My Blog ~ Page 3 of 27 ~ Rambling ranger

March 10, 2023

Finding Peace

Finding peace in today’s world isn’t easy. So much chaos! So many things going wrong! Cold war with both China and Russia, the war in the Ukraine, climate change and crazy weather, women’s rights going backwards, mass shootings practically every week, inflation, earthquakes….AAAAAAGH! Things seem pretty desperate!

Well, yes, the world situation is desperate. It’s desperate more often than not. Always has been. We’re just better informed about it now. That’s the problem. Bad news gets more engagement than good news so the algorithms are heavily slanted toward whatever will get people’s blood pressure up and make them worry.

Goldstream Beach. Redwood National Park — A walk on the beach may help you find peace.

How can we overcome this? For one thing, put the device down! Whether it’s your computer or your phone, when you start doomscrolling, cut yourself off. Go outside instead. It’s good to be informed about the world, but we are all suffering from information overload. It’s enough to rob anyone of their peace. And since most of these things are problems we have no control over, the frustration makes it worse.

So let it go. Do not let your empathy paralyze you. Decide if there is anything you can do about the problem and then do what you can. Donate to a relief fund for those in the midst of a disaster. Write your congressperson. Do what you can and then let it go. Don’t doomscroll.

Death Valley National Park — Make sure your walk is somewhere interesting or difficult enough to keep you fully engaged. This canyon in Death Valley was both.

I’d like to offer a few meditative exercises to do that help me find peace. Maybe they can help you, too.

Take a hike or a walk. This is a walking meditation on how to live in the present, how to be here now. Make sure that where you go is interesting or difficult enough to keep you engaged, so that you can shut down the endless tape loop of anxiety you are working and reworking in your head. Shut it down and appreciate the present moment instead. That’s guaranteed to bring you some peace, if only for a little while.

A walk in the forest can help you find peace.

If you’re mobility challenged and can’t take that walk, watch birds. Really watch them, don’t just tick species off your list. Observe their behavior. There’s a lot more to the world than just our species. It’s good to get out of ourselves and get to know some of the other creatures we share our planet with. Finding a way to get in touch with our Mother the Earth is the best way to find peace.

Perhaps what’s disturbing your peace is a little closer to home. Maybe it IS home. Personal conflicts, work pressures, worries about loved ones are hard to overcome. They can take away every vestige of peace in our lives.

Finding peace — Let the wind and the water wash your worries away.

In some cases we can make it better by being better listeners, keeping quiet and listening to understand another’s point of view. Sometimes we just may need to take some alone time.

Olympic National Park — Find moving water and listen to its song.

Find moving water. It could be waves roaring in the ocean. It might be a waterfall. It could even be a tiny babbling brook. Find that water and listen to its song. Let it fill your head completely, driving out all thought and agitation, until the only thing in your head is the sound of water. Let it fill you. This is a great way to find peace.

Orcas Island — Let the song of the water fill your head.

Maybe it’s your own mind that destroys your peace. Self pity and self judgment are soul wreckers, guaranteed to disturb the peace. Self judgement is a big one for me. Let it go. Give yourself a break.

My favorite way to find peace is to go to a forest or a glade of trees and contemplate the trees, really see them. Think of time the way a tree experiences it. Let yourself be awestruck at their size and the miracle of their existence. Realize how small and unimportant you and any of your petty problems are in the grand scheme of life on Earth. This might help to put problems into perspective and help you find peace.

Redwood National Park — Contemplating trees helps to put your problems in proper perspective.

Perhaps, you say, that you have no problem feeling small. That feeling small is part of the problem, feeling insignificant, weak, and helpless in the face of insurmountable challenges. In that case, choose a flower. It could be a wildflower or something growing in your own garden. Ponder the perfection and beauty of this tiny being. Think of how ephemeral and insignificant their lives are, yet each flower plays an important part in the world, adding to the richness of life’s tapestry.

