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.
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Snow Geese
white specks, high above
thousands of friends in flight – honk!
Arctic lands await.
I am very fortunate to have seen snow geese on their breeding grounds, which is in the high Arctic. Over a decade ago, I spent time on Bylot Island one summer (searching for spiders) and I was staying in “goose camp” with researchers studying snow geese. It was an astounding and awe-inspiring trip. I’m also thankful that my home now is along one of the (more minor) flight paths of snow geese as they make their way north in the spring. About 30 km away is a location where they hang out for a while as they migrate north. A few weekends ago we drove down to see if they were still there, and true to form, we saw thousands of them huddled together on the ice (the bay they were in was about two-thirds ice-covered still). Seeing snow geese is another sign of the changing seasons.
It was breathtaking – so many birds! And so much noise! After about 20 minutes we saw a few dozen more fly in to join their friends, and about ten minutes after that the entire flock took off and started slow skyward circles. Thousands of white birds on the wing is difficult to describe and even though they were about a kilometre or so away, you felt as if in their midst. The black tips of their wings create contrast and a vibrancy to the movement- almost as if they were shimmering as they did slow circles.
Our earth gives and provides so much for the most amazing flora and fauna that has evolved to perfection; the value of this cannot be estimated in terms we can grasp. It is everything. So, watch the trees, spiders, birds*, and moose at every chance. Nature’s Reverie is all around us. If we watch, we might start to care more, if we care, we pay attention more, and spend less time tied to screens indoors and in sterile environments. When we pay more attention, we notice changes, including those that are causing harm and those that are beyond normal variation.
Thousands of snow geese in flight is surely an easy pathway to astonishment; nature provides a palette for astonishment every single day.
*I realize that my posts are very biased towards birds! I’m a bit obsessed with our feathered friends and, well, make no apologies for it either!!
© Christopher M Buddle 2023
Arctic, art, drawing, geese, ink, migration, nature, pen, snow geese, spring, Watercolor, Watercolour -
Electric
frozen April rain
branches fall with icy weight
plunged into darkness
Last Wednesday we had heavy freezing rain (about 20-30 mm accumulation), and with the winds that followed, many trees fell and branches broke. Since most of our hydro lines are aboveground, this resulted in massive power outages (1.1 million customers at the peak)*. Our power was restored on Sunday evening, well into our fifth day without electricity. We fared well enough** – a combination of a charcoal grill, camp stove, and a small generator which allowed the fan on our fireplace to keep our place from feeling too cold. And while it is spring, nighttime temperatures were well below freezing most nights last week and over the weekend. Many people are still without power, and it might be a few more days for some.
It was stressful, and unsettling, in part because for a few days the cell networks were down as well, so getting updates was tricky. We actually pulled out an old radio from the basement to get updates – evidence that old technology still plays a role in our high-tech society! Overall the last few days was a strong reminder of how dependent we are on comforts of a warm home, cell phones, stoves, and hot water. It is good to be grateful, always, and not take such things for granted. Now, time for a hot shower!
*In this part of Quebec, freezing rain and power outages are not uncommon, but the one last week sure lasted longer than most. Such events bring back strong memories in our region, as the ice storm of 1998 (which occurred in January of that year) was truly historic and impactful. We weren’t in Quebec at the time, but many of our friends talk of that time often.
** and we fared well because of the generosity of so many of our friends – THANK YOU! (you know who you are)
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Lunch
mid-day ritual.
a magic taste explosion
– rolls of perfection
I really like going out for lunch. That is a fact. I especially love finding places that serve food I don’t normally make. I recently found a terrific sushi place near my work- they make it fresh, it is delicious, affordable, and while the decor may not be spectacular, the food is. Last week I had a lunch meeting cancelled so I wandered down and got my favourite selection of sushi which included the spicy shrimp rolls. I almost wolfed it all down before remembering to pull out a sketch book and do a quick drawing*. Sometimes having a sketchbook and pocket set of watercolours comes in handy! Next time you are in Montreal, grab some lunch at “Sushi Inbox” on Union Ave, just south of Sherbrooke. Yummy!
* it is not a great drawing, I realize. But, well, perfection is the enemy of progress, right? Sometimes a quick sketch is better than nothing. It was also done in a sketchbook, not on watercolour paper. For those who are curious, using watercolours on paper not designed for them is a bit tricky, so it becomes more about getting the colours down loosely and in a “good-enough” manner. They just don’t blend, soak, or move around in the right way. But, I will always remember that lunch because time was spent on the illustration. Art makes memories better.
