The tiny musings found below will perhaps provide you an opportunity to pause and reflect on our world and our place in it. You can subscribe to receive posts in your inbox (approximately once a week)! Note: all writing and art is © Christopher Buddle.
-
painted
basking on a sunny day
watchful, ready
slip back to a life aquatic
Painted turtles are lovely, distinctive reptiles, living in ponds and wetlands, but also resting on emergent habitat (often logs) to warm up. I like how you can sometimes see so many of these turtles lined up together on a single log – but they are ever watchful, and will quickly slip back under water if they sense a threat.
Turtles are emblematic of all that is great about nature: interesting natural history, connected myths, folktales, and symbolic to many cultures. And they are rare enough to be special when sighted, but common enough to be known and appreciated. Give a nod to these fine animals next time you catch a glimpse!
Note: I have not been publishing as regularly! Life is busy, I’ve been away a lot, etc. But instead of try to self-inflict deadlines, I am going to release myself from the promise of publishing *every* Monday morning, and instead try to publish approximately once per week, on whatever day a post comes together. And this week, it’s a Friday. Fun!
© Christopher M Buddle 2024
-
Scotland adventures
a craggy seat
above old town cobblestones
bagpipes echo
Arthur’s Seat, with the crag beneath. (Yes, there is a strong vertical line! This is done on a mini Moleskine watercolour album, with the fold of course!) I have not written a post in a while, due to a vacation to Edinburgh. We had an amazing time in a truly outstanding city. From climbing Arthur’s seat, to castle visits, walking through old town and new town, and visits to museums, art galleries. I had not been to Scotland before, and I was beyond impressed. We did manage a trip out of the city one day, which included a visit to Stirling Castle. One of my favourite views on the whole trip was a glimpse through a small garden out towards the Wallace Monument, which was a kilometer or two away. I tried to depict in with this watercolour:
As usual, I took a mini watercolour album on the trip and tried to capture various landscapes and sights. There was no shortage of opportunities for pulling out a water brush and quickly painting some scenery, buildings, or other interesting things. Edinburgh Castle is so dominant in the city that it showed up more than once in the album:
We also really loved the walk along the Leith river, and happened upon Dean Village – an adorable with the river flowing right through it. It was like stepping back in time.
Dean Village And while we mostly had good weather, we also were subject to wild rain storms that appeared out of nowhere, including on our walk up Arthur’s seat. The sky grew dark and ferocious, and we huddled next to the ruin of St Anthony’s Chapel for ten minutes, and then the sky cleared again and we enjoyed a sunny day as we hiked up the crag.
Thank you, Edinburgh! We are privileged to have met you.
© Christopher M Buddle 2024
-
the eagle flies
under watchful eyes
royalty of the sky
survey their domain
Bald eagles are impressive birds of prey. Distinct, large, magnificent. They are also resilient, recovering in population sizes compared to decades ago. In my area they are seen semi-regularly, and this spring they have been nesting just west of our town, thrilling bird-enthusiasts.
Iconic, perfect feathered friends.
Fly, eagle, fly.
© Christopher M Buddle 2024
-
Le Plateau
sidewalk terraces
bustle on st laurent
a montreal gem
Montreal has so many incredible buroughs, but one of the most iconic is Le Plateau. On Wikipedia it is “...known as a young, student-friendly neighborhood with streets full of charming townhouses.” It is charming. It’s very busy, and it’s full of great places to eat and drink. There are wonderful vintage shops, incredible restaurants, and in the warmer months, innumerable terraces pop up on the sidewalks and streets, and people sit, relax, and sip their favourite beverages. The walkups are also very characteristic of the Plateau (and other buroughs in Montreal) – the architecture is distince, colourful, and lovely.
It’s the most densely populated area in Canada, apparently, which was a surpise to me. While it feels busy, it does not feel overwhelming. For visitors to Montreal, a wander through the Plateau is a must-do. For those in the area, it’s a great place to grab a poutine, and see friends. For those who live in the Plateau, I know it’s a heck of a great place to call your home.
© Christopher M Buddle 2024
-
Spring migrants
tiny traveller
chirping hellos from treetops
birder’s delight
Spring migrants are truly a birder’s delight. I’m totally addicted to the “Merlin” app – which has a feature in which it can listen to birds and provide you a best guess for identification based on vocalizations. Warblers and many other small migrant songbirds can be difficult to identify, but they do sing a lot! So I find the Merlin app incredibly helpful. I can sit on my front deck early in the morning, coffee and app in hand, and take in the bird life surrounding me.
One species I love to see and hear is the Ruby-Crowned Kinglet, illustrated above. These tiny birds flit about the hedges and thickets around my yard. They are stopping over at my place these days, on their way further north. The males have a striking red tuft that emerges when they are excited.
© Christopher M Buddle 2024
art, bird, birding, drawing, ink, kinglet, migration, natural history, nature, ornithology, pen, poetry, spring, Watercolor, Watercolour -
Unfurling
from the forest’s floor
nature’s geometry
uncurl, unfurl
A quick watercolour, done on non-watercolour paper. Sigh – perfection it is not! Ferns are wonderful plants, and seeing them grow this time of year is lovely. The forest floor is greening up, and on several of my favourite walks, ferns are common. They grow quickly these days, aided by warmer days and spring rains. Soon there will be a thick, verdant blanket in the forest. Fiddlehead are of interest to some for eating – the tightly coiled growing tip of the fern, just before it unfurls and uncurls. In addition to being a culinary delight, the geometry of growing ferns is splendid.
