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Not a Dandelion (and 'Civilization' Fights Back)-146/365

Posted by Ellie
I have been watching these plants with their seed heads for some time, as they were along the side of one of the paths that Joni and I take on our walks. My friend Linda and I walked it together a week or so ago and she told me that she has also been curious as to what they are.

 

She said that the flowers only open for a very brief period early in the morning (which was why I had never observed that 😉 ). She also said that most of the heads simply shut up and die. Only a very few turn into these large and intricate seed heads which are very similar to dandelions. But these are much larger, about 3″ across. And the stems they are on are between 2 and 3 feet high. I have no idea what they are, but I am really glad that I photographed this specimen as the other day an over enthusiastic village worker went through and mowed down all of the wild flowers and grasses next to the path, including these. So they are all gone.

‘Civilization’ Fights Back

The field that I photographed the other day ((Read it here)) has also been mown completely flat. All of the wild roses, all of the lupins, all of the tiny wild strawberry plants, the milkweed flowers  – monarch butterfly nurseries – as well as the wild blackberries have all been cut down and destroyed. I guess the village was threatened by all of this natural beauty. I could have cried. I am only glad that I caught it with my camera before this happened.

 

Arthur's Visit to Nova Scotia-146/365

Posted by Ellie

That's tropical storm Arthur, in case you wondered…

For those who are wondering what the destruction was like and why it took so long for power to be restored to so many customers in the Maritimes, I thought I should post this picture. (Again, out of order, but who cares? Not me.) There were many downed power lines and phone lines caused by the huge number of trees that fell. This translated into a loss of electricity for up to 5 days (see +Steven Kennard's post here https://plus.google.com/104584322313471697637/posts/AnJXk24VAnh for exactly what that means in this region). A good friend of ours even put his back out badly hauling water for his family from a nearby stream. Roads were blocked by fallen trees and the loss of telephone land-lines put at risk those people who have no mobile/cell phone coverage in their area (quite a lot near us) and the elderly or those who choose not to have such phones but might have been in need of medical attention. 

Power and the phones were restored, but in seemingly random ways. One family had the electricity restored to their house but not to the one next door. So they ran an extension cable to 'lend' electricity during the outage. Our neighbour called to offer to share his generator with us, if we needed it, to keep our fridge and freezer from thawing. People helped each other and got on with life as best they could. Now comes the cleanup. _Oh, and don't touch the red wire! 😉 This was taken the night of the storm when there was a lull.

Not able to comment on Google+? Prefer to comment on my blog? It's right here: http://www.elliekenard.ca

So one for  #powerlinefriday +Powerline Friday by +Natosha Davis and for my friend Charles at  #cableicous +Cableicous by +Charles Strebor
#365project +G+ 365 Project by +Simon Davis-Oakley +Patricia dos Santos Paton


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Earth's Restorative Powers-145/365

Posted by Ellie

I was walking at the edge of this field a couple of weeks ago when this rich array of wildflowers drew me to walk right into the middle of it. There were lupins of white, purple, blue and pink, white and red wild roses, and so many more flowers that I couldn't name. All of these were crawling with beautifully marked spiders, insects, tiny butterflies and bees. Now and again, underfoot, there was a crumbling bit of concrete which was the only evidence that a school, complete with large parking lot had stood there only a few short years ago.  It reminded me of the poem by Shelley, "Ozymandias" which has the line "Look on my works ye mighty and despair". (link to the poem below for those who don't know it). 

The earth has such wonderful restorative powers that it quickly produces great beauty and fruitfulness in places formerly occupied by dull, ugly and heavy concrete structures. Such healing of the scars left here really touched me.

This is for my friend Levy, who tells me that she reads all of my posts and loves them, though she is not on G+ herself. Thank you for that, Levy. This is for you.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ozymandias
Not able to comment on Google+? Prefer to comment on my blog? It's right here: http://www.elliekenard.ca

#365project +G+ 365 Project by +Simon Davis-Oakley +Patricia dos Santos Paton

As these are Canadian wild flowers, this is for Photo Mania Canada +Photo Mania Canada #photomaniacanada  by +Giselle Savoie and +Mark HELM 

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Breaking the Fall-144/365

Posted by Ellie

I have got myself into a downward spiral of not publishing my photos. They might not seem 'good enough' or it might be that I don't want to show one more floral image, or I might be too tired (most frequent) or it might be too late. Whatever the reason, I knew I had to break the cycle and just upload and share. This peony, one of my favourite flowers, was resting on the path, so splendid in its unfurling pinkness, so sweet in its wonderful perfume, it too easily might have been trodden underfoot. It's just as lovely as those standing proud above it. So (for my friend Joyce) here it is. 😀

#365project +G+ 365 Project by +Simon Davis-Oakley +Patricia dos Santos Paton

HQSP Flowers #hqspflowers +HQSP Flowers curated by +Kawthar A +Krystina Isabella Brion +Maria B-R +Zita Nahm +Kanlaya Chungsangornpornsuk

#bellesphotos +Belles photos by +Jean-Louis LAURENCE +Claudya Bonnet


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