Lavender Festival - Niagara-on-the-Lake

Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario

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Hues of Lilac

Lavender Festival - Vast Lavender Fields - Lavender Galore - Lavender on the Lake, well, almost!

A Memorable and Joyful FOURTH OF JULY Experience in Ashland, Oregon, USA.

A Memorable and Exuberant

FOURTH OF JULY

Experience in Ashland,

Oregon, USA.

Ashland, Oregon, USA.

With thanks to Lori and Dave for reserving a vantage point for all of us on the previous day so that we could watch the entire National Day Parade, seated and up close, with a beautiful view. Thanks to Shawn and Denise for planning out an alternative route from Jacksonville to Ashland, to get to the place, and on time.

A beautiful day that included listening to the delightful and lively family music group 'The College Fund Street Band' that held everyone spellbound with their beautiful songs, followed by a tour of the town and later listening to the versatile sounds and genres of classical, Latin, jazz and classical pop of the band Pink Martini on the slopes of the park on a nearby hill. A wonderful an enjoyable holiday that we will always remember for a long time to come. its music crosses genres such as classical, Latin, jazz and classic pop.

Ashland is a city in Jackson County, in the U.S. state of Oregon, about 13 miles south-west of Medford. It lies along Interstate 5 slightly north of the California border and near the south end of the Bear Creek Valley, an arm of the Rogue Valley.

Quaint, Unique and Peaceful Jacksonville, Oregon, USA

Jacksonville is a city in Jackson County, Oregon, United States, about 5 miles (8 km) west of Medford. It was named for Jackson Creek, which runs through the community and was the site of one of the first placer gold claims in the area. It includes Jacksonville Historic District which was designated a U.S. National Historic Landmark in 1966. We spent 3 days at Plymale Cottage in this quaint and peaceful city where time almost stands still. With thanks to Shawn and Denise, for giving us a brief history of the city, for showing us around and exploring the surrounding areas. Wonderful place.

THE MAGNIFICENT VISTAS OF THE MIGHTY CRATER LAKE

View of Mt. Shasta along the way.
Please click on photo above to see the complete set of pictures. 

An early start for the day. Leaving the quaint town of Jacksonville, near Medford, Oregon. Picturesque countryside before taking on one sweeping curve that deserved another through the mountains leading to Crater Lake. Stopping at The Rogue Gorge - watching milky white waters gushing through 'The Chasm' down the mountain was a sight to behold.

One of natural wonders of the world, the Crater Lake is a caldera in the western United States, located in south-central Oregon. It lies about 128 kilometres driving distance, north by north-west of Medford city. It is the main feature of Crater Lake National Park and is famous for its deep blue color and water clarity.

 The lake partly fills a nearly 2,148-foot (655 m)-deep caldera that is believed to have been formed around 7,700 years ago by the collapse of the volcano Mount Mazama.

There are no rivers flowing into or out of the lake. It is the deepest in the United States, and one of the deepest in the world.

Crater Lake is also known for the "Old Man of the Lake", a full-sized tree which is now a stump that has apparently been bobbing vertically in the lake for over a century. The low temperature of the water has slowed the decomposition of the wood, hence the longevity of the bobbing tree.

A winding road runs almost right on the rim and around the entire crater giving the viewer a panoramic and breathtaking views of both the lake and the mountains surrounding it. 

Two islands are in Crater Lake; Wizard Island formed from a cinder cone that erupted after Crater Lake began to fill with water, and the smaller Phantom Ship has seven different trees living on it.

I was lucky for having been able to be at a vantage point to capture a boat cruise around the 'phantom ship' in the lake at the right and very moment we stopped at a vista location.

Thanks to Shawn for stopping at all the vista points and Denise for having created this extraordinary adventure for us, where the magnificent views were an excellent treat for me and my camera. 

ENOUGH TREES FOR ME TO LAST A LIFETIME

A DAY OUT

TO

KLAMATH TREES OF MYSTERY
California, USA.

A Tale of Tall Trees & Other Stories

ENOUGH TREES FOR ME TO LAST A LIFETIME

With an early morning head start from Brookings, Oregon, with cautious, safe driving by Shawn, and navigation/coordination by Denise, brought us into the Klamath Trees of Mystery - a huge nature's collection of giant trees - that lies along the scenic Pacific coastline in the northernmost part of California, about 80 kilometres (50 miles) south of Brookings in Oregon. The size of the redwood trees here is simply astonishing - some of the mightiest, graceful, weirdest, eerie trees that Edna and I will probably remember for the rest of our lives.

Tall tales as tall as the trees!

The legend of Paul Bunyan is a giant lumberjack in American folklore. His exploits revolve around the tall tales of his superhuman labors, and he is customarily accompanied by Babe the Blue Ox. The character originated in the oral tradition of North American loggers, and was later popularized by freelance writer William B. Laughead (1882–1958) in a 1916 promotional pamphlet for the Red River Lumber Company. He has been the subject of various literary compositions, musical pieces, commercial works, and theatrical productions. His likeness is displayed in several statues across North America.