© Christopher M Buddle 2024
art, drawing, fern, ferns, fiddlehead, forest, fractal, geometry, nature, poetry, spring, Watercolor, Watercolour -
Dreaming of fish
the angler waits
largemouth lurks, watchful
northern lakes
I am reading The Patch by John McPhee. It’s a collection of his works, and the first piece is about fishing. He paints a lovely picture of the fishing patch and the dance between angler and fish. The story is really about his father and the author speaking about his fishing adventures at his father’s death bed.
Fishing is, of course, a metaphor for life: persistence, patience, fleeting, slow, and sometime fast and furious. Fishing is a solitary act, yet not a lonely one.
I grew up fishing. I would spend time on the lakes of Ontario, trolling for lake trout, or casting a lure just next to lily pads, hoping to get a bass to strike. There was something special – romantic – about being on the water, the sound of the reel, the calm of the surface and then punctuated by the excitement of the strike. I recognized it was special even as a young boy.
I’ve not fished much in the past decade or so, but as summer approaches and after reading about fishing, I am drawn to it. Or, well, I can draw about it. My overzealous approach to hobbies and passions is a bit of a problem. But like so many things, you need not have to head outdoors to go fishing. You can dream. You can take a deep breath, close your eyes, and be back on the pond, or be quietly canoeing down Copper Lake, the line humming behind the boat. You can close your eyes and imagine the bass, bluegill or trout beneath the surface, living an aquatic life. You can close your eyes and feel the gentle summer breeze, hear the buzzing of deer flies, or the distance sound of a raven.
Nature is always close by. Fish are always there, waiting.
(Note: Yes, this is a day late… sorry!)
© Christopher M Buddle 2024
-
Spring chorus
hopping for love
with a deafening chorus
wetlands come alive
There are many signs of spring to celebrate (I’ve written about this more than a few times, including posts about geese, turkey vultures, and more!), but another one of my favourites is spring peepers. Or, rather, the noise that these tiny frogs can make. In my neck of the woods, it’s right around now that the chorus is Full On and Loud (here’s a YouTube video that makes the point). It’s all about mating, of course, and the singing of these amphibians is for love. I have friends who have wetlands on their properties, and they tell me how these critters can be so loud that it can disrupt a good sleep! They sure can sing, sing, sing.
Oh, HAPPY EARTH DAY too 🙂
© Christopher M Buddle 2024
-
Book Announcement – Portraits of Nature
I am excited to announce today that a two-plus year project has finally seen the light of day.
In A Portrait of Astonishing Nature whimsical pen and watercolour artwork is paired with haiku to depict 53 plants and animals found in Quebec and surrounding areas. From darting dragonflies, to magnificent pine trees, mythical snapping turtles, elusive moose, and sleek tree swallows, readers will be enthralled and inspired by the beauty of nature. This book is accessible to a range of audiences, from the nature-enthusiast to armchair biologist, lover of poetry and watercolours, and for anyone who cares about the world’s biodiversity.
Proceeds from the sale of the book will support a Conservancy Land Trust called Creek 53, located in the western part of the town of Hudson, Quebec (I have written about it before). It is a wild, and beautiful place. It contains old-growth and secondary forests, meadows, agricultural lands, wetlands, small ponds, and creeks. It is home to a plethora of species – over a dozen different kinds of amphibians and reptiles, over 60 tree species, 150 or more plant species, and over 180 bird species, and hundreds of insects and spider species. All these species are all being preserved in perpetuity for future generations. The 53 species depicted in the book occur within this Land Trust.
The book is now available through Friesen Press, and will soon be widely available on Amazon, etc. I will be doing events and book-signings in Montreal later in May, and closer to Creek 53 in June. You can bookmark this website for updates.
I must also thank so many people who have supported this work, first and foremost the Creek 53 Trustees, but also my family (they were so patient, especially when I spend a very significant part of my holidays last summer truly obsessed with finishing up watercolours – the dining room table was covered with art supplies for weeks on end…). It’s been a wonderful project and I am grateful for being able to complete it. And, thank YOU for following, and I hope you consider buying the book, which in turn will help to preserve biodiversity.
© Christopher M Buddle 2024
-
Totality
night during day
a great celestial pause
the light returns
I know I usually post Mondays, but I decided to wait and honour the eclipse from yesterday. It was a truly rare and spectacular event, and Montreal (at least the southern part of the city) was in the path of totality (we experienced about a minute and half of the full eclipse). And the weather was perfect.
The experience was incredible, Nighttime during daytime. A noticeable temperature drop. A mix of people hushed and people clapping and shouting in glee.
Life is busy, people are overwhelmed, stressed, and society at large is in a rough patch. So, taking a pause during the eclipse, and bathing in awe and wonder, was needed, valued, and valuable. We stood together, as a community.
The next full eclipse in my part of the world will be long after I’ve returned to stardust.
So it goes.
Nature's Reverie 