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Showing posts with label nature. Show all posts
Showing posts with label nature. Show all posts

Friday love



Good morning! 


This little fellow was singing his heart out this morning!
While I was preparing breakfast. 
And there was nothing better then to listen to his happy song while doing it!
For it all made me grateful to be alive!


Happy weekend!




All images by V.Zlotkowski
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A walk in the woods



An unusual warm "winter" afternoon made me forget all duty and beckoned me out into the woods. The dog was as happy as I and we frolicked for an hour in sunshine and under trees, seemingly ready to pop! Which is, of course wishful thinking, since February has just began.
Unlike my husband, I am all for spring....


It's a wilderness.

Along a sparkling brook.

The sky in the water, ahh!

Happy,happy!

My daughter's initial...on the ground, in the woods!

Ready for home?


We have these woods close to our neighborhood, a mere 5 minutes by car! We are so lucky, it's the closest we get to nature in a short time. 
Do you get a chance to go out there once in a while?
It is so invigorating and I always realize when I am there, how sun and wind, earth and sky make me deeply happy!
When I am in need for thinking or a little time away from it all, this gets me back to myself!












Images by V.Zlotkowski

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Winter white & gray

The sky is grayish white, I do not mind the overcast. Such days inspire me. The hibernating world gives me moments to dream and fill my head with images. Colorful or gray...



Images

I love the light and quiet, solitary feeling.

Image           

This bedroom calms me.


There is a comfort in that gray feeling sky, which lets me dream.

Landscape near Hudson on Hudson, NY


Happy weekend, everyone!





Images as indicated and my own.
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Then and now

I saw a photography by Helen Lukens Gaut at this site, and of course it provoked an immediate comparison to our own recently taken road trip, about 100 years later.

Helen Lukens Gaut, California coast ca. 1911

The road seemed a little narrower then, but the immense nature and  beauty of the Central California coastline have stayed the same.
  
 Not the exact spot, but...  the California coast 2011

It is wonderful to know, that there is such steadiness in nature and that there were people before me fascinated with this beautiful part of the land. Such loveliness. 


Helen Lukens Gaut (1872-1955) was born in Illinois, she moved with her parents to Pasadena when she was eight years old. Her father, Theodore Parker Lukens, a friend of John Muir, became known as the "Father of Forestry". He served twice as mayor of Pasadena in 1890  and 1894.


Helen Lukens Gaut ca. 1900


She married, had two children and later divorced. She remarried in 1905 and with her second husband James H. Gaut discovered California per automobile and taught herself photography. Her talent eventually led her to becoming a rather well-known  photojournalist. She rarely published after 1922 and turned her interests towards her love of music and song writing, in which she as well excelled.


It fascinates me, to discover a woman from so long ago I had not known at all. To find her not so far removed in interests and lifestyle and now to re-tell a sliver of her life...
These are magical moments of connection.











Image via site and my own.
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Impressions from the West Coast Part 1

Union Square in festive lights

We spend the time between the holidays and the New Year traveling the West Coast, showing our younger set of kids the beauty of coastal California. It was a huge success and apart from the cities we saw, the landscape impressed us the most!
Of course I could not get enough on camera.... 
Click to enlarge the images.

Looking at Alcatraz

There was the crossing of the Golden Gate Bridge towards Sausalito, San Francisco and the Redwoods.....

Golden Gate Bridge behind Fort Mason
My family in the misty light!

I love that view!

Palm trees at Fort Mason Park

We spend the Christmas Day in San Francisco, walking an exploring. The weather was glorious!We squeezed in a visit to the zoo and traveled by tram and cable car up and down the streets of the city!


Good natured Giraffe

View from the Cable Car

Small SF town houses like from a fairy tale

We finally reached the shore of the Pacific


We left the city behind after three days and were on our way south on Highway Nr.1 towards Monterey Bay, Carmel, Point Lobos and Big Sur!


Driving south

The coast was wild and mysterious

A golden light flooded everything

Every turn brought new vistas

And the sunsets were spectacular

If the journey had only consisted of the tour along the coast, I would have been very happy. It is one of the most beautiful stretches of beach anywhere I have been so far!

Exploring Point Lobos near Carmel-by-the-Sea

Watching a sea otter play

Seals were basking in the sun.


Our daughter is a talented photographer

There was nothing more wonderful the the warmth of the sun and the amazing light
Our son in awe of nature
May he remember forever
 From here we visited the Julia Pfeiffer Burns State Park,
filled with redwoods and waterfalls, gorgeous vistas and deep canyons.

This will be a part of tomorrow's post.
No need to overwhelm you all with pictures.

As a look at them again, I feel how, when I travel, the impressions rush by and only from a distance I am able to 
recognize all I have received. The impressions seem to imprint themselves a little later in my mind and now again I can feel the sun and wind in my face, hear the cries of the birds and the barks of the seals on the shores. I see again my children's delight and remember the moments of quiet contemplation with my husband by my side.


Wonderful days together

My daughter has become on this journey a photographer with a passion. She explored nature with her camera and walked with me for hours in the forest. 
The youngest was his father's companion, joining him on a special father - son trip to Carmel.

California is beautiful!



PS: I can report, we managed to travel light, only with each a carry - on and a handbag/backpack. The most restrained travel and yet we had enough for 9 days.
It was a squeeze at the air plane, but we managed. Air travel has become difficult to say the least, and charging passengers $ 25 per single luggage stops one from becoming overindulgent.  
: )


All images by V. Zlotkowski




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