As do you, Realize that you, too are precious and beautiful just as you are. Realize that you, too, are an important part of life’s tapestry. Let this realization help you find peace.

Sometimes flowers can help us find peace. — You are as beautiful and precious as a flower.

I hope you’ve enjoyed my meditations. I hope they help some of you find peace, even if only for a little while. Thank you to Tina of Travels & Trifles for this week’s Lens-Artists Photo Challenge, Finding Peace.

March 3, 2023

Alone Time

“I live in that solitude which is painful in youth, but delicious in the years of maturity. ” –Albert Einstein

I think I’ve had more alone time this winter than I’ve ever had, in any season, in my entire life.

I didn’t plan it that way. The people I am housesitting for said it would be okay if I had guests, and I put the invitation out there. At least half a dozen friends and family members expressed an interest. Ocean-front property on Orcas Island? Sure! Sounds like fun! But in one way or another, somehow all those plans fell through.

Alone time in the San Juan Islands — I’ve had lots of alone time on Orcas Island.

Even though I’ve been on Orcas Island for four months, I haven’t made new friends. I’ve put out a few feelers – introduced myself to neighbors, attended a few concerts and other town social events, entered an exhibition. Everyone has been nice, I’ve had some interesting conversations, but that’s as far as it goes.

Everyone has full lives. They have no reason to go out of their way to befriend a here today/gone tomorrow transient housesitter. It’s kind of a waste of their precious time, even if she does seem to be a nice lady! I get it.

I must admit I could have tried harder. Although I am outgoing and find it easy to talk to strangers in my work persona as a park ranger, in my personal life I’m kind of shy. I didn’t put myself in any situation that would take me out of my comfort zone. I didn’t get an outside job. I didn’t go to the bar.

The truth is, I haven’t tried harder to make new friends because I really have been enjoying my solitude!

Egret at Moss Landing, California — We need solitude for reflection and contemplation.

“Solitude is creativity’s best friend, and solitude is refreshment for our souls.” -Naomi Judd

Everyone needs alone time. Solitude sparks creativity. It can renew your soul. It allows time for daydreams and imagination, reflection and invention.

Carmel Beach, CA — There is freedom in solitude.

There is freedom in solitude. No one to tell you what you should be doing or where you should be going. Instead, it’s all up to you.

Some activities require solitude. Reading, writing, and meditating come to mind. There are other activities where going solo brings immense rewards but at the price of much greater risk. For instance, as a park ranger, I often have to tell people that they should hike with others. It’s much safer. Yet I, and most rangers I know, revel in solitary treks. It’s very important to understand and acknowledge the risks of solitude and to be aware of the possible consequences of your actions when pursuing these kinds of activities solo.

Cape Disappointment State Park, Washington — Going solo can be risky.

“Solitude is not something you must hope for in the future. Rather, it is a deepening of the present, and unless you look for it in the present you will never find it. “ -Thomas Merton

For many people, it’s not easy to get that alone time we all need. The demands of work, family and friends can consume our lives. Solitude becomes a rare and precious event. If this sounds like you, it’s especially important to carve yourself out some alone time, even if you have to make a date with yourself and schedule it.

Sanderling alone time — Even if you usually run with the flock, you need to carve yourself out some alone time.

“If you’re lonely when you’re alone, you’re in bad company.” – Jean-Paul Sartre

There’s a big difference between solitude and loneliness. Solitude is the positive application of alone time. Loneliness and depression happen when you dwell on the negative aspects of being alone. Solitude has a purpose.

Mendocino beach sunset — Loneliness is the dark side of solitude.

“I find it wholesome to be alone the greater part of the time.” – Henry David Thoreau

Some people need more solitude than others. They need their space. I’m in that category. So are many of my friends back home in McCarthy. A friend of mine once said, “McCarthy is where loners go to be social.”

Oystercatcher alone time — Some odd birds like me need extra alone time.

