Newlands Forest Polarities

This morning I went on a short walk picture hunting. I went on paths were I had not been before longing for what the forest has to say.

A small fire had cleared the ground and after the rain of this week a new forest started growing.

The forest is full of polarities this morning. Color full seduction and ....

feasting on the young innocent shoots.

Playful display of joy and......

covered spikynes.

Life giving patterns of flowing water and .....

patterns of hardness.

I see images of the Goddess from a .......

battered and broken tree.

Tentacles searching for the light......

and decay bathing in the morning sun.

The Goddess covers her creative force......

and seems to long for calm and rest.

But life pushes on, unfolding out of the earth over night....

ever new and ready to fly with new wings.

City stroll to the Companie Gardens

My car is in for a major repair and I am using public transport. This morning I walked through the city up to the Companie Gardens to catch a bus to where I stay.
Walking up Long Street I saw this magical african display in a shop window.

Quite a contrast to St. Georges cathedral ..

and the black Madonna.

Outside some insurance buildings suggest solidity.

In the gardens I remember that Cecil Rhode's vision was as fleeting as the clouds in the sky.

On the ground and in the real are the beautiful flowers, fleeting but reborn again in a constant cycle of life.

Some are a fleeting temptation.

At the far end is a rose garden. For me this rose is the ultimate female expression in its ever changing image.

And there is the war memorial for the horses. This reminds me of the year of the horse which we are in, according to the Chinese lunar calendar.

The horse is my birth sign and makes me reflect on new projects, volatility and discernment to find the right path.

Waking up - Devils Peak

Yesterday I walked through the fynbos below Devils Peak. A blanket of fog was covering the harbour and bay. Only the tower of an oil rig was piercing the tranquility.

Humans and nature meet. The spirit of Madiba and a bird of prey keeping the watch.

It rained the night before. Nature had a wet dream.

Covering everything with an abundance of glittering drops of most precious water. 

Everything is decorated in beautiful freshness.

Drops about to fall, tears of heaven nurturing the earth.

The dry season seems to be over soon. The first protea flowering in a virgin glory.

The proteas are full of birds. Joyful noise is all around.

Moist, wetness lets unfold and buds new life.

I come up out of the fog and the air becomes clear.

I find my aim and direction.

Up at the road, where the water comes down Table Mountain, I see the boundary between the real and the reflection.

I meet a butterfly resting in the grass. It is soaking up the sun to gain strength to fly.

I take of my shirt, feel the warmth and soak it up on my way down.

Early Morning Newlands

Today and last Sunday morning I walked in Newlands forest. I got inspired by a friend and walked bare feet for the first time today.

This was opening a whole new world of sensing.

Visually the morning light revealed the patterns of nature.

Perfect forms continuously unfolding.

Shadow play with the morning sun.

Illuminating the path ahead.

I am trying a new path, where I haven't been before.

Patterns are everywhere. On the small mushrooms,

On the tree trunk ...

and the tree is a pattern in itself.

All striving to bear fruit to start unfolding patterns again.