I'm like a pencil;
sometimes sharp,
most days
well-rounded,
other times
dull or
occasionally
broken.
Still I write.
j.g. lewis
is a writer/photographer in Toronto.
Month: August 2023
I woke early this morning, earlier than usual, to photograph the Super Blue Moon. I went out late last night and took a few shots, but was not entirely satisfied with the results.
The pull of the Moon was enough to get me out of bed early, and wandering the neighbourhood for the best vantage point.
Some things are worth getting up for.
Super Blue Moons are rare, occurring about once in a decade; once in a blue moon. The next time I will have the opportunity is in 2037 in both January and March. I intend to photograph each one.
As a bonus, I also caught a glimpse of Saturn shining in the very early morning.
All I had to do was look up.
08/31/2023 j.g.l.
It is the summer when they are missed the most, I suppose, when you count on the shade from the heat or shelter from the rain. We often take trees for granted.
Until they are gone.
Then you notice.
Before the spring, trees were cleared from a nearby park I’d often walk through on the way to here or there. Under the pretense of progress, 61 trees were struck from the local landscape to further underground construction of another subway line to further connect this city.
They clear-cut the park.
The 70-year-old healthy, mature trees were removed from the scenery. There was less noise than the protest efforts that went into trying to save eight 200-year-old trees further down the street for the same subway line. Those too, after a session in the courts, were also cut away from our environment.
Sadly.
We count on trees.
We benefit from the shelter and shade, the carbon dioxide exchange trees naturally provide, and the continued beauty through the seasons. We marvel at the canopy of leafy greens in summer, and the brilliant shift into vibrant autumn colours. Then, as the foliage leaves us when temperatures drop and the winds pick up, we anticipate through the winter the colour that returns with spring.
It is a cycle that repeats itself again and again.
Until they are taken away.
Trees are not temporary.
Trees are not a convenience or an extravagance. From seedlings to saplings and as they evolve further, each year of growth, another ring, another year; it was a thing you counted on. Growth.
Growth is measured differently in downtown Toronto where cranes and condominiums and office towers steal away more of the street-level sunlight. Already lacking green space, there are fewer and fewer trees to break up the patterns of concrete, steel, and glass.
This is the era of progress we live in. Each time a tree is removed we are left with a little less beauty.
There are those days when nothing moves, little is done, and everything seems wrong; or incorrect. Not up to your expectations.
Uninspired, you lack the motivation or the magic to continue or see a project through. Maybe you can’t get started?
The potential you felt seems so far off.
At times, you can’t imagine what you were thinking. If you could, you wouldn’t find yourself in this predicament.
08/29/2023 j.g.l.
