Internet Chatter – Bikes and Other Fun Among Crazy Birds

Happy New Lunar Year of the Tiger! As a blogger or Internet forum participant, it helps to remember your life, ego and beliefs should not bank solely on the  Internet. So don’t believe the above  painting of Chinese ladies in flowing silk robes, on mountain bikes.  Not real. The bicycle didn’t get invented until the…

Overlooked Paths: Discovery and Unexpected Encounters

A few weeks ago, in a park I decided to veer off by bike, onto a different side route.  This side route was right by the entry of a popular bike pedestrian bridge.  I’ve been ignoring this well-marked cut-off, for the past 9 years. I’m not sure why we never bothered to slow down, dismount…

Miracle Moments: Of Bears, National Bird and Other Critters at Banff National Park

Of all the times we’ve been to Banff National Park, I haven’t seen any bear roaming about yet except when we were cycling on the Continental Divide west of the Park over 15 years ago. This summer Jack did spot a bear when he biked out to Vermillion Lake, a popular marshy area with birds,…

A Wilderness Jewel: Lake Moraine

Recently another blogger, an American ex-pat living and teaching in Thailand, mentioned she saw someone selling canned Canadian air to mainland Chinese tourists. Not a surprising scam. Whenever we’re hiking or snowshoeing in a Canadian national park, I always marvel sucking in fresh mountain air,  gazing over clear turquoise gem lake waters, pristine expansive wilderness…

Startled by Wildlife in Urban Parks

Until last year, I never paid any attention to birds, except for a trip to Brackendale Park in British Columbia to see bald eagles. I just miss seeing the red cardinal bird that’s frequently found in southern Ontario, but not in Alberta.  Or the blue jay bird which seems to be rarer on the prairies….

Autumn Amble for Wild Birds

Golden leaf medals Quiver ‘n flake off in air: Autumn sighs deeply. Cloud tuffs swhoosh blue skies, Paintbrush branches sweep above While crunch stepfalls on path. Great Horned Owl –o- wise, Wind sweeping -fluffs your feathers, Solid wisdom sits. Wood Duck puffs colour Bands green-blue and magenta: Moving mosaic. 

Flickers of Chance: Wild Creature Sights

Throughout Cyclewrite, I’ve featured magnificent deer, elk, bighorn sheep, eagles and blue herons. Most  photo gems taken by myself and Jack, were simply random opportunities where each of us did not plan to stalk the creatures. Serendipitous Benefits and Outdoor Activities Over the years, serendiptous wildlife sightings are just another benefit of spending lots of…

Bald Eagle in Wilderness, Our Neighbourhood – Brackendale Eagles Provincial Park and Vancouver

Jack once told me, he saw a bald eagle fly high by the window of  our highrise condo building.  The soaring bird was at eye level.  That’s very high –over 20 stories high. If you are patient, while biking, jogging or walking slowly around the shoreline in Vancouver, a bald eagle might be soaring ahead or perched…

Cycling Through Curtains of Fog, Twilight and Darkness

I don’t fancy myself much of a night rider. I don’t go night cycling just for fun.  Night riding for me is strictly utilitarian –commuting to and from work, occasional shopping or cycling to a restaurant/event not far from home or hotel.   I’m slower because I can’t help but think something might suddenly jump from behind inky black shadows…

Mountain Leaf and Light Dancing

Art and poetry are mere light and colour shadows, whisper-thin metaphors of Nature.  Here are some paintings and haiku I fashioned. Windswept leaves flung Down mountain, spin freewheelin’ Water cradles home. Translucent layers Fold a mountain range,  Copper-flames burnish gently. Glory gold glitter Rustles stories and dream-light Cast a fairy spell.

Bald Eagle: Fierce Majesty at Attention

The sight of a bald eagle stops anyone dead on their tracks.  It makes you just shiver a tad   –its razor sharp hooked beak, cold jewel eye staring from its snow white head rising from its muscular feathery dark bulk.  The eagle just looks as if it could rip you apart.  And it does  —…

Paint My Heart in Autumn Red-Gold and Orange

So far, there’s only one painting I’ve done, stoked by warm memories of Ontario’s stunning autumn leaf colour.  Swaths of flaming orange, red and gold paint forests, in parks and trees along streets and attract many walkers, cyclists and  car trip drivers.  While Vancouver, BC maps cherry blossom viewing locations every spring,  in autumn, Ontario…

Waterfalls, Falling Sheets of Mist

Misty water, suspended water and waterfalls have teased my imagination. When I visit somewhere or dream, I like to capture it in photos, poetry and in art. I may have not visited the exact spot. But tumbling waters that leap over the edge and rocks, release a memory of other places where I’ve been –Takakawawa…

Red Rock Canyon: Nature’s Open Heart Surgery

When you look down Red Rock Canyon towards the parking lot, it appears the green Earth busted an angry vein and ripped open its heart to blue sky and mountains. We were confronted by this rocky bloody slash in the earth, after driving 15 km. through Blakiston Valley, along a winding, peaceful road in Waterton…

Nurturing Life: In Praise of Gardeners, Keepers of the Earth

As a non-gardener, I couldn’t help giggling at a tiny stand of flower pots for sale when we stopped by the University of British Columbia’s Botanical Garden Shop, during a bike ride last month. One of the pots had a garden ceramic sign emblazoned:  Grow, damn it!  Do expert gardeners lose their patience too? Respect for…