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Signs of spring
sniffing out roadkill
with slow erratic circles
thank you, bald beauties
Notes: For many people, a first sign of spring might be seeing a Robin*, or perhaps watching crocuses push up through the cold earth. For others, it might be the flow of maple sap, or perhaps just the equinox itself, when the melt really kicks in and March sun baths us in warmth and the day length gets more noticeable. For me, one of my favourite signs of spring is the return of the turkey vultures. Always around this time of year we see these magnificent birds reappear (they are migratory in my part of the world). We see them slowly circling overhead, gradually moving northwards. This, as I have learned, is called a Kettle of Vultures.
Our town seems to be directly on one of the (slow) migratory paths of vultures, and we sometimes see up to 20 or more birds overhead at one time. It always seems to be on one of those first warmer days in March, and always around the equinox. This year was no different, and it was last week we got the pleasure of their company again. They actually hang out for a while in a wee patch of forest a few blocks from our house, and we also know that the more contiguous forests 5 or so kilometers out of town is a favourite location.
I did a search through some old notes recently and discovered the Haiku, written above, from 2016! It was timely since I had the turkey vulture art already done but hadn’t yet written the accompanying Haiku. Upon reflection, it was around 2016 that I started writing more nature-themed Haiku and the seeds of the ideas for this blog were established. Now, so many years later, it is happening.
There are perhaps a few lessons to draw from this: first, give things time. Ideas jotted down on pieces of paper, or formed in the recesses of your mind, or typed into a note on your phone, sometime come to fruition, even if it takes years. Second, it is acceptable to worthwhile having lots of crazy/different ideas all the time (something I suffer from!) – because the good ones come back again and again and stick. I am convinced that time can be a filter that helps sort out which ideas might have staying power. Third, document, document, document! Sometimes do you find some gems that your former self might have created. If you didn’t sketch them, or write them down somewhere safe (and searchable) they just might get lost.
* many robins are actually around all winter here in the Montreal area, but they still seem to be sign of spring for many. I’ll also mention that my post is, of course, biased by my geography – mid-March here always means snow on the ground still, frosty/freezing nights, but daytime that starts to get above freezing. It’s a glorious time for Canadians!
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Typing
clickity-clack, ding!
hammering words, carefully.
Satisfaction.
I simply adore typewriters. It is immensely satisfying to write with an analog machine. I learned to type on a typewriter when I was in high school. I think my grade nine class was one of the last in my school to have the opportunity to take the typing class as an option. The classroom was FILLED with the glorious noise of the keyboards, and the ding-ding-ding sounds could be heard throughout the halls. Learning to type has been a life-long skill that has proved so useful and when I see other people type, I feel grateful for my grade nine typing class. I can move along at a pretty good tempo!!
Since about September I started writing a semi-regular journal with a typewriter (perhaps I could share some of them on the blog, sometime – what do you think?). I find the process of sitting down and in one shot putting thought to paper is immensely gratifying. It’s an intimate relationship with the written word – and one that cannot be overthought, or corrected, or erased. More recently a friend of mine sold me a beautiful typewriter called an “Olympia” – these are German engineered, and the model I have is maroon coloured (lovely!) and has a tab-function (rare for the time!). It’s also silky smooth, and (haha) “portable”. This means you can carry it around in a case, but by today’s standards, it is not really all that portable. Although, in fairness, if you wanted a workout when walking to work, carrying the typewriter would do it.
ChatGPT has, for me, raised questions about originality and creativity, and it has actually reinforced my love for typewriters. It’s an antidote to machine learning, and while I do very much appreciate AI tools for some of what they can do, and they are game-changers in a lot of areas in society, they cannot replace the deep and authentic connection between the human brain, the muscles in the arms, hands, and fingers, and the typewriter. Playing around with ChatGPT, however, has been fun in its own right, and I did ask it to produce a Haiku about typewriters, and here is the end result (very impressive):
Clacking of the keys,
Ink on paper, timeless sound,
Typewriters still sing.
Which do you like better? My Haiku, or the one generated by Artificial Intelligence? What image do you like better? The watercolour, or the photo of the Olympia’s keyboards? To each their own, of course. But for me, clickity-clack all the way.
AI, analog, art, ChatGPT, drawing, ink, Machine Learning, pen, type, typewriter, Watercolor, Watercolour, writing -
People
Everywhere you look.
Bipedal sacs of water
– together, alone.