McCarthy is very social in the summer, but most residents deal with a lot of alone time in the winter. I find it interesting that two of my friends from McCarthy have also written about the pleasures of solitude this week. Jon Erdman of the Wrangell Mountains Center wrote a post about the effects of solitude. Kristen Link is a natural history artist and science illustrator. One of the prompts in her latest newsletter encourages other artists to draw what silence looks like. I don’t draw, but the following image is my answer to that prompt.

Long Beach, WA — This is what Silence looks like.

Perhaps that is why I feel okay about my season of solitude. It’s winter, a natural time to draw resources inward, to go quiet, and be dormant. The quiet time is necessary for future growth.

Moonstone Beach, Trinidad, CA — Alone time is necessary.

Spring will soon be here, a time for new growth, new connections, the ground prepared and spirit renewed by that season of dormancy. In April I will be traveling, embracing old friends and new experiences. I look forward to my spring travels, but I will also cherish this final month of alone time.

Thank you to Ann-Christine of Leya for this week’s Len-Artists Photo Challenge, Alone Time.

February 22, 2023February 22, 2023

Soft and Dreamy – Reducing Clarity

Flowers

I’m pushing my boundaries, leaving my comfort zone, by going soft and dreamy for this week’s post. Reducing clarity to create softness is a photographic technique I seldom (almost never) use. I’m one who is always going for more sharpness instead.

Soft and dreamy is a good way to go for some flower images.

It’s a technique, though, that I should probably use more often. Reducing clarity to make an image soft and dreamy is especially effective with some flower images.

I really like what reducing clarity did for this Joshua Tree blossom image.

Reducing clarity and using a mask to sharpen part of the image is great for changing depth of field, too.

Reducing clarity with a sharpening mask over the main subject can create a shallow depth of field.

Foggy conditions naturally reduce clarity without any additional processing.

Trees

As I played around with reducing clarity, I discovered that I really love what this technique did to a few of my tree images.

I was able to make some of my tree images soft and dreamy, giving them a painterly effect.

I love the painterly effect losing clarity had on this image.

The following image was always one of my favorites, but I could never get it as sharp as I needed to. It was always a little too busy, too. But reducing clarity gives it the look of an impressionist painting. I love it!

Waterfalls

One place where reducing clarity is especially impressive is in waterfall images.

I love what reducing clarity does for running water.

It makes the water silkier and fuller. You can see this effect in the following 2 images.

Reducing clarity can make running water silkier and fuller.

Perhaps you don’t want the whole image soft, though. In the following photo, I used a mask to soften the water but left the rest sharp.

If you want to obscure a busy background by making the image soft and dreamy but also want to preserve some detail in the foreground, you can use a few different tricks to make that happen. I used a couple of techniques in the following series.

The first image is full clarity. The second is a soft mist filter. With the third, I painted the log with clarity and added a vignette.

Waves

Waves are also fun to make soft and dreamy. Here’s another series.

The 1st is original, 2nd is Soft Mist filter, 3rd is reducing clarity.

By reducing clarity, texture, and dehaze, I transformed this ocean sunset into an almost abstract watercolor.

Landscapes

As I mentioned a couple of weeks ago in Monochromes, I usually try to stay realistic with my photos. But this winter is all about getting out of my comfort zone, both physically and creatively. And actually, reducing clarity works particularly well with the Orcas Island landscape.

Reducing clarity works well with the Orcas Island landscape

Reducing clarity and going monochrome turned this flat, boring photo taken in terrible midday light into an image I can be proud of.

Quite a different mood from midday flat light.

Thank you to Bren of Brashley Photography for this week’s Lens-Artists Photo Challenge, Bringing Softness. You’ve helped me to stretch and learn a new technique!

February 15, 2023

North Meets South – Changes In Latitudes

North meets South annually in my life. I migrate. As beautiful as Alaska is in the winter, like the birds and the whales, I prefer to head for warmer climes when the days get shorter.

North meets South in flowers — In the following pairs of flowers, can you tell which is North and which is South?

