Seeing the world through the forces of nature and in harmony with humanity
There are many stories to share, big and small, about worldwide events in Week 10 of this year, and I picked a tiny one from far away. But that one will have to wait; it is Saturday evening, and even small stories need time to be written. So, for now, I will only share some of my photos and memories of this week. I found these pictures for you that I took in Week 10, the week of 8 to 14 March this year, in and around Ottawa.
The first is a picture of cross country skiing. It reminds me of the wide-open spaces I passed that weekend, alternated with quiet forests where no birds were singing. I enjoyed the crisp winter air, the blue sky, and being in nature.
The second is a fantastic evening sky; there is no story here, just a celebration of colors.
And this last one I took in the National Gallery of Canada, I may someday write more about its collection, but I want to share this Van Ruysdael now; it's a river landscape from around 1650. The sign next to the painting said:
“Ruysdael boldly devotes most of the canvas to the sky, encouraging us to see the world through the forces of nature, here in harmony with humanity.”
Now that I type these last words from the notes that I made that day, I look back at the colorful sunset photo that I just pasted into this blog: I too devoted nearly all my canvas to the sky, and I try to show others that we should see the world, and our future, more through the forces of nature. And if you read The Planet newspaper's previous articles, you will recognize the "harmony with humanity part." I wish I could time travel to the past; it would have been interesting to chat with Van Ruysdael.
I wish a good night to all readers to the west of Ottawa and a good Sunday morning for my friends in the east.
Please, read this too: I hope you enjoy this newsletter, including the short posts like tonight. This newsletter is an independent production, for people like you that believe that together we can do better on this beautiful but fragile planet. Support from those who can afford it makes this independent newsletter available to all.
If you are a paying subscriber: thank you for your support!
If you are not, please consider supporting this initiative by taking a paid subscription.
If the cost of this newsletter ($6/month, $60/year) would create any financial strain, please stay on the free list; I value all readers.
The back page:
“. . .the forces of nature, here in harmony with humanity”
A beautiful thought. These exquisite images remind me of words I’ve often heard from you, “always look up”. Even before seeing this post last night, I thought of those words when I saw a beautiful sky almost a replica of yours with the gorgeous pink shades.
The beautiful blue in the first photo & the clouds in the lovely painting echo the same thought, “always look up”.
A nice thought for approaching any day. There may be surprises awaiting.
Thank you for sharing those pictures. Looks like it was a wonderful week. I hope you get to go cross-country skiing again this winter. Those warm colors of the evening sky are just what I needed on a grey Sunday morning.
That painting made me google the artist and I found his nephew first (he was buried in Haarlem on March 14, 1682 - the date struck me as interesting). Different spelling of the last name though. I found some other interesting things looking around the National Gallery of Canada. Thank you for that.
I love how this picture of Luna almost looks like it's black and white and how her right front paw is pointing inside. She's not entirely committed to what's going on outside or has already lost interest and is about to turn. It's not like I overanalyze everything ;-). Lovely picture.