Last weekend was absolutely gorgeous, here in London, Ontario! For most of the weekend the sun shone down but there were a few hours filled with intense storm activity. I spent most of my time working in my gardens and when I wasn’t digging in the flowerbeds I was relaxing with eyes closed feeling the warmth of a June day in April!
Saturday started off with totally clear blue skies, but by the afternoon an even haze of grey came in to block the sun. I was sitting at the far end of my garden inspecting the work that I had just finished when I heard a few songbirds singing in my great ol’ maple tree. I looked up and became inspired!!!
With the grey – almost white – sky in the background, all of the thousands of little leaf blossoms dotting the tree branches became dramatically silhouetted and the textures I was witnessing really captivated my attention.
I got my camera out and began taking some photos. Later, I spent some time on my computer trying to be artsy as I fiddled around with some of the colour adjustments to create these fun images.
About an hour later, the scene changed dramatically. The winds picked up and grew stronger and soon the treetops were swaying out of control as cross currents of air fought against each other. The skies grew very dark but only a few drops of rain fell during this time. As quickly as this storm built up, it began to fade away. I was looking out of my front window and I noticed the all-familiar ‘broken skies’ that frequent Southern Ontario throughout our Spring.
It looks so interesting to see one half of a sky in complete darkness while the other half of the sky is filled with brilliant blues and striking sunrays.
I think that is my favourite time of a storm; when the edge of a cloud mass is passing overhead and you can see this dramatic contrast between darkness and light!
About half an hour later the skies were blue again and I was back in my garden continuing with my planting.
A bittersweet feeling came over me. Of course I was delighted with the warmth that the sun was bringing into my home but I couldn’t help but think that this weather was a bit out of season. My worries about future weather and climate changes seem to be given validation as each day goes by.
Because we received only three snowfalls this year (March broke records for being the first March – in London’s recorded history – with no snow on the ground) the soil in my garden is already becoming dry!!! I have never watered my flowers in this season until this year. I watered them sparingly, giving just enough to help settle the roots and tubers into their new homes after I had planted them.
After Saturday’s storm blew quickly past leaving no rain on the ground I began to wonder if we were in for a very dry spring. Boy was I wrong!!!!
Starting on Tuesday morning the rains came and seemed to enjoy themselves here, because they didn’t leave for four more days. Although the temperatures dropped and the skies were overcast (it even snowed yesterday for a few hours), I was happy for all of this flower fuel – LOL!!!
I’ve always enjoyed rainstorms in Southern Ontario. After five years of travelling across Canada and witnessing storms in so many different regions of this country I have been able to realize the uniqueness of this area. These photos – taken from my school bus – show the intensity of the variety of textures our skies embrace during a storm. The skies can be filled with dark clouds, whisspy white clouds, with blue skies breaking through with the sun that leaves traces of yellows and oranges on the fringes of the storm clouds.
All of these rains have been very welcome in my garden.
My patch of Day Lilies has tripled in size (tho’ they’re still very small) over the course of five days!
And my first flowers of 2010 have begun to brighten my world!!!
Since I took these photos, my flowerbeds have really begun to fill in with the bright colours of purple and yellow.
One of my favourite things to do is crawl around my garden with my camera on a macro setting trying to capture inspirational images to share with you, my blog readers!
Enjoy!!!!
Jim
Saturday started off with totally clear blue skies, but by the afternoon an even haze of grey came in to block the sun. I was sitting at the far end of my garden inspecting the work that I had just finished when I heard a few songbirds singing in my great ol’ maple tree. I looked up and became inspired!!!
With the grey – almost white – sky in the background, all of the thousands of little leaf blossoms dotting the tree branches became dramatically silhouetted and the textures I was witnessing really captivated my attention.
I got my camera out and began taking some photos. Later, I spent some time on my computer trying to be artsy as I fiddled around with some of the colour adjustments to create these fun images.
About an hour later, the scene changed dramatically. The winds picked up and grew stronger and soon the treetops were swaying out of control as cross currents of air fought against each other. The skies grew very dark but only a few drops of rain fell during this time. As quickly as this storm built up, it began to fade away. I was looking out of my front window and I noticed the all-familiar ‘broken skies’ that frequent Southern Ontario throughout our Spring.
It looks so interesting to see one half of a sky in complete darkness while the other half of the sky is filled with brilliant blues and striking sunrays.
I think that is my favourite time of a storm; when the edge of a cloud mass is passing overhead and you can see this dramatic contrast between darkness and light!
About half an hour later the skies were blue again and I was back in my garden continuing with my planting.
A bittersweet feeling came over me. Of course I was delighted with the warmth that the sun was bringing into my home but I couldn’t help but think that this weather was a bit out of season. My worries about future weather and climate changes seem to be given validation as each day goes by.
Because we received only three snowfalls this year (March broke records for being the first March – in London’s recorded history – with no snow on the ground) the soil in my garden is already becoming dry!!! I have never watered my flowers in this season until this year. I watered them sparingly, giving just enough to help settle the roots and tubers into their new homes after I had planted them.
After Saturday’s storm blew quickly past leaving no rain on the ground I began to wonder if we were in for a very dry spring. Boy was I wrong!!!!
Starting on Tuesday morning the rains came and seemed to enjoy themselves here, because they didn’t leave for four more days. Although the temperatures dropped and the skies were overcast (it even snowed yesterday for a few hours), I was happy for all of this flower fuel – LOL!!!
I’ve always enjoyed rainstorms in Southern Ontario. After five years of travelling across Canada and witnessing storms in so many different regions of this country I have been able to realize the uniqueness of this area. These photos – taken from my school bus – show the intensity of the variety of textures our skies embrace during a storm. The skies can be filled with dark clouds, whisspy white clouds, with blue skies breaking through with the sun that leaves traces of yellows and oranges on the fringes of the storm clouds.
All of these rains have been very welcome in my garden.
My patch of Day Lilies has tripled in size (tho’ they’re still very small) over the course of five days!
And my first flowers of 2010 have begun to brighten my world!!!
Since I took these photos, my flowerbeds have really begun to fill in with the bright colours of purple and yellow.
One of my favourite things to do is crawl around my garden with my camera on a macro setting trying to capture inspirational images to share with you, my blog readers!
Enjoy!!!!
Jim
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1 comment:
Hi Jim, wow your garden is beautiful, so much love there. Brilliant pics, gorgeous sky and trees...thank you for sharing your garden with me...much love and blessings Joanna (Mass Superconsciousness)
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