Notes: As mentioned recently, I have been in a bit of a creative slump, so when I saw Liz Steel’s “One Week 100 People” challenge was on again this year, I jumped at the chance. In essence, the challenge is to draw 100 people in a week, and although it’s meant to be over a Monday to Friday period, I took a couple of extra days. Otherwise, the rules are simple: draw people, using whatever medium you want, from reference photo, on location etc. While 100 is the goal, the number doesn’t really matter, which is good because I was not able to get to that number (I was close…). I really enjoyed pushing myself in this way, and drawing people has never been something I have excelled at, so the commitment for a week was a terrific way to refine the skills. Trying to do 20+ people sketches per day also means you are forced to stay loose, quick, and just not get overly obsessed with perfection. I also decided to mostly stick to simple tools i.e., a pen (micron pen), adding a bit of shading with a brush pen or ink wash. I also largely worked from reference photos since most of these were done on the commuter train, on my way to or from work.
So, what you have is some examples of the work. From from perfect, but fun to do anyway, and I hope you enjoy. Maybe you would like to do the challenge sometime? It doesn’t have to be a once-a-year thing. It can be an every-day thing if you want! Just like Haiku, doing quick sketches of people can be a two minute adventure.
Oh, some of you sci-fi geeks out there may have recognized the reference in the Haiku, to a terrific quote in Star Trek: The Next Generation. We are just ugly giant bags of mostly water, after all.
© Christopher M Buddle 2023
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Tiny Owl
A screech in the night
camouflaged in the forest
pint-sized predator
Notes: The eastern screech owl is a tiny yet magnificent bird. They have a distinctive call, and while they may be small, they are fearless hunters. There are different colour morphs, but I have depicted, above the more red/orange variety. I love owls. They are a hoot.
© Christopher M Buddle 2023
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Polypores
bracketing white birch
turkey tail and tinder conk
– dead wood is alive
Notes: I always admire shelf fungi (polypores), especially in the winter. They bring colour to what is sometimes a more drab or tonal landscape. Whether the orange and brown rings of turkey tail fungi, or the yellow or cream shades found on hoof fungi (also called Tinder fungi, or Tinder conks). In summer I like to look on the undersides of shelf fungi to see what little critters may be found. Small beetles, or slugs, or perhaps fly larvae. They are full of life. And, of course, they thrive and grow even when their host (trees) are dying and dead. There is so much beauty in that. The artwork above was done many months ago because I am in a creative slump right now. For whatever reason, I can’t get the energy or interest in doing art these days. It might have something to do with the time of year – winter can feel really long in late February. Or perhaps it’s just part of the normal ups and downs of creative pursuits. These cycles, like the seasons, are common for me. I will get the energy back, no doubt, but for now it is what it is.
© Christopher M Buddle 2023
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Old Things
In ancient oceans
strange segmented creatures lurk
– learning from fossils
Notes: Earlier this month we did a trip to the Royal Ontario Museum (mainly to see Kent Monkman‘s incredible exhibition, Being Legendary*). But no trip to the ROM is complete without visiting the halls of old things. I am always drawn to Trilobites. These incredible (now extinct) life forms occupied our planet’s marine environments for 270 millions years – which is truly an astounding success story. There are some 22,000 described species of Trilobites, with great diversity in form and size. I have no idea what colour Trilobites were (nobody does…) but I imagine some of them being red or rusty-brown colour. I did the above and below watercolours on a bumpy train ride back to Montreal from Toronto – less than ideal, also because I worked off reference photos. But, better to do the art, than not, I suppose!
In addition to trilobites, we wandered through the dinosaur exhibits. Seeing the joy and sounds of young people encountering the giant models brings much hope. Natural history is awe-inspiring, and I certainly attribute my own love of natural history to the opportunities I had, as a child, to visit museums and other places that display old things. Old things are important and provide perspectives when we think about and live in a world with lots of new and shiny things.
* part of why indigenous artist Kent Monkman’s work is so powerful at the ROM is because of how it provides a critical assessment of how the stories of old bones, fossils, and other histories are told so often through a colonial lens. Travelling with Miss Chief Eagle Testickle changed my perspective in important and fundamental ways, and is causing me to rethink my relationship with, among other things, natural history and the way natural history is depicted in museums. Learning is good. Let’s do it as much as we can.
© Christopher M Buddle 2023
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Ambling
All year the giant walks
through forests and wetlands
gentle, careful.
Notes: Moose are rather emblematic mammals of the north. While I haven’t seen one in the wild in quite some time*, they are sometimes on my mind. I imagine these large herbivores munching on twigs on cold winter days, or moving slowly through wetlands during the heat of the summer. They are there. They also show bursts of activity, occasionally- especially the antlered males in rutting season. I worry, that we don’t always respect the lands that are their homes. We cannot take them for granted.
*many people never have the great fortune of seeing moose in the wild; so, they are secretive animals, even if large!
© Christopher M Buddle 2023
Nature's Reverie 