priceless works of art

Autumn is here. Thanksgiving is past. Winter holidays are a long way in the future. More days than not are wet and cold and the fog is growing fond of rolling in and hanging around for a while. When the damp grey outdoors start seeping into my bones and bringing down my spirit, I grab my camera and go looking for colour. A fallen leaf -- perfectly formed -- brazenly brings colour back into my day. Why would I look up into the bleak and sodden sky, when I can look down at priceless works of art that lie strewn upon my path?

Living on an island means that no matter how gloomy the weather, I need to practice looking for Beauty right here, right now. No riding into town, surfing the net, or watching DVDs. Walking in nature, camera in hand, my eyes open for the exquisite contrasts in colour that are so abundant in Autumn, keeps my spirit alive and well and reminds me to be thankful for these natural  blessings.

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*******           Oceanwood Chronicles                                 credits and links             *******
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Photo credit: Photo by Jessica at Oceanwood.

Oceanwood Chronicles, copyright 2010 - Jessica at Oceanwood. Creative commons attribution, non-commercial sharing only (translation: feel free to quote me in context or use this entry but please always credit me for my work, thanks.) http://oceanwood.blogspot.com/

drupes, druplets, and dreams

It is October and we are savouring the fruits of summer. Though the blackberries on Denman Island this year were relatively small and the harvest modest in size, my family still managed to freeze enough for our winter smoothies. For years we have shredded our bodies and torn our clothes to harvest this late summer bounty so we can enjoy summer sweetness over the long winter.

One reason for the success of the blackberry bramble is that it can keep producing as long as it gets bee visits. The more the bee visits the more druplets -- juice filled berry bumps -- on the berry. Our relatively small berries this year tell us that our blackberry blossoms had fewer bee visits, most likely due to the very wet -- and cool -- Spring and Summer months.

I love the word, druplets. It reminds me of the poetic term: couplets, as in, rhyming couplets, only for a blackberry poetry "jam" we would compose using juicing druplets. A druplet is the petite version of a drupe -- a stone or seed surrounded by fruity flesh. A peach is a classic drupe. I did't know anything about drupes or druplets until writing this blog entry. How could I have feasted on fruit all these years and and never heard of drupes or druplets?

As the weeks of summer finally came to an end, our blackberry bramble continued putting out blossoms "just in case" it was able to grow through a warm and sunny early Fall. The first photo is one such late blossom that I found just beginning its hopeful cycle amid dozens of neighbouring dead stems that have long since dropped berries to the ground or surrendered its ripe jewels to picking fingers. Unfortunately, with so much rain and cool weather this past September, the bees visits no doubt were too few to allow the blossom to form fruit druplets.

Our valiant blossom -- the blackberries' gamble on warm Fall weather -- grows amongst brown leaves and rotting berries but, nevertheless, dreams of what might be. It does not permit what is to silence its perfumed call to the bees and or diminish its delicious beauty. I am inspired by this blossoms optimism in action. Maybe next year we will have an "Indian summer" and the blossom's gamble will pay off? I hope so.

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*******           Oceanwood Chronicles                                 credits and links             *******

***********************************************************************************************************

Image credits: Photos by Jessica at Oceanwood. 

Oceanwood Chronicles, copyright 2010 - Jessica at Oceanwood. Creative commons attribution, non-commercial sharing only (translation: feel free to quote me in context or use this entry but please always credit me for my work, thanks.) http://oceanwood.blogspot.com/