them are just plain silly, but some of them are really good. It allows average people to join together and have a voice. To say what they would like to say to corporations, with the backing of others, and without spending millions of dollars in resources to get the word out.

The particular campaign I signed my name on to is one challenging major women's magazines to do a photoshoot of real women with out all the photoshop editing afterwards. If you don't quite get what I am meaning - watch the video from the Dove campaign below. Towards the end of the clip, after the photos have been all taken, there are some subtle and not-so-subtle changes made to the final photo before it appears as a huge billboard ad. Take a look at the end result, and then take a look at the woman standing before the camera in the very beginning. She is beautiful just as she is. Now, I am not saying there is anything wrong with curling your hair up and making it look soft and pretty, nor is there really anything wrong with putting on make up if you want to. Women have been doing it for hundreds of years in one form or another. But it is the changing of the facial structure at the end that annoys me. Much research has been done by multi-national companies to make a decision as to what "look" sells best. Which eyes, what colour skin, what shape of the cheekbone and brows ...  they have it all figured out ... and then they pull it together on the computer.

In the process, the average woman on the street is duped into believing that this is the image of perfection, and that it exists, when the only place it really exists in that way is on a computer somewhere.  It doesn't even help the ego of the model getting paid money to stand for hours in front of the camera and hot lights and distort her face and body into a million different poses at the click of a shutter. She knows that the result on the page is not really the way she looks in the mirror no matter how much you make her up. That in itself signals 'no matter how pretty you are, it's just not quite good enough'
So what does all this have to do with me and my interest in nature? Why do I care? Well - for one, I believe that there is beauty in all of nature and we don't have to change it around to make it so. And for two, I believe that the common man should have a say in how things work in this world. So this seems to combine the two beliefs into one action I can take to make a change. And that is three - taking action rather than just complaining and wandering off because the idea of actually doing something is overwhelming.

I'll get down off my soap box platform now.   ; )

On the garden front (or back actually) - I had a tomato plant protected by chicken wire to save it for me. The tomatoes were just getting nice and big, and I was hoping for some rain and sunshine to ripen them and make them juicy. My mouth was watering at the thought of it........... but it will not be.

Such is the state of my tomato plant today! Not very fruitful.

And there is the footprint of the culprit that ate it! I fed the deer last night apparently. My tomato plant wasn't the only casualty... I had a sunflower that was just beginning to bloom as well. I would show a photo - but I no longer have one to photograph.

This year was a test year for the garden. I am trying a few things that I like to see whether they will survive the deer and the winters. If they don't I will plant other things next year. Guess the tomatoes will have to go in a greenhouse if I want them. Most of the yard is just natural - I let it grow as it pleases, but I do like colour and blossoms, so am looking in the wild to get clues of what I can actually grow that is native and requires little attention.... and doesn't get eaten by deer.

But such is the hazard of gardening in this town with plentiful deer. And I am not terribly upset, as to me it is a beautiful thing that I can have animals wander through my property without feeling threatened by me. Not exactly encouraging the bears or cougars, though they are beautiful just the same.

If you want to check out The Point and see what challenges they may have for you to be involved with, or sign up to the one I did, the links are listed here.

The Point

Show our Beauty Campaign

I was called outside today by raucously noisy critters in my yard. One was a stellar jay and the other was a squirrel. The jays are here all the time, but I hadn't seen the squirrel before. A chipmunk yes, but not this squirrel.

So what do these guys have in common except that they make a lot of racket when they are upset about something? And what might they be upset about? Well, they both seem to like the cones in my fir trees, and happened to be squabbling over who was getting which ones. The chipmunk likes them too. It is the tiny seeds tucked in that they feed on.

He was on my lawn beneath the largest of the fir trees when I caught a glimpse of him skittering across my grass. Up the pole he went and then sat there watching me.

As I quietly crept forward to get a better photo, the squirrel worked his way closer to me within the safety of the tree branches.  It needed a closer look at me as well.

The jay wasn't quite so curious having seen me wandering around plenty of times before. He just washed his food down with a drink, then continued flitting about the property checking for new places to stash food for winter.

