Wednesday, September 19, 2012

Mountains, madmen and mornings

Spring is one of those beautiful but tumultuous times - full of new growth and promise but also flicking back into spots of winter. And it has been unusually dry on the mountain. We have had a couple of brief showers of rain over that last few days. The storm clouds over the mountains and valley below looked menacing yesterday afternoon but no rain.

©2012 Barry Smith - Storm clouds
On my walk on Monday when Fiona was off to circuit training I was surprised to see that 4 large pine trees in Treehaven Way had been cut down. Chris, one of the early morning walkers, said it was the result of an ongoing disagreement between three neighbours about drainage and water flowing through properties. Solution - not to dig a drain around the trees; but rather report it to Council and have them chop them all down. The madness of some men.

©2012 Barry Smith - The trees were similar to these
And now the stumps are marked with friendly pink indicating that they will be ground to nothing.

©2012 Barry Smith - The solution devised by 3 men
©2012 Barry Smith - A tree of many years - gone in a moment with a chainsaw
Thanks goodness nature and the morning offered other treasures such as the dew on the leaves and the delicate Dandelion flower seeds. But first a different take on those storm clouds.

©2012 Barry Smith - The eye in the storm?
©2012 Barry Smith - Dandelion fragility
©2012 Barry Smith - Dandelion fragility - altered
©2012 Barry Smith - Crisp clear dew
©2012 Barry Smith - Crisp clear dew - from green to purple
Nature does its best to rectify the madness of men. Because they photos were taken with the iPhone I could alter a few.

9 comments:

  1. Beautiful close ups, Barry - so sad about the trees - totally crazy, especially here in Maleny.

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  2. when i see destruction like that it makes me physically ill... just awful that a more creative solution couldn't have been arrived at...
    your clouds do look menacing - but beautiful from that view - and the altered ones remind me of watercolors...
    dandelions are one of my most favorite things - i love your images of those as well...

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  3. Well, that's a title that caught my attention!
    The madness indeed...
    Your visuals were amazing though and your eye for detail was a nice respite in my morning, so thank you for sharing.

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  4. I love your moody painting. It is a shame to cut down trees unnecessarily, I agree...lovely photos. And, you live on a mountain? Lucky you:)
    x
    Sue

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  5. That's progress Barry....or is it?

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  6. no no NO!!!!!!! WTH!! sorry for the language ... but poor trees ... they were beautiful! these people are just too much! i am just a little more than pissed now .. i hate it when ppl cut trees down. and this one was for personal issues. :(

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  7. You seemed to have dealt with that well - much better than I would have. A few years ago, a very old and beautiful stand of pines at the end of the road was cut down after a huge ice storm (which, BTW ALL of them had survived without dropping a branch) IN CASE in the next one, they might drop something on a wire. I was so upset upon seeing this that I literally came home wailing all the way and continued to do so for a time once home... yes, the madness of men!

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  8. M, MJ, MFM, S, JM L & VA - glad there was the balance between the madness and the ongoing beauty of nature. MFM - despite the madness it was good to hear that some of the images brought you respite in the morning. S - yes we are in the mountains so lucky to have the mountain moods. N & JM - progress!!!! L & VA - I totally agree - not happy when there was a simple alternative. All - I went to a meet and greet event on Wednesday night and scored 8 trees - they will become replacements for the 4 cut down though they will be scattered across the range. Go well. B

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Comments are welcomed - it is good to connect with fellow travellers.