For years I worked in Death Valley National Park in the winter. People used to tell me, “Wow, you go from one extreme to the other! But I didn’t see it that way.

Sure, there are big differences. In some years I was moving from a park that contained the highest point in North America, Denali, to a park that held the lowest point, the Badwater Basin. But I was actually avoiding the extremes through my travels- escaping the cold of winter in Alaska and dodging the heat of summer in Death Valley.

Blackish Oxytrope — Plants in both places use many of the same strategies to survive.

The predominant colors were different, it’s true – shades of green in Denali and shades of brown in the desert. But the landscapes were surprisingly similar.

In fact, there were far more similarities than there were differences. North meets South, sharing many of the same attributes. When I first applied for a job in Death Valley, an Alaskan friend told me that I’d find it more like home than anywhere else in the lower 48. He was right.

Panamint Valley — The landscapes aren’t all that different.

Immense, open panoramas abound in both. The vastness cannot be described, it needs to be experienced. They are landscapes that make you aware of your own insignificance. Death Valley is the largest park in the contiguous United States. Denali is even bigger. In most places, these landscapes seem endless because there are few to no trees. When I worked in Denali, I lived at the Toklat Road Camp, 50 miles into the park. I was surrounded by alpine tundra, not trees.

There are parallels in many of the geological features. Both contain rugged mountain ranges divided by wide valleys. Alluvial fans and glacial outwash plains look surprisingly similar. The raw, naked geology is exciting. The stories that the rocks tell are so much easier to understand in barren landscapes like these.

North Meets South — A nameless canyon in the Black Mountains

One aspect that delights me is that both parks are filled with countless nameless canyons to explore. These landscapes invite you to wander.

Sometimes you find similar treasures as you explore these canyons. Did these horns come from Death Valley or Denali?

Dall's Sheep horns Denali National Park — Denali or Death Valley?

One way North meets South is through the commonalities of their wildflowers. Both Denali and Death Valley can have phenomenal flower seasons. And plants in both parks use similar adaptations to survive in their harsh environments.

rare penstemon found on Lee's Flat — Both parks host an incredible variety of wildflower species.

Both Denali and Death Valley pose extremely difficult challenges for the plants and animals that live there. Although one place is scorching hot and the other bitterly cold, they share an element that amplifies the effects of both extremes – wind.

Common Lousewort — They’re not all belly flowers!

In both places, the growing season is short but intense. In both, you’ll also find that a lot of flowers grow low to the ground. Belly flowers. They often grow closely in mounds or in mats covering the ground, working together to avoid the drying effects of the relentless wind.

Purple Mat — Growing low to the ground in a mound can protect the flowers from wind and conserve water.

Many plants in both places are covered with fine hairs, which keep Denali’s flowers a little warmer and protect Death Valley’s from the harsh sun.

The biggest draw for me personally is that both Denali and Death Valley are incredibly wild, something I’m aching for on tame, benevolent Orcas Island this winter. There is something about the harshness of those landscapes that speaks to my soul. And of course, they’re also both awe-inspiringly beautiful.

Thank you, Amy, for this week’s Lens-Artists Photo Challenge, East Meets West (or North Meets South).

February 10, 2023

Monochrome: Shadows and Reflections

My approach to photography has generally been pretty traditional. My photos are usually realistic, no frills or special effects except perhaps a little color saturation, which I’ve loved since the old-school film days when I used Velvia slide film and underexposed half a stop to get that rich kind of color.

Monochrome reflections — Reflections on the McCarthy Road

But for this week’s Lens-Artists Photo Challenge, Patti asks us to share monochrome images with reflections or interesting shadows. I have a few monochrome images in my files, and found some that work well with this theme. But I’ve had a bit of fun re-imagining some of my polychrome images, too.

Seagull sunset at Beard’s Hollow, Cape Disappointment State Park

Here are a shadow (silhouette) and a reflection shot from Washington’s Long Beach Peninsula. They’re all about the birds.