Jays like shiny things too, as well as their regular food. I kept wondering where my shiny stones on my table were disappearing until one day I watched a jay through my kitchen window. He landed on the table, looked them over, took his choice away and stashed it in a hole under the foundation of my shed. It then proceeded to cover the hole entrance with leaves and sticks so it wasn't so visible.

Both of these critters are interesting in their adaptability to areas of human habitation. They are not afraid of us, and use our habits to their advantage when convenient. Although one is mammal and one is bird, they will both take what we humans offer if it helps them. Both will fight over peanuts (literally)- not that they are particularly good for them. And the thing about feeding birds or animals is that once you start, you need to continue. They rely on you.

Squirrels will make themselves quite at home in your attic if given the opportunity. It's nice and warm up there in winter - and sheltered from the storms. Stellar jays will happily use open spots in your buildings for hiding their food (or other found objects)!

Caught him checking out the neighbour's shed for storage potential! There is lots of space at the eaves to stash goodies for winter.

It was an interesting time spent watching their antics. If find it touches something deep within when another type of being on this planet stares directly at me, then carries on with its business, acknowledging that it knows I am there, but doesn't feel threatened by me. To me that is a compliment of the highest form. I have been accepted as part of the nature of this planet.

Have been spending too much time on my computer indoors lately. Partly because of the workload at the moment, and partly because we have had some extremely hot weather, and it's cooler in here. But these last couple of days have been cooler with some rain, so sneaked outside for air!

While I was out there deadheading the abundance of daisies that have come up all by themselves I took some pictures of the insects that were in amongst the flowers.

A fly on the daisies. There were several different types of flies flitting around, really hard to identify any of them.

Bumble bee gathering pollen on his legs - on an everlasting flower. The photo is  fuzzy, be he was cute so I put it up anyway. Loaded down with pollen!

A type of crab spider to the right and a fly to the left - eying each other suspiciously .

A type of fritillary on the daisie blosom

A brownish hopper waiting for me to stop watching so he can eat my plant leaves!

All of these insects plus numerous others that I haven't depicted were at work in my small garden patch in the short time that I was out there. It's a busy world when we stop and take a close look. Each of them feed on small things, and are food for bigger ones - there is a reason for each and every one. If one insect disappears it's like taking one card out of a card house... the rest of the house collapses. Life forms are all inter-dependant, relying on one another, and that includes humans. I never use any toxic substances in my garden - not fertilizer nor pest control. The bounty of birds are my pest control, and if compost won't do the trick to make plants grow then they probably don't belong here to begin with. Indigenous species do not need to be fertilized in any way but by the natural process in the wild. If that limits my choice of plants for my garden, so be it. I would rather be healthy, and have a healthy patch of the planet for my grandchildren to play in.

Had an enquiry from a reader as to exactly where all this great scenery was from, so I will tell you. It is the middle section of the southern part of British Columbia, in Canada. Much of it is the in Okanagan Valley, but some from other areas I travel. The photos in this post are from Penticton. The name is purported to come from native languages that means 'a place to stay forever' or something similar - and it certainly has many good things to offer.

Here's a Google map of this area of the planet. Click the plus or minus signs on the upper left corner to zoom out or in and get a better concept of exactly what part of the world it is.

To start with, the land is sandwiched between two rather large lakes. Which makes it really easy to go for a swim in the summer (as long as you can get a parking spot). Actually, it only takes about an hour or less to walk from one end of town to the other, so you're never far away.

On the hillsides surrounding the town, and up and down the valley that it is settled into, are fruit orchards and vineyards. Not too far away up in the hills is a ski hill for winter, along with a number of good fishing lakes. It's a city of over 30,000 people in the winter, but summer time brings a large influx of tourists to enjoy the many activities available.

Looking south towards Penticton. This is Okanagan Lake.

Looking north from the same spot as above, towards Kelowna, the next big city about an hour's drive away. It's a good sized lake, about 80 miles long or more.

This is the river channel that connects the two lakes. As you can see, on this hot day, it is filled with people on rafts of one sort or another drifting down the channel to stay cool and have some fun.

This photo is on Skaha Lake, at the south end of Penticton. It too is filled with people having fun in the water. The beaches get pretty crowded in July and August, so you have to get there early if you want your favourite spot.

