Tag Archives: waterfalls

Sensory Explosion

Posted on October 7, 2020 by ivonprefontaine

This is a new poem. I started working with another, which I will post later and this emerged.

What happens is contemplative exercises allow me to become mindful as I move back into my daily life. These activities can be meditation/prayer, time to walk, reading poetry, etc. What I experience moments remains with me.

I embed activities into my daily routine. For example, I try to get out and walk each day. I note what and who I see, hear, smell, and feel. The other day, I observed autumn’s musty smell had arrived, as trees shed their leaves. We have had little rain the last few weeks, but some drizzles may have hastened the smell of decomposing materials.

When we travel, we spend time walking and hiking in and out. I love waterfalls and mountains, so they speak to me and linger with me, forever changing me.

Walking away,

Richness lingering–

Thunder booming,

Spray hovering,

Power reverberating,

Water smelling–

Life-giving.

Hearing, feeling, seeing, sensing–

Walking away,

Lingering,

In my ears,

On my skin,

In spirit,

Re-entering quieter world–

Life-giving.

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Posted in Blogging, Mindful Life, Nature in All Its Glory, Photography, Poetry, Reflective Moments, Sabbath, teacher as transformer, Writing and tagged #mindfulness, Autumn, meditation, Mindful Practice, nature, photography, poetry, reflection, teacher as transformer, Walking, waterfalls, writing, writing poetry. Bookmark the permalink.

Peace

Posted on November 26, 2019 by ivonprefontaine

via Peace

Shobna provides a short and powerful message of how each of us can achieve peace.

The Thich Nhat Hanh quote she uses summarizes a message about the source of strength.

The word heart is related to many other words: health, hearth, and courage. Each word points to an inner journey we make to discover peace; to the heart and core (another word related to heart) of each of our strength.

I find nature is a space of solitude where peace emerges during long walks and listening to nature’s soft sounds. It is not that the busyness of the world is in some distant place. Instead, it is often just around the corner and nature offers a temporary sheltering space and reprieve to gather one’s self; a calm in the storm life can become. I added the following quote:

“We have to walk in a way that we only print peace and serenity on the Earth. Walk as if you are kissing the Earth with your feet.” (Thich Nhat Hanh)

Fraser River Near Headwaters

This is my favourite picture taken in the upper reaches of the Fraser River with Kathy standing on the rock. Just beyond her, the river narrows, forming rapids and Rearguard Falls, hinted at in this picture. From where we stood, we heard the river’s noise, chaos, and power as it traversed its narrowing chute (the French word for waterfalls).

Granted, it is chaos to me. Nature embraces what I consider chaos.

Posted in Blogging, Leadership, Mindful Life, Nature in All Its Glory, Photography, teacher as transformer, Uncategorized, Writing and tagged blogging, Buddhism, chaos, environment, Fraser River, Home, peace, peaceful soul, Rearguard Falls, relationships, spirituality, Thich Nhat Hanh, waterfalls, zen, Zen Buddhist. Bookmark the permalink. 19 Comments

Twin Falls At Rock Island State Park

Posted on July 16, 2019 by ivonprefontaine

via Twin Falls At Rock Island State Park

Phil offers various images for followers, including photography and graphic designs.

This images and video caught my eye, as I love waterfalls. I am in Spokane for a few days and only a few minutes walk from Spokane Falls. Below, I include videos (apologies for the grainy nature) I took of the falls on my walk the other day. I am struck by how nature surrounds and engulfs me.

Humans are part of nature. I experience this inness, if there is such a word, as rabbits, deer, coyotes, etc. inhabit the neighbourhood we live in. 20 years ago, I may have argued we were on the outskirts of Edmonton, but today that is not the case.

Despite the urban sprawl we experience, nature does not recognize boundaries the way we do. Boundaries exist in nature, but they are formed around natural structures e.g., mountain ranges, valleys, rivers, etc.

The second video is just above the first set of falls and shows part of the skyline and the site for Expo 74.

Posted in Blogging, Community, Mindful Life, Nature in All Its Glory, Photography, Reflective Moments, teacher as transformer, Uncategorized, Writing and tagged blogging, environment, nature, Perkins Designs, relationships, Spokane, Spokane Falls, travel, waterfalls, writing. Bookmark the permalink. 7 Comments

….and Mary Oliver spoke

Posted on February 21, 2019 by ivonprefontaine

via ….and Mary Oliver spoke

Udo posted this quote from Mary Oliver‘s poem, The Summer Day. It is my favourite line from all of her wonderful poetry and challenges me to reflect on and act on the purpose and calling of my life’s vocation.

Mary Oliver reminds me life and its many callings are not filled with certainty and fixed paths. Instead, I wander and wonder as I take detours and hope I find my way.