You might have noticed that the seagull scenic wasn’t quite black & white, more of a blue. Monochrome means one color, not greyscale. Here are a couple of colorful monochrome images. Continuing on the bird theme…

blue monochrome image - living sculpture — a natural living sculpture

Williams, Oregon — Christmas morning, 2021

monochrome Bandon Beach sunset — Bandon Beach

I think the beach may be my favorite place to make monochrome images.

But there are so many nice reflections on the McCarthy Road, too.

Here are a couple of pond lily reflections from the McCarthy Road, one in infrared, one in standard greyscale, under different lighting, portraying very different moods.

Pond lily monochrome — Infrared in late afternoon light

Wrangell-St. Elias National Park & Preserve — Standard grey scale at midday

I transformed a pink dawn moonset at New Mexico’s Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge into a nighttime moonrise by going monochrome in this image.

Monochrome moonset on the Bosque — B&W moonset on the Bosque looks like a moonrise.

As I look over my catalog, I see a lot of reflections and a lot of interesting silhouettes, but not that many interesting shadows. Shadows can accentuate texture and be quite dramatic in their own right, but I guess I don’t readily “see” their potential when out shooting. Too much of that polychrome mindset, instead of exploring the possibilities of monochrome. Something I’ll have to work on, now that I’m aware of it. But here is an image where strong shadows help to create an impression. In this phot of Jug Handle Arch near Moab, the shadows accentuate the texture and power of the rock as well as the harshness of the desert sun.

My last image is a bit strange. I was exploring the ghost town of Goldfield, Nevada, which has an infamously haunted hotel. I peered into the window of the derelict building and spied an upright piano sitting amongst the rubble. I really wanted to capture a photo of the piano, but the glare from the midday sun and reflections from the brick wall obscured the view. The image I ended up with, though, looks uncannily like the piano is a reflection or even a mirage, oddly appropriate and haunting for a ghost town.

Thank you, Patti, for this week’s Lens-Artists Photo Challenge, Shadows and Reflections in Monochrome.

February 4, 2023February 4, 2023

Messages

Sometimes messages are loud and clear and easy to read. We especially try to do this with warnings.

Sometimes they need a little interpretation.

McCarthy, Alaska — But are generally kind, loving people.

Sometimes we read messages from the past, but can no longer understand them.

Dinosaur National Park — These petroglyphs are nearly a thousand years old.

El Morro National Monument — What does this mean?

Sometimes what might seem like a message is just a coincidence.

Radium Hot Springs, B.C. — Truth in advertising?

But sometimes we think a clear message is just a coincidence.

McCarthy Road mudslide — Melting permafrost due to climate change is trouble for Alaska roads.

Nature sends us lots of messages. Some are easy to read.

messages in the sand — A Kangaroo Rat came by here last night.

This message I read loud and clear every autumn.

The view from my front porch — Leaves are falling all around
It’s time I was on my way

Sometimes Nature’s messages need a little interpretation. For instance, when an animal turns its back to you like this, they’re saying, “I’m pretending you’re not there. Now go away and leave me alone!”

Or when the fireweed reaches the top of its stem, it means summer is over.

Summer is over message — Summer is ending!

We ignore some of nature’s messages at our own peril.

Here’s another one we are ignoring at our own peril. Global climate change is real. Sea levels are rising. I awoke one day last month to find that the sea had invaded the yard and the ocean was throwing logs onto the lawn. The homeowners say this has never happened before, but I’m willing to bet it won’t be long before it happens again. Mother Nature is sending us clear messages. You might even call them warnings. We need to pay attention.

Thanks to Wind Kisses for this week’s Lens-Artists Photo Challenge, Messages.

My Blog

Finding Peace

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Alone Time

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Soft and Dreamy – Reducing Clarity

Flowers

Trees

Waterfalls

Waves

Landscapes

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North Meets South – Changes In Latitudes

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Monochrome: Shadows and Reflections

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Messages

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Waterfalls

Waves

Landscapes

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