If you were a slow riser and there isn't enough room on the sand, one can always go kite surfing, water-skiing, para-sailing, or take off on a jet ski.

If you just aren't in to sun and sand, then there are lots of vineyards and wineries tucked up on the benches above the city, and of course, tasting tours!

And if none of that suits your fancy - well, there's always golf. Lots of courses to chose from.

Now that you've had the tour, you will probably understand why stepping back from work and enjoying the life around me is a favourite pastime. I have been blessed to live in an area of such abundance, and I intend to take advantage of it. It has also played a huge part in my being rather water conscious, because outside of the irrigated zones we live with sagebrush and bunch grass. Makes you realize just how important that water is.

Rocks have always been intriguing for me. I have collected stones and pebbles (and some good sized boulders) most of my life. I find I come from a long line of rock collectors, and the tradition is continuing. As I travelled between provinces to bring my grandsons to visit, by the time we arrived, we had accumulated a small collection. Some of them were picked by my daughter as well, so it continues down the family. One was much too large to return on the plane, so it remains in my garden as a reminder.

When I was growing up, there was a pile of rocks at the base of an extremely old willow tree near the entrance to our property. It was just something that was there, and I never really questioned it. Just seemed to be part of the landscape. But as I got older, my Mother and I happened to be working nearby clearing up the fall leaves and pruning the shrubs, and she mentioned it. So I pursued the subject with her, and found out that she had brought most of them home herself and remembered the origin of almost each and every one. There was a fair sized pile of them, and I found it rather amusing at the time, when I looked at the pile of rocks and the size of my Mother. We had a good laugh over the seemingly nonsensical activities we feel compelled to continually do. She had gone to great lengths to bring these mementoes home with her from fishing and camping trips, or drives in the country, merely to pile them next to the tree.

I do much the same. I have a small collection outside my door at the edge of my patio, but these are small rocks - not the size that Mom picked. I have moved many of them with me from home to home, thinning out as I go, but never, ever finding the ability to leave them all behind. There was a time when we were travelling, prospecting and making jewellery that we laughingly placed a self-imposed '50 pounds a day' limit on our collections! Believe me, it can get out of hand! But that was when we had a rock saw and polishers and actually did something with them. Now that I am involved in other activities, I try to limit the size to something I can put into my pocket and still be able to sit down.

They don't have to be gemstones (although I have found a few of those as well) - they can be plain as can be. Sometimes it is the smooth feel of them in your fingers, or how well they fit in your hand. Sometimes it is the colour, or perhaps a patterning of colour running throughout. Maybe there are fossils trapped within, or a pleasing combination of different types of minerals. Often when I stand at the edge of a river or lake my attention will be caught by the colour of a stone lying beneath the water. Yes, I will suffer wet shoes or freezing toes and fingers to get at it! Why? I have no idea. It just speaks to me and I want to take it home. I will even go so far as to lick a rock if there is no available water nearby to check out how it looks when it is wet!  Sounds crazy and yucky I know, but when I am pulled in by its attractiveness, common sense and femininity go out the window. I don't care if someone just saw me lick a rock - I want to know what it looks like wet! The colours are so much prettier then.

When rocks are wet, the colour becomes quite obvious, they are no longer just dull grey.

These rocks below are what they call thunder eggs. What are thunder eggs? They are a state of stone that combines an outer layer of one mixture of minerals, with an inner layer of something completely different. There are different theories put forth on how they are created - but I like the native  story the best!

It is with rocks like these that jewellery can be created, such as I have shown on http://watersedge.weebly.com/retrospective-gallery.html

Outside of the thunder eggs. They are about 2 or 3 inches long.

Inside the thunder eggs. It is like opening a surprise bag - you never know what beauty you will find inside.

But pebbles and rocks don't have to be sparkley and fancy. They just have to attract your attention enough for you to investigate them.... to connect with them. And while you are holding them in your mind's eye, feeling their texture, appreciating their colour, marvelling at the mixture of minerals and bits of things in them - you leave your challenges behind for a few minutes. You are focused on mother nature and her wonders, and realize that there are things far greater and more magnificent, more puzzling even, than how to solve your own problems. You connect with the grander scheme and remember that you are part of it, and if the universe can come up with solutions to how put things together in such a grand way and make them work, it surely must have a solution to the problem you are fretting over. All you have to do is keep your eyes and ears open and your mind willing accept the suggestions that come to you. Give them a go and see what results.

