Category Archives: nature

Commentary, musings, nature, Photography

Say Good-bye to Autumn

Oct 8, 2019 Lynette d'Arty-Cross 34 Comments

Here in Northwest Territories, autumn moves quickly. Three weeks ago, the leaves were just starting to turn.

Now the yellow is darkening to brown and black and almost all the leaves are on the ground.

We are about to head into the Northwest Territories’ best season – winter. Gleaming with atmospheric pinks and blues and a low sunlight that bounces off ice particles in the air, the sky is suffused with gentle colour and undulating sparkles.

Here is a favourite winter photo from a couple of years ago.

The Aurora Borealis is amazing, but like the variety of us, it’s not the only light show in town.

Greetings from the remarkable northern lights – of all kinds. 🙂

Commentary, musings, nature, Photography

Skylight

Oct 3, 2019 Lynette d'Arty-Cross 18 Comments

I recently watched a very sullen, overcast sky widen into a pretty, pink-tinged blue.

The phenomenon grew for a bit but then collapsed in on itself.

For a few moments, we had a lovely skylight opening giving us respite from the drizzly grey day.

Sometimes, a break from whatever has settled on us is all we need. 🙂

Commentary, musings, nature, Reblogs

Autumn Bison

Oct 1, 2019 Lynette d'Arty-Cross 29 Comments

The bison have been massing and eating as much as they can. Not that this is unusual; that’s more or less what bison do, but there seems to be an urgency about them that I didn’t note last year.

An elder told me that they are getting ready for a particularly long winter, and that’s why they seem so much more desperate this year.

I took these images from a moving vehicle and so the quality isn’t great, but we didn’t want to stop in the middle of a herd like that. Bison have been known to charge a car or truck, and despite their size, they can move quickly. Many of them (these are wood bison) are 1000 kg (about 2200 pounds), so I really wouldn’t want one headed my way.

Right now, some of them will just stand in the road to take a break from eating, so vehicles will have to stop and wait for them to amble away. On a recent trip, we waited a number of times at a safe distance, one that would allow us a chance to evade a charge. One of the bulls we saw, a massive animal, kept putting his head down and staring at us. We reversed slowly. Sometimes, backing up is the better part of valour, including in our dealings with other humans. 🙂

We eventually got to our destination, but it took longer than usual!

Greetings from the wood bison of Northwest Territories.

musings, nature, Photography

Leaves

Sep 26, 2019 Lynette d'Arty-Cross 28 Comments

Yellow leaves, so pretty and so short-lived

So bright in their autumn-clothed glory

Last gasp before a deep, restful slumber …

Have the best best of me now; I am here only for a little …

musings, nature, Photography

Autumn Lake

Sep 24, 2019 Lynette d'Arty-Cross

On a recent warm day I went for a walk on the shores of Great Slave Lake. This is a huge lake (tenth largest in the world) and is not usually this calm (unless it’s frozen 😉 ).

I think this was a last hurrah before northern winter closes in, and in fact, the weather turned windy and rainy the next day.

This was a wonderful last summer sigh and I’m glad I was able to enjoy it.