Characters from the Past

I came across a poem I had composed and was pleasantly surprised with its whimsical quality. As children my sister and I spent countless hours inventing comics which consisted of a large cast of complex animalistic characters. Looking back I believe we were quite sophisticated in our humour although it may have been somewhat naive. As I speak, my sister is on tour in Nunavut and the surrounding area, doing school presentations as part of the TD Children’s Book Week and promoting her new children’s book “The Pirate and the Penguin”.
I am rather amazed at her tenacity and panache to be able to promote herself. She has worked hard to get where she is today. You can check out her blog at http://storms.typepad.com/booklust/. She is everything I would say I’m not, opinionated, vivacious and unafraid. I have always been rather introverted. Even though I believed with my heart and soul that I would work and make a living with my art, (and I did start out that way), I went back to school as a mature student and acquired my degree in nursing. Don’t get me wrong, I love what I do and I worked very hard to get where I am today but it wasn’t the life course or path that I had planned for my personal journey. Just goes to show you, one can never tell the course that life is going to take them. Anyway, here is the poem and drawing.





Lion, skunk and panther
Bound in friendship three
Had one thing most in common,
They loved crumpets for their tea.

Every noon you’d find them
Bound in friendship three
Seated ‘round the table,
Sharing crumpets pleasantly.

Till one fateful afternoon,
Twas sadly meant to be,
Lion, skunk and panther
Quarrelled over tea.

It seems that Lion -
Snarling terribly
Ate up all the crumpets
And drank up all the tea.
Now to this day you’ll find them,
Bound in friendship three
Lion, skunk and panther,
Guard their crumpets carefully.

Natural Heritage

Pictured is an example of gneissic bedrock which have been formed at high pressures and temperatures and segregated into visible bands.

Virginia meadow beauty (Rhexia virginica) regionally rare is an Atlantic coastal plain species. This genus is mostly tropical; however there are about 10 species native to North America.














The Round leaf sundew (Drosera rotundifolia) found in bogs and wetlands, is a carnivorous plant that obtains it’s nutrition from trapping very small animals or insect life.













On our way back we came across a fairly large fen full of Cotton grass which indicates a limestone or alkaline base.


















Tawny cotton grass (Eriphorum virginicum)




















This Great Blue Heron was quite elusive therefore this was as close as we were able to approach.

A Weekend Away

This has been a busy summer filled with life and work changes one of which entailed moving to a different hospital. Near the end of the summer, my partner and I went for an overnight camping/canoe trip to the Severn Conservation Area. I haven’t camped in almost 15 years, so this experience was one I will remember for a long time. I was able to re-charge and do some much needed soul-searching while we enjoyed a weekend of exploration and discovery in this beautiful region.

This protected area encompasses approximately 10,000 hectares filled with vascular plant species, some nationally and provincially rare. The Severn River Conservation Reserve is reputed to contain the largest “continuous area of Precambrian bedrock in the world” (OMNR 2008).

We paddled approximately six kilometres and crossed many portages before reaching our destination for the night.

As you can see, this region provides a mixed range of bogs and wetlands; numerous small lakes and mixed deciduous and coniferous forest complexes.

Beaver dam onto outflow of Hart Lake.

We found a wonderful island to set up camp. Although it was the second week of September, I came across this green frog sunning itself at the water’s edge.

The next morning we woke to brilliant sunshine and a heavy mist, the results of which were quite stunning. The weather was unseasonably warm, as we enjoyed an early morning canoe; the scenery and the stillness.

Slow Growth

This summer has been unusually cold with the temperature dropping as low as 7 degrees celcius at night, so growth has been slow. As a layman, I have noticed a dramatic decline in the butterfly and bee population. The number of white admirals, pink ladies and monarch butterflies seems to have decreased from previous summers. I’m not certain if this is due to dwindling habitat, change in weather patterns or other factors.

It is of note that the Monarch butterfly (Danaus plexippus) is on the species at risk list of Ontario. For more information please see
http://www.e-laws.gov.on.ca/html/regs/english/elaws_regs_080230_e.htm

The Ruby Throated hummingbirds however, appear to continue their migratory patterns and we have the usual two to three pairs fighting over the hummingbird feeder. They also enjoy the nectar of the various garden flowers, especially the foxglove and lilies.

Both the males and females like to perch on the “weather” stick which is placed a few feet below the feeder. From there they keep a watchful eye on whoever invades their “space” and then an air battle ensues. It is an amazing show to watch as they navigate feeding and dodging each airborne assault.

The pencil sketches are a result of happy observations of these amazing and at times ferocious little birds.

Below is a small watercolour of the Ruby Throated female hummingbird with Cardinal Flower (Lobelia cardinalis)

Watercolour sketch Foxgloves (Digitalis purpurea)

Springtime

This is the time of year that I have long waited for. Birds are busy nesting, the spring peepers fill the night air with their intense trill and everywhere life is teaming. Every spare minute I have, you can find me in my garden. I love the earthy pungent aroma of the soil as it warms up, the feel of lush vegetation between my fingers. When I’m stressed from work, the garden is my haven, my safe place...