We have had a cooler summer this year than the past few have been. Global warming has moved the temperature up when the sun is out, but we have had more rain than recent years. It has been a rather nice relief, as too many months of high temperatures create conditions for forest fires, test the stamina of the people and the animals, and wither the plants to brown much earlier in the year than normal.

If the beaches are full you can always go kite surfing to keep cool.

It has been in the mid 30's for several days now, but yesterday we had rain again. Thunder and lightening as well. The skies were rumbling, the rain was pouring, and I was busy at the computer, hoping that the power was not going to go off!  Fortunately it didn't, and the rain ceased before dusk, so there was a bit of a sunset, and at twilight I sat on my step enjoying the cool fresh air. The nighthawks were whipping through the air catching the bugs and the buck was slowly browsing his way around the edge of the stand of trees across the road. As darkness fell a half-moon the color of an orange slice shone in the sky as the stars began to peek out from behind the slowly evaporating clouds. The orange color is caused by smoke from forest fires across the border in the U.S. We have had it several days now as the wind blows it up from the south, so the rain also helped to clear the air and the odour is not quite so strong.  It was peaceful, and a chance for me to cleanse my thoughts and reconnect with the natural world.

The past month has been a busy one, and at times rather rushed and stressful with much hard work involved. I don't always deal well with pressure anymore. Too many years of having to do-it-regardless with no opportunity to take a break and look after me, has embedded a rather persistent aversion to it, even though the circumstances have changed dramatically. Somehow, my brain still wants to go into shut-down mode. I have to keep reminding it that I can take a break whenever I please now, so it doesn't have to do that to me anymore.  I tend to take breaks quite frequently because of that - and as a result, progress rather slowly sometimes! This will produce the inevitable feeling of guilt at not working more quickly (because I am used to very short deadlines), so then I have to deal with the guilt ....... and on it goes!

It's all a matter of balance and re-programming my thoughts and the resulting feelings. Connecting to nature helps me do that. It's called ecotherapy and it works wonders. We are, as I have said before, a part of nature. We have evolved for thousands of years being in complete connection to it. Now, we are becoming very detached from it and suffering the consequences. It's the reason we all love to spend a weekend camping or at the cottage in the woods. We reconnect with the natural world and it helps us balance the frenetic energy we get caught up in the rest of the week. We don't even have to be conscious of doing it - the benefits of a long walk in the forest or field had been recognized long before the word 'ecotherapy' was invented.  Keeping 'cool' is not only about body temperature, it's about state of mind as well. It's about keeping connected to what we really are.

Reconnecting at the end of the day.

It is mid-summer in the Okanagan-Similkameen, and tourists abound. The weather is once again sweltering hot, the breeze has disappeared, the animals are napping in the afternoon to avoid the heat .............. and so am I.  Up at daybreak to open doors and windows, and up late in the evening to do the same, a mid-afternoon siesta works wonders to keep my energy flowing.  I don't always fall asleep, just take the time to wind down and refresh. This process may seem archaic to some. "Why not just get an air conditioner?" they will ask. Well, I have had them, and been very thankful, but for this house in this setting, it is not necessary. For me, it is an opportunity to let go of the attachment to power consumption for everything I do. Some places I have lived would never have worked this way - I wouldn't have survived! But this house has trees on the west side, good insulation, great air flow through the house and the system works very well. I really don't need to drop the temperature to refrigerator level - I just need it several degrees cooler than outside. I find that I feel healthier if I am not breathing 'conditioned' air all day (not to mention the lack of stress when reading the electric bill!) If you live in an apartment block in the city, it is pretty hard to do without one, I agree, but closing curtains to keep the heat of the sun out - perhaps putting a layer of UV shield on them, and keeping doors and windows closed in the hottest part of the day can help control the build-up of heat during the day.

The saskatoon berries are ripe and juicy and wonderful!! Great snack while walking. Bushes are loaded (minus what the birds and deer have feasted upon).

Was out wandering the trail early this morning before the sun got too hot, snacking on saskatoon berries at their peak, and checking the water level in the river (just because I needed to sit by the river for a while).  It's a great way to start my day and I relish the opportunity to get outside, clear my head and connect with the natural cycles of the world.

