11.11.11 ~ Lest We Forget

In Flanders Fields
In Flanders Fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.
We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders fields.
Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields

Lieutenant Colonel John McCrae, MD (1872-1918)
Canadian Army

Watery Wednesday ~ I am always amazed...

 I am always amazed at the simple beauty that surrounds us.

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Watery Wednesday

Scenic Sunday and Weekend Reflections

 A mercury sky on an outbound tide!

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Scenic Sunday and Weekend Reflections

SkyWatch Friday ~ Morning Skies

Each morning I wake and if it is not raining or blowing too hard I take myself out to my meditation bench about 50 steps from my cabin.

Even though there is a temporary protected porch on the cabin

the bench on the dune always draws me that extra few steps...

 to witness the beginning of a new day

 and another

 and another

and another.

Each different and each so beautiful!

 Some of you have asked about the progress of the cabin......all I can say is slow and sometimes very frustrating!

The stove is a tiny but very efficient Jotul, the floor is 11/2" tongue and groove pine with a built in ceramic tile stove pad.  This was the first fire!

The insulation is here, the outside is sided, wiring is in for solar power and wind power

the scaffolding sits waiting for the pine siding to be milled and plained so sometimes I sleep out here and sometimes I come out and vent my frustration with a glass of wine and a warm fire....the stove needs to be broken in!!!

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SkyWatch Friday

Scenic Sunday ~ There are days when ...

  

 There are days when Mother Nature just takes your breath away!
(These were all taken on the same day!)

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Scenic Sunday

 for more breathtaking photos

SkyWatch Friday ~ Extreme Weather

Last night, this was the weather system sitting over top of us. Winds blowing 70 to 90 km/h with gusts to 130 km/h and I can assure you there were lots of gusts at 130 km/h.  Despite the winds the cabin remained sound.

This mornings sunrise(?) saw the tailend of the overnight hurricane force winds but brought with it an unstable southwest weather system.

We are also experiencing extreme tides.  Yesterday we had a 25' 3" high tide (about 16" over our usual high tides and the low was a "0" tide(usually it is 3 to 4 ft.)

 High tide was at 2:53 PDT today.  If we had been experiencing last nights winds during this tide there would have been a 1 to 3 ft surge and the waves would have breached the dunes. 

 As it turned out the winds calmed before high tide and the waves just scoured the beach of logs.

Still photos do no justice to the power of the ocean.  Tlell is on the east side of Haida Gwaii about 100 km from mainland British Columbia so we don't get monumental surf but watching these waves form and watching what they do to the beach gives one a glimpse of what being on the ocean is like.

By the time the tide started to ebb and I headed back to the cabin there was no time to lose as another weather system was moving in. This is my Friday skywatching!

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SkyWatch Friday.

Our World Tuesday ~ Agates

 One of the many activities that visitors and Haida Gwaiians like to do on island is to search for agates.  "Agate is a microcrystalline variety of silica, chiefly chalcedony, characterised by its fineness of grain and brightness of color. Although agates may be found in various kinds of rock, they are classically associated with volcanic rocks and can be common in certain metamorphic rocks."(from Wikipedia).   Agates are a result of gas bubbles in lava.  As the lava cools the gas escapes leaving a cavity.

 Silica in solution seeps into the cavity and forms layers, gradually filling the cavity.  As erosion by wind and water occurs the agate or nodule is released. Agate is translucent and relatively hard.

 It shows up in various sizes and colours here on Haida Gwaii.  In the photo above the big rock is opaque while the agates are translucent.  The density of agates is considerably lighter than "normal rock".

 Most agates found on Haida Gwaii are the size of the little ones in the forground but occasionally after a good storm some big ones will wash up on shore.  The agate on the left weighs in at 6lb 2 oz and is currently being looked at for possible cutting to see what is inside.  (My orange crock is size 11 for size comparison!)

 This beautiful opal geode(a form of agate and quite possibly what the other big agate is) I found last week after one of our big storms.  

 In this case the nodule did not fill with silica before it was released from it's birthplace so crystals formed in the open space. You can see the layers of silica that formed to make this the agate.

 The is the source of most of agates found on Haida Gwaii, Tow Hill.  Tow Hill is the the lava flow of an ancient volcano.  The left side of the volcano has eroded into the sea exposing the dolomite columns.  As the sea batters and erodes the exposed dolomite nodules or agates are released to be tumbled and washed ashore on the beach.

This beach, within Naikoon Provincial Park is called Agate Beach for a reason!  The two large agates I found come from ancient volcanic activity south of Tlell.

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Our World Tuesday

SkyWatch Friday ~ Some mornings....

 Some mornings are just too beautiful for words....

 Balance Rock is an erratic deposited by a glacier thousands of years ago.

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SkyWatch Friday