I was rambling through the Fremont neighbourhood of Seattle today when I spotted the tiniest of blossoms bravely peeping out from the branches of a low-hanging tree. Sending a little glimpse of the springtime ahead to all of you who are struggling with the heavy snows of Nemo.
Check out Seattle’s Valentine love tree on my travel site here. Stay safe and warm. xxx
The uniquely beautiful colours of the Jade flower
Join in this week’s travel theme on wheresmybackpack.com
I’ve been neglecting my Eco and the Id site because I’ve been living it up with crazy adventures on my travelogue recently, but what better way to start off the New Year than by joining in a photo challenge. AJ over at Ouch my back hurts suggested the theme Dawn, which is a wonderful start way to start off the year. I went scuffling around and found my favourite photo of dawn, taken from the window of the Empire Builder as I made my way from coast to coast in the US on an epic train journey. I am a devout night owl and rarely get to enjoy the first blush rays of dawn illuminate the land, so it was with much joy that I saw this stunning sunrise somewhere over North Dakota.
Silhouette was the weekly travel theme over on my travelogue Where’s My Backpack? not too long ago, but I couldn’t resist another go at it, so here’s a funky little seed head silhouetted against the sunset at the High Line in New York.
If you’re up for another challenge, join in this week’s travel theme here.
Check out some other lovely silhouettes on perceptionsofareluctanthomemaker, windagainstcurrent, The Unspeakable Sights and de Wets Wild.
Here are a few happy splashes of colour I’ve seen on my recent travels around the US.
Check out other colourful posts here and for even more colourful displays – join in this week’s Travel Theme: On Display – over at my travelogue, Where’s my Backpack?
In honour of the UN’s International Day of Peace, there’s an all white travel theme on wheresmybackpack.com – here is one of my favourite shots of a swan in the Hamptons. Peace. xxx
You want to know what I am dreaming of? I am dreaming of a day when the human race gets over its God complex and starts treating the animals with whom we share this planet with the dignity and respect they deserve.
My hackles rise when I hear of animal abuse, and I am sick to the pit of my stomach when crimes against our fellow beings go unpunished; the offenders given at most a rap on the knuckles.
I don’t know if any of you have been following the plight of Lennox, the dog in Northern Ireland who was taken away from his family by Belfast City Council two years ago. Lennox was a dog with no history of bad behaviour, who lived peacefully with his family; a family who loved and cared for him. Lennox was the best friend and constant companion of the little girl, Brook Barnes.
So why was this model canine citizen apprehended and incarcerated? Because it would seem, thanks to the Dangerous Dogs Act of 1991, Belfast City Council is allowed to capture and destroy any dog that looks dangerous. Yes, you heard me. Looks dangerous. Lennox had the gross misfortune to resemble what they perceived to be a ‘dangerous dog’.
Isn’t that racism? Being cast as guilty because of what you look like? Any dog has the potential to be dangerous – more often than not, because it has been trained to be so (by a human), abused (by a human), neglected (by a human) or abandoned (by a human). For that matter, any human has the potential to be dangerous. Should we enact a Dangerous Humans Act, so we can profile what facial features should be perceived as dangerous, and then destroy anyone fitting the description?
There’s more. Lennox was kept incarcerated for two years and denied contact with the family he loved. His family at first lobbied for him to be returned to them, and then, because they loved him so much, they lobbied for him to be given his freedom even if it meant sending him out of the country. Dog trainer Victoria Stillwell travelled to Ireland and offered to take Lennox back to the States with her, at her own expense, and assume responsibility for him. Belfast City Council didn’t give her the time of day.
Here is a leaked video of Lennox being assessed for aggression.
The woman in the video is Alexandra Lightfoot, dog warden for Belfast City Council, who gave testimony that Lennox was one of the most aggressive dogs she had encountered. She must have been quaking with fear as she sat there, relaxed, calmly petting him. The man conducting the assessment is David Ryan, who concluded that Lennox was not aggressive. His assessment was ignored by Belfast City Council. Here is a piece written by Victoria Stillwell about Lennox and the assessments.
This week, despite worldwide outrage, Belfast City Council murdered an innocent dog. They wouldn’t allow the family to visit their beloved Lennox to say goodbye, to hold him one last time, to let him know he was loved. They ignored the family’s pleas to have Lennox’s body returned to them, so they could lay him to rest. They wouldn’t even let thirteen-year-old Brook have his collar. Belfast City Council are guilty of gross animal cruelty and gross human cruelty. My heart bleeds for the Barnes family, and for the sweet dog they loved so much.
Rest in peace, sweet prince.
“The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way its animals are treated” – Mahatma Gandhi
UPDATE: Belfast City Council didn’t even bother informing the family that Lennox had been euthanized. They found out about his death through Victoria Stillwell.
When it comes to creativity, no one shines brighter than my favourite plantsman and garden designer Piet Oudolf, who creates visually stunning vistas out of nothing but grasses and seedheads. Here are a few photos of his genius on display in New York’s Battery Park and High Line Park.
For more photos of Piet Oudolf’s work, check out my travel post Parks - and join in if you like. Everyone’s welcome. xxx Ailsa
I was happily busy on Bloomsday performing Ulysses, but it meant I had no time to do a proper post about my love of James Joyce. Now that things have calmed down a little, I wanted to share one of my absolute favourite parts of Ulysses, from Penelope, the incredible soliloquy of Molly Bloom:
I’d love to have the whole place swimming in roses
I love flowers I’d love to have the whole place swimming in roses God of heaven there’s nothing like nature the wild mountains then the sea and the waves rushing then the beautiful country with fields of oats and wheat and all kinds of things and all the fine cattle going about that would do your heart good to see rivers and lakes and flowers all sorts of shapes and smells and colours springing up even out of the ditches primroses and violets nature it is
Every time I hear these words, or even better, get to read them aloud, my heart beats just a little bit faster, because I know that we’re in the home run, to that glorious, life-affirming finish:
…and the glorious sunsets…
O and the sea the sea crimson sometimes like fire and the glorious sunsets and the figtrees in the Alameda gardens yes and all the queer little streets and the pink and blue and yellow houses and the rosegardens and the jessamine and geraniums and cactuses and Gibraltar as a girl where I was a Flower of the mountain yes when I put the rose in my hair like the Andalusian girls used or shall I wear a red yes and how he kissed me under the Moorish wall and I thought well as well him as another and then I asked him with my eyes to ask again yes and then he asked me would I yes to say yes my mountain flower and first I put my arms around him yes and drew him down to me so he could feel my breasts all perfume yes and his heart was going like mad and yes I said yes I will Yes.
I got caught in an unexpected rain shower recently, and instead of ducking into the local bakery, where I would have been tempted to spend too much money and consume too many calories, I took refuge in my local community garden and waited out the rain under the shelter of a vine-covered pergola. When the rain stopped falling, I couldn’t resist taking a few close-up shots of the raindrops adorning nearby leaves like tiny jewels.
I love having a community garden nearby; it is a secret refuge and a constant source of joy, so it’s not only fitting for the WordPress weekly photo challenge Close, but also for my Where’s my backpack? travel theme: Secret Places and the Happiness theme on This Man’s Journey.
