subtle shapes and colours 8 comments
It seems that the gap between my posts and travels continues to grow day by day. Opportunities to post have been few and far between, so you’re seeing events that happened about three weeks ago. I do plan to close that gap soon — once I am settled in the place I’ve chosen to winter. In the meantime, I’ll provide a quick sketch of where I’ve been since these photos were taken while crossing Saskatchewan in October.
I continued west into Alberta and British Columbia, then turned south at Cranbrook, B.C., crossing through the northwest corner of Idaho, then into the eastern side of Washington state, then down to the north edge of Oregon to travel west along the Columbia Gorge as far as Portland. From there, I began to move south through Oregon, visiting with friends along the way, then into the California redwoods of Del Norte and Humboldt counties. The weather took a serious turn for the worse while I was in the redwoods, so I moved east through the Trinity Alps region, visiting with friends in the Redding area, then on east and south through California and through the edge of Nevada on the way to Arizona. That’s about where I am now, with just a few hundred miles left to go. As mentioned, I will make an effort to post photos from these travels as there were many interesting things to be seen and those, in turn, inspired certain thoughts and ideas which might be nice to put down in writing.
Now, about these photos. While crossing the prairies, I tried to keep a sharp eye out for wildlife. There is a lot to be seen while on the prairies. However, it’s a little more subtle than what we might be used to seeing out east where you either don’t see wildlife at all, or you see it up very close. On the prairies, gatherings of creatures are often seen from a great distance, so you must watch for subtle shapes and colours. The geese in the above photo were just such a case. From a couple of miles or more away, they looked like a tornado-shaped swirl of dark specks. As the distance closed, I could make out bird forms that appeared similar. At closer range, I realized that these were geese, probably mainly Canada and Snow Geese. Click on the above photo to see a much larger version. I’ve left it at full size so that you can see the geese better — so you’ll have to scroll around to see areas of the entire image.
Likewise, the below photo doesn’t look like much of anything, does it? However, if you click on it, you’ll see that there is a herd of Pronghorns grazing in a field which has been harvested. I was on the lookout for Pronghorns as I crossed the prairies and spotted them on a number of occasions — always at some distance from the highway, but easy to recognize by their white bellies and rumps. As some of you might remember, I wrote about Pronghorns on my Burning Silo blog two years ago.
Well, I have to get on the road, so must cut this short. However, I just wanted to let everyone know that I’m doing okay, as is Sabrina. We’re a bit weary from our travels and looking forward to settling down to get to know the natural history of one place this coming winter. I’ve been reading everyone’s comments (they come in on my email via the blackberry that I am carrying on this trip). I’m sorry that I haven’t been posting replies, but that’s been difficult and my days have been taken up with cooking over campfires, hiking, shooting photos, packing up the camping gear and moving on, visiting people, and occasionally checking in and out of motels here and there across the landscape. I think of everyone often and try to drop by to visit your blogs when I catch a moment of time on the net here and there. Take care all. I’ll try to put up another post soon. – Bev
8 Responses to 'subtle shapes and colours'
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I love seeing photos of the prairies. There is something about that expanse that pulls the imagination. I did wonder why you posted a photo of a plowed field. It’s like looking out to sea and spotting the dorsal fin of a dolphin for a moment, and then gone.
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Excellent post. That’s a part of the world I’d like to see someday…
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Wow!
Geese?
I thought locusts! (just kidding) But, you’re so right about emphasizing the scale. It’s easy, when rolling past mile after mile, to begin to lose detail in the vast expanses.I’m glad you’ve made it south–weather’s turning chilly. The sun must feel good after days of gray.
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Bev – I have been struck by how much of your previous leg of the journey looks like Georgia (not in the winter though!). This part is very definitely alien!
That’s a fantastic photo of the flock of birds – very good contrast. You mention the difference in wildlife encounters, and the infrequent but upclose encounters is what we have here. It’s usually a surprise to all of us, and there’s usually an anxiety component on one party or the other, or both.
Once you’re in Arizona, and I guess that’s probably where you are right now, or close, do you see yourself in a different mode? Not the weary traveller so much as the resting settler?
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robin – I love open spaces, especially deserts and the high desert, prairies, and long curving beaches. They provide a very different way of viewing the world than anything I’m accustomed to in my usual habitat.
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Dave – I hope you do get to spend time on the prairies. I kept thinking that I would like to turn off the highway and go exploring up some of the roads leading off to the north and south. That may happen sometime next year.
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Nina – I’m glad to be down where it’s warm and dry. Truly, this was a difficult journey in terms of weather. There had been snow on the prairies a day before I crossed through and it felt frigid everywhere. I hit tons of rain for the last few days while in the PNW, so I’m quite relieved to be “going where the weather suits my clothes” (to quote from that line from Midnight Cowboy!). No joke — in my eventual panic to get on the road after tons of delays, I actually *forgot* to pack any warm clothes and boots!!
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Wayne – if the prairies seem alien from Georgia, wait until you see my desert photos! (o:
Regarding how I’ll feel once in Arizona — I’m not yet sure. I’m hoping that I can settle down and explore the natural world in the place where I’ve chosen to spend the winter. And I’m feeling like I need a lot of rest to recover from the past year. The past month on the road felt more like a form of anesthesia than rest after the difficult last few months caring for and then losing Don. The short answer is that I guess I won’t know how things will work out this winter. That remains to be seen. -
Hi Bev,
What a fantastic journey so far and a relief that you will be settled for awhile. The prairie pictures brought up so many memories of my childhood.
Did you know that although I was born in Ontario my family returned to their roots in the west and I did not come east until I was 14 or 15?
We love your journalogue and photos and Geo and I think of you often.
Lyndi -
Hi Lyndi,
Nice to hear from you and find out that you’ve been following my blog! I kind of think I remember you once mentioning that you had lived in the west for awhile.
Take care,
bev
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