The river level is way down from last spring.

If you want to see the difference, I posted a photo on May 21 where this bank and some of the shrubs were completely covered by rushing water.

Have had a small critter visiting my garden recently. An underground one! We have had several days of back and forth interaction, but I think I have finally found him/her and chased it away. I didn't want to kill it (though I had several offers of suggestions on exactly how to do that!) I just wanted it to go somewhere else to make its home. Didn't find any plant root damage, it just kept covering the small plants up with its mounds of dirt as it tunneled around beneath them all.

First I tried collapsing the tunnels by digging with a small shovel and just letting the dirt refill the tunnels, but the tunnels and mounds would merely appear somewhere else. So I decided to try the opposite tack. I moved all the plants that I wanted to keep to another area of the garden, and every time there was a new mound of dirt, I opened the tunnel up until I could find a small hole leading off somewhere else. The critter of course didn't like the light and heat coming in, so would fill the entrance again. Each time he filled I dug a little farther and he filled and I dug farther. Finally we came to the edge of the sidewalk and I realized that this little guy was no dummy. He had made his home underneath 4" of concrete where it was nice and cool and dry. It was also rather nice soil to work in as the town workers who constructed the sidewalk had laid a nice layer of sand before pouring the concrete. So finally I have chased him out to find a more suitable home (more suitable for me, at least) - and succeeded in doing so without collapsing the sidewalk! Now I can put my garden back together and hope that he doesn't return next year. I also hope that he didn't just move to the neighbour's yard or I will be in trouble!!!!!

He/she is right in the middle of the photo - just a small face peeking out at this woman who is destroying the peaceful lifestyle he thought he had found. All it really had to do was move across the street, lots of vacant land there. No sidewalk, mind you, but plenty of shady trees to keep the ground temperature cool.

So, now that my family has returned to their home and I am all alone in my empty house (boo hoo) ...... it is back to business for me. And business this month includes the Thirty Day Challenge. If you haven't heard about it, it is basically a month of free coaching with tools included, on starting up an internet business.  It amazes me the amount of time and energy the group spends in putting this together each year, with no charge involved. Now, many of these tools are available for free on the net already, BUT the time a person who is not adept at internet marketing would take to find them and test them and put it all together in their heads about how to USE them in the proper way would be a huge deterrent to actually making use of them. Within this month we get a point in the right direction, a walkthrough on how to set them up, and an explanation of how to use them to advantage. We also have access to all other members of the challenge to exchange questions and ideas. The time saved is enormous, not to mention valuable monetarily. The information priceless. The interaction within the group from all walks of life, from all over the globe, is something you would be hard-pressed to find elsewhere.

They do it for several reasons, but one of them is the opportunity to give back to the world. At the end of the challenge there is money raised through an auction and various other means, that is donated to KIVA. So, not only are they helping those of us registered for the Challenge, they are also supporting those who are not at our stage of development yet. It is just a HUGE gift to the world, and it makes me think about exactly what I give back for this wonderful life I have. I know that I am  generous with assistance, knowledge, and whatever I can share, with those I already know - but this is a small circle I function within. The world is vast. I touch so few people on my journey.

The ability to spread the helping hand-up around the world is awesome, and I firmly believe that it is the coming together of people from all walks of life that enables it. Someone has an idea and discusses it with others - others agree it is good - each person does his part and the result is much, much bigger than the sum of the parts. We all tend to think that we are helpless in changing the world because it is such a monster in comparison to one little person - but one little person is where it starts. And one little person more, is where it continues. It may not seem to each individual that they have done much at all - but when you combine their work with the rest of the individual accomplishments, it multiplies in a hurry.  Like the ants building a nest. One ant doesn't do much by himself, but together with the rest of the colony working toward the same goal, mountains are built and the landscape changed.

Ants busy building their hill. Each one separately doesn't seem to do alot, but together they move a tremendous amount of earth around.

I think what has been organized each year for the past four years now is absolutely awesome and am grateful for the opportunity to be a part of it. I am determined that as I get better at what I am doing, I too will be able to contribute to a much larger sphere of influence - one small step at a time.