This spring has been rather cool and slow to start, and I’m hoping for warmer weather soon. I have been trying to baby along a Rose of Sharon bush that I hope will come back but so far is not looking too hopeful. Now my fireweed is starting to look rather limp.

We have had our usual occupants, snowshoe hares that have shed their winter coats, woodcocks and a pair of ruffed grouse which gave a wonderful display of mating rituals. Butterflies and dragonflies have made their way back and of course, our welcomed friends the hummingbirds.

There have been two to three pairs that have resided here and shared a hummingbird feeder for the past few summers. Many mornings I have found them fluffed up like golf balls trying to keep warm due to the cold dip in temperature.

I enjoy watching for the return of the various birds and insect life each spring. I am planning on attending a science forum in Buckhorn and will relay my findings....

Switching Gears

I have been spending time looking at other blogs to help me along in my blogging journey. As I stated in my profile, I have been slow in my blog posting.

Originally I thought about focusing on paintings and poetry, but not everyone is interested in looking at just artwork or the latter. So I’ll begin by talking a little more about myself.

I was born in Trinidad, (my parents resided there for a short time) and then we moved to Winnipeg where my siblings were born. My mother is from Jamaica and my father from Saskatchewan; but that’s another story.

I guess I’d describe myself as someone who “marches to the beat of my own drum”.

Ever since I can remember, I have been enthralled by the natural world, and spent many happy hours like most toddlers in sand and water, and other various modes of mucky amusement. I was fortunate to be able to spend my formative years in a wonderful climate where my insatiable curiosity could be satisfied.

When we moved back to Jamaica after my brother and sister were born, we spent many hours playing in an irrigation canal, catching lizards, frogs, toads and butterflies. I spent hours rigging up a rudimentary bird trap which included a box, string and stick and waited patiently for the hapless creatures to fall into my juvenile clutches.


I remember countless hours chasing quail while we visited with friends and relatives, swimming in the duck pond and watching the graceful swans at the Royal Botanical Hope Gardens. It is this early exposure to the natural world that I believe helped to fuel my love for the subjects that I paint.

That’s it in a nutshell for now. I’d like to take credit for these wonderful pictures but truth be told they were taken by my Mom and Dad.

Sehnsucht

I apologize for the long hiatus. Life has a way of catching one unaware. I have been thinking a lot lately of the phenomena of Sehnsucht. It is a German word that depicts longing, a yearning that we may not always be aware of. This can be a longing for a place such as ‘homesickness’, or a particular feeling, or person. A very dear friend of mine wrote a paper on this subject stating that Sehnsucht could be described as a longing, searching for that which is absent or seems unattainable.
Qualities to remember with the premise of Sehnsucht is, a desire for that which is absent, searching but never finding, a longing that cannot be filled in the temporal world, thus leaving a sense of the bittersweet.
For those of you that are interested in a fairly detailed account, check out this link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sehnsucht

Exuberance
Come to me on the sweet morning light
drink of my nectar
as the fresh dew
on the ground
find repose in my arms
as the dawn’s first rays
break across
darkened sky
Can you hear the breeze
as it sighs through the trees
it is I your love
your desire calling to you
spurring you on
Continue to seek
do not give up your search
fan your ardour
hope for me through arid days of
toil and barrenness
continue to thirst
do not grow faint

I am there
though elusive
always within
arms reach
Sharpen your senses
listen with earnestness
for my lilting song
stay ever hopeful
you’ll find me
at last

your roaming will
eventually come to an end
and your
empty heart
will be filled
again.

© Eleanor Thorel 2008

Glimmer
Can it be possible that my life has kick started into living?
To actually experience something akin to joy?
I hardly recognize it, seems like so long ago
since I've woken up, feeling glad to be alive
tentatively hopeful,
expectant and curious

like a child again.

© Eleanor Thorel 2008

Solitude
Ah, she cried out I am wasting
with my wanting
I cannot bear to be alone any longer
when I am ill who is there
to cool my head, hold my hair?
When I despair who envelops me
and comforts me?
In those dark sleepless hours
in the middle of the night
who hears my weeping?
Who wipes away my tears?

Hold fast dear one –
does not the dawn herald hope for a new day?
Look at your garden
bursting with life and color
birds find a haven amongst the foliage

sweet scents encircle you
a warm breeze caresses you
who can resist the cheerful song of the robin
announcing the day or calling for rain?

The busy chirping of the sparrow as she
flits from leaf to leaf.
Ah, so much beauty surrounds you
the opening bud of the climbing white rose
the abundant lilies.

In the middle of the night
the moon is there to shed her soft light
to illuminate the fireflies
remember,
things are not as they seem
continue to live life with the breath
of expectation and you will
not be disappointed।

© Eleanor Thorel 2008