There is a gift store there at the attraction which is a model for other tourist attractions. Bucking the trend of souvenir standardization, it features many customized mementos, like gold-trimmed shot glasses commemorating Trees of Mystery's 50th anniversary. According to a historic display, the original Bunyan, constructed in 1946, lasted only one year. Paul's head, made of paper mache, melted in the winter rains and caved in.

As we drove through the Redwood Forest the 1944 song 'This land is your land was briefly brought back to life by Shawn singing a few bars while negotiating a sharp bend through the woods. This song was even popular in Bombay and Goa in the 1960s, when several artists of the new folk movement, including Bob Dylan, Pete Seeger, The Kingston Trio, Trini Lopez, and a few others all recorded their own versions of this evergreen song as green as the trees themselves. Peter, Paul and Mary recorded the song in 1962 for their Moving album. The Seekers recorded the song for their 1965 album 'A World of Our Own'.' 

A token fee gets one started on a tour to delve into an enchanting, interesting and mind-boggling forest with paths that lead you into a world of massive trees of varied shapes to look up to (pun intended)! The path leading up to the top of the mountain eventually culminates into taking one of three options: 1. Skytrain to the extreme height to the apex, or (2) a walk back for the faint-hearted, or (3) a cozy golf-cart to take you back to the starting point.

With sincere thanks to my other 3 companions for their patience in putting up with yours sincerely trudging along behind or stopping at times to take a new breath of fresh and invigorating mountain air.

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Mysterious trees are familiar sites in the USA, and these trees are no exception. However, America's only Trees Of Mystery billed as such are in California, at the northern end of that state's Redwood Exploitation Zone, and prove that you need not be a magician to turn wood into gold.

Giant statues of Paul Bunyan and Babe the blue ox guard the entrance of Trees of Mystery, as a mid-morning crowd pours off the coast highway to embrace freaky Redwood hoo-ha. Paul's right hand gives a continual sluggish wave as his breast-pocket loudspeaker greets all who enter in cheery lumberjack fashion. "Hiya, kids. Hi, folks."

Blue Babe
Most of Paul's banter involves describing the clothes that people at his feet are wearing, so they don't think he's a recording. "Hello, there...you're wearing a blue sweatshirt! And the lady next to you is wearing a green jacket!" He'll also answer your size questions (Paul is 49 ft. tall, has a 24 ft. long ax, and 10 ft. high boots).

A forest trail winds its way past Paul, up into a giant, hollow, redwood log, and then back to the actual mystery trees, the ones shaped like pretzels and DNA strandoids. "Entirely by the forces of nature," you are reminded. Recorded messages recite each mystery.

Baby Bunyan.
The trail takes you to the Cathedral Tree, a cluster of six redwoods growing out of a single root in a tight semicircle. Pompous music plays over hidden loudspeakers while Nelson Eddy croons Albert Joyce Kilmer's poem, "Trees."

"I think that I shall never seeeeee,
a po-em lovely as a treeeeeee...."

Signs inform appropriately awestruck visitors that countless weddings have been performed at this most beautiful of redwood spots.

The last section of the Trees Of Mystery recounts the exploits of tree-biter Bunyan, told through audiotaped "tall tales" and redwood chainsaw carvings. One can only wonder what Joyce Kilmer would've thought of it.

BROOKINGS, OREGON, USA - A VACATION TO REMEMBER

Trip to Brookings, Oregon, USA

http://tonferns.blogspot.ca/2014/07/blog-post_31.html

One of the most exciting, adventurous and wonderful holidays of my life. These pictures are dedicated to all the beautiful, loving people of Medford, Jacksonville and Ashland - who made our vacation so enjoyable, a big thank you to our kind hosts Lori and Dave Duval - the newly married couple, thank you for your hospitality, to Bruce, Michele, Rick, for your wit and sense of humour. To Shawn : thank you for your excellent, cool driving, and to our daughter Denise for the excellent planning and for generally looking after us. A special thank you to Shawn Evans for stopping at various points for me to photograph the magnificent and breath-taking vistas.

Kanvllea Kiteak Roddtai Darant - A Goan Folk Song

GOA OF THE 1950's

For a few years when I was very young, I lived in Goa with my mother while my father worked in Bombay. I remember my Mum often hummed this beautiful tune under her breath while going about the house doing her daily chores. Brings a tear to my eye.

English translation of the folk song: 

Kanvllea kiteak roddtai darant

(Translated by Joel D’Souza)

O Crow! Why do you caw at the door?

Someone may shoot you,

If you’ve brought tidings from my husband, Crow dear,

You better fly away.

The crow came in the morning,

He began cawing on the drumstick tree (moringa tree);

While the crow was still cawing

My beloved husband arrived home.

My husband reached home

He kissed me lovingly,

And our heart’s desire

Got quenched eventually.