Vine Leaves (May 21, 2007)

This picture was taken at the hostel where Juliet and I stayed in Florence. There was a small but beautiful garden, and these vines were growing freely over the covered area under which there were seats and tables arranged for outdoor eating and lounging. The weather was beautiful (for the entire time I was in Italy) and the sunlight filtering through these leaves brought them to these vivid shades of green, which stood out against the wall of the building in the background.

I think of Italy this way sometimes, a series of beautiful, crisply etched moments--like miniature landscapes, illuminated by the bright spring sun.

Lavender Field (July 4, 2009)

On the way from the airport back to my mother's house in Addiscombe, we stopped at this lavender-growing operation, a large field that appeared to billow with a soft carpet of intense purple. The lavender was being organically grown and sold in dried bunches for a small temporary shop set up by the field. There were also lavender soaps, oils, and other products.

Between each row of lavender was a path, and visitors were encouraged to walk around and snap photographs. Purple lines of plants seemed to blend into each other and stretch out to the horizon; bees buzzed and hovered as if stoned by the smell of the flowers.

For this photo I lay on my belly in one of the paths between the rows of plants, and placed the camera on the ground. A forest of lavender appears to tower around me.

Centre for Developing Area Studies: Archaeology Laboratory (14 October 2009)

Taken as I walked up Rue Peel to Mont-Royal, this picture shows what is obviously a department of McGill that is suffering from an advanced case of Irony. I couldn't resist snapping a couple of pictures as I walked by.

Near the Pond Road, York University (September 30, 2009)

This is one of those images that I almost couldn't capture in the way I hoped (the way I was "seeing" it as I walked past made it seem like a difficult shot), but I'm glad I tried (and succeeded). It can best be described as a moment of York University surreality. Assiniboine road is close to this spot, but not really close enough to justify finding a broken sign strewn across this random layer of shredded wood.

Montréal Pride (August 5, 2001)

Treaty House Window (January, 2001)

This picture was taken through the window of the Treaty House at Waitangi, looking out across the lawn towards the beautiful Bay of Islands beyond.

Here, New Zealand's Treaty of Waitangi was signed in 1840. The Treaty is described as New Zealand's "founding document", an agreement between Maori and the British (colonial authority). In spite of its many flaws, the Treaty is a unique document that has been used effectively by Maori in recent decades to fight for, and win, restitution for past wrongdoing by the British/pakeha and for various rights such as the preservation and cultivation of the Maori language (te reo Maori), which was defined as a taonga (treasure) and which must therefore be protected under the Treaty.

Red Velvet Chair (March 15, 2008)

This lovely chair was in the Octagon Room of Flamsteed House at the National Maritime Museum at Greenwich. I've already posted a couple of pictures from this museum, it was a fascinating place. I particularly liked this room. It was very light and airy--tall windows--and woody, with (of course) the added benefit of ornate clocks and antique telescopes.

Rubbish Bin (December 7, 2006)

Something endearingly Canadian: a garbage can at a bus stop near a Tim Hortons, packed with nothing but the special pre-Christmas/winter version of the ubiquitous Tim Horton's paper coffee cup. In Hamilton, no less. I find that Tim Hortons is one of the things I associate most strongly with Canada, since (unlike beavers, moose or Mounties) I tend to see Timmie's around, everywhere, on a more-or-less day-to-day basis. I even remember that my mother, coming over to visit one Christmas (from New Zealand), wanted first to be taken to Tim Hortons for a hot chocolate. The impressions sticks.

I'm heading to Hamilton for the day today, maybe I'll grab a medium-regular at Tim's on the way...

Horses, New Forest (August, 2004)

My sister got married at a place called New Park, a kind of bed-and-breakfast in the New Forest in Hampshire, England. The New Forest is somewhat known for its horses and ponies; those pictured were usually seen hanging out near the entrance to the drive that led to New Park. I'm not sure if someone "owned" them or if they belonged only to the Forest.

Our Lady of the Leaves (November 15, 2009)

This statue belongs to the (private, I assume) Catholic boys' school that is more or less across the street from the apartment building where I live. Over the past year or so they have been engaging in a short-term capital project, the construction of a performing arts centre, and now that the exterior has been finished they are re-landscaping the front of the school. I caught this statue as if posed amid the leaves that had all been (deliberately?) raked into a pile around her, creating the impression that she is standing not on a pedestal, but on a mound of vegetation--and that she quietly welcomes the approach of winter.