I share this line teaching and presenting, as a reminder life is about unexpected and, sometimes, we have to permit ourselves to stop and experience what we often drive by and take-for-granted.

Robson

On trips to visit in British Columbia, Mt. Robson is a favourite stopping place. The mountain is a sentinal over the valley, with wilderness gems to experience and revel in as I live my one and wild life.

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The waterfalls are located in the Crowsnest Pass. Like Mt. Robson, I gave myself permission to pause and experience being in nature and not just a visitor.

Posted in Community, Leadership, Mindful Life, Nature in All Its Glory, Photography, Poetry, Reflective Moments, Synchronicity, teacher as transformer, Uncategorized, Writing and tagged blogging, environment, experience, life, living, Mary Oliver, Mt. Robson, nature, relationships, waterfalls, writing. Bookmark the permalink. 22 Comments

Glacier Waterfalls

Posted on August 5, 2013 by ivonprefontaine

I am fascinated by waterfalls. It could be they offer paradox in their fury and the stillness found in their sources or in the pools that lay at the base of the falls. Glacier National Park offered opportunities to see waterfalls up close and from a distance

We saw this one from the car as we drove through Logan’s Pass. We saw several waterfalls that fell either right on the highway or right beside it. Literally, we shot pictures from the car as we drove. Parking is at a premium throughout the pass.

I want to give perspective on driving through the pass. This is common with even more pronounced switchbacks in places. I can look out of the car window when there is vegetation along the side of the road, but my fear of heights is paralyzing. I don’t drive these roads. Kathy was a mountain goat in an earlier life and is far more comfortable with this driving.

We walked in to Running Eagle Falls or Trick Falls. Earlier in the summer and spring, there are two waterfalls caused by spring run off from the snow melt. I copied a picture, which shows the second waterfall above the one in our picture. The link I used rated these falls among the top in the Pacific Northwest.

We hiked into Avalanche Lake. We took pictures from both ends of the lake. The first picture shows a series of waterfalls coming down from the mountain side. The snow on the mountains is actually in the form of glaciers.

We hiked around the lake and were able to take a few more pictures. Another hiker told us he tried to get closer, but once he was a few feet into the trees he said it was impassable. You can see in this picture that it does not look far but the underbrush is heavy. The link to Avalanche Lake has some pictures taken by someone who was able to get closer to the base of at least one of the waterfalls. As we got closer, the waterfalls look quite different with more ribbons appearing.

We were furthest from this waterfall, but the ribbons were clearer as we got closer.

I took two pictures in Logan’s Pass. This was one. Once we got to the top of the pass, it was less open and I was able to manage a camera shot. It was right beside the highway. I rolled the window down, as there was no parking and took this picture.

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Posted in Mindful Life, Nature in All Its Glory, Photography, Reflective Moments and tagged Glacier National Park, Mindful Practice, nature, Rocky Mountains, running eagle falls, travel, waterfalls. Bookmark the permalink.

Water, Snow, and Ice

Posted on June 2, 2012 by ivonprefontaine

insignificant

countless gathering form one

majestic power

This is a winter picture of La Chute (waterfall in English) Montmorency just outside Quebec City. At the base of the falls, around the open water, fly fishermen will be out during the summer. What you see a the top is a walkway across the falls and there is a tram just to the right of this picture. The St. Lawrence River is only a few hundred metres from the base of the falls.

Here is a second picture of the falls. When Kathy and I were determined to see these falls. The pictures do not do them justice, but, as you can tell even in winter, they are spectacular. While driving across Le Pont Pierre-Laporte my fear of heights kicked in when I realized how far above the St. Lawrence we were. I needed to be in the right lane, but there was no way I was getting that close to the edge and it took creative driving on the far side of the bridge to get to the falls.

This is Athabasca Falls in Jasper National Park. You can see the Athabasca River in the background. Even in the park, it is a wide river at this point and it narrows quickly to shoot through the gorge. Kathy took this picture from the small wooden bridge that goes over the falls. You can just see the railing in the foreground. When you cross the bridge, you can walk up-stream along the river for several kilometres.

This is a slightly different view of the falls. The force of the water passing through the gorge has created a new stream bed. The water cut through solid granite. Below, you see one of the many mountains along Highway 93 between Jasper and Banff.

This is a view of one of the many mountains along Highway 93 between Banff and Jasper and is not far from Athabasca Falls.

This is the Columbia Icefield looking back towards the source of the glacier and mountains. This is at the headwaters of the Athabasca River.

This is the Columbia River in Oregon. Although it is a spectacular view, I wonder what price we pay for progress:? Under that water, lies a spectacular river with rapids and waterfalls. Also hidden from view is a way of life of people who settled along this magnificent river. What a loss!