Evenings on Kwotlenemo. Today the wildfire smoke is heavy, and that view is obscured. #sunset #reflection #impressionism

Lake days, lake ways. The stand up paddleboards are getting lots of use. #lake #summer #paddleboard

There were days when we roamed off-leash for hours, the dogs as well!

Evenings in paradise… #sunset #lake #paradise

Kwotlenemo, Fountain Lake. Such beauty. #monochrome #lake #beauty

At the lake for the first two weeks of summer. Off-grid, but on point. (In town snagging a lunch and wifi right now). #lake #summer #sunset

Heading out this morning to this lake, Kwotlenemo. Two weeks, mostly off-grid. Books will be read, and damselflies watched. #lake #sunset #summer

I hear echoes in the evening I see a weeping willow tree And I tell them ghosts out in the graveyard Don’t be scared, it’s only me @jeffblackmusic- Ghosts in the Graveyard Lyrics from one of the best written and most beautifully recorded songs I have heard. #sunset #ghost #impressionism

The sound of running water in a quiet forest is a salve for much of what ails us. Peace be upon you. #monochrome #blackandwhite #longexposure

A quiet spot on the flood channels of the Englishman River. A reflecting pool for reflecting. And so, I did. #forest #reflection #green

“The cure for anything is salt water: sweat, tears, or the sea.” — Isak Dinesen That quote has always struck me as being so simple and so true. I have know all three in measure, and can attest to this. Gabriola Island #saltwater

Winter flow levels in the creek, and some tilt/shift. #water #forest #tiltshift

Monday morning in the village, and all is as it ought to be. #rescuedog #home #light

There is always peace and calm under the giant cedars of the westcoast rainforest. Vancouver Island is a magical place. #nature #peace #rainforest

Island gold, Parksville, BC. #island #sunset #golden

Through thorium and silica I did spy, something warm to please my eye. Through glass and metal I bend that light, preserving forever this evening’s sight. Super Takumar 50mm, f1.4 #vintagelens #bokeh #goldenhour

As a photographer, light is the real medium in which one works. I LOVE the natural light in our home. Mornings from one side, evenings from the other. Tanner James in a pensive moment. #photography #light #home

Golden hour on the beach, and Vancouver Island just glows with natural beauty. This was my home for four years, and a lot of adventure was had, a lot of healing done. #goldenhour #beach #sunset

Last evening’s gentle sunset in the village, high tide in Scotch Pond, and fireweed on the foreshore. Magic in the simplicity and the beauty. I am blessed and grateful. #fireweed #evening #gratitude

There were days when the flows in Craig Creek were at their winter highs, and our trip over the fallen log was made with a bit more haste. Best lives lived. #rescuedogs #adventure #bestlife

Like me, wild bleeding hearts blossom when the weather turns warm in spring. Nanaimo Lakes area, BC. #wildflowers #spring #vancouverisland

Evening over the Strait of Georgia, 500 feet and cruising speed in a Dehavilland DHC-2 Beaver. In 1956, this plane was the 1000th Beaver to come off the production line. #aviation #vintage #lowlight

Flashback Friday, to the four years that I rode the highways and byways of Vancouver island on a pair of Triumph Street Triples. Leather-clad, bug-ridden, I always had a smile under that helmet. #motorcycle #adventure #wherethewildthingsare

Anatole France said “Until one has loved an animal, a part of one’s soul remains unawakened.” I venture that it is the same for being loved BY an animal. Sweet little Georgia Joy in her morning spot. #home #dog #love

“Nature pulls us up when we feel down, worked up, and vulnerable. It takes us out of our neurosis, shakes off the cobwebs, and helps us to mentally refresh. Nature shows us the way of the cycles and impermanence of all things and awakens the heart.” ― Michele Kambolis #forest #nature #water

The whimsical curlicues of fireweed in autumn at Kwotlenemo, the lake that holds me. #autumn #nature #lake

Evening dreams. Last evening’s walk, captured by that ratty old Super Takumar lens that lives on my camera most days. 60 year old glass laced with thorium, imagine the things it has photographed over the years. #vintagelens #bokeh #goldenhour

The gorgeous belted Galloway cattle of Steves Farm. To live so near this brings me such joy. #home #monochrome #contentment

Summer Dreams: Parksville, BC #sunset #sea #water

“‘I’ve had a splendid time,’ she concluded happily, ‘and I feel that it marks an epoch in my life. But the best of it all was the coming home.’” — Lucy Maud Montgomery #home #sunset #goldenhour

Home. This is our evening walk with the dogs, past a field of belted galloways, and the Strait of Georgia in the background. Blessed and grateful. #gratitude #bluehour #home

“‘Is the spring coming?’ he said. ‘What is it like?’ ‘It is the sun shining on the rain and the rain falling on the sunshine…’” -from The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett #spring #sun #magic

Tanner James on the banks of French Creek, on Vancouver Island, where the flows are summer level already. #water #forest #dog

New growth on the conifers brings a lightness to old forest. #photography #vintagelens #bokeh

“When you photograph people in color, you photograph their clothes. But when you photograph people in Black and white, you photograph their souls!” ― Ted Grant My Mother, and sweet Tanner James. #mother #portrait #monochrome

Give me darkness when I'm dreaming Give me moonlight when I'm leaving Give me shoes that weren't made for standing Give me tree-line, give me big sky, get me snow-bound, give me rain clouds give me a bed time…just sometimes Gregory Alan Isakov - 3 a.m. #vintagelens #impressionism #dream

Sometimes home isn’t a place, but a person. Blessed and grateful.

Craig Creek at low flow levels. This is one of my favourite spots on Vancouver Island. #forest #light #nature

“Oh, but you must travel through those woods again and again... said a shadow at the window... and you must be lucky to avoid the wolf every time... But the wolf... the wolf only needs enough luck to find you once.” ― Emily Carroll, Through the Woods #woods #forest #nature

Back in the temperate rainforests of Vancouver Island! Craig Creek at low flows. #forest #creek #ferns

“Listen--are you breathing just a little, and calling it a life?” ― Mary Oliver #waterfall #river #maryoliver

The dirt track between Kwotlenemo and the smaller Chilhil Lake is a wonder. It is the spot we are most likely to see bear, and last year little Georgia alerted us to the presence of a large black bear just half a kilometer from this spot. If you zoom in you can see Tanner on the trail. #forest

Spring beauty on the lakeshore. Snakes have a beauty that not all see, but they are amazing creatures. #snake #nature #vintagelens

Snippets of lake days, the best days. Some rain, some sun, and a western Canadian metric tonne of beauty. #lake #spring #Kwotlenemo

Chilhil Lake, just south of Kwotlenemo. Do you prefer the colour or black and white edit? #vintagelens #nature #impressionism

There were nights when the water stood still, and became a mirror for the heavens. Not a flashy sunset, but a reminder that another good day was coming to an end. #lake #reflection #bluehour

A four-day tip into the interior to open up the cabin for the year. The weather was mixed, but the mood was not. Blessed, and grateful.

Buttercups, bright eyed and bold, hold their chalices of gold to catch the sunshine and the dew. Julia Caroline Dorr Spring has arrived in the village. #wildflowers

The little beasts with whom we share our home. They have stolen our hearts. I am a believer in what Mary Oliver said: “Because of the dog’s joyfulness, our own is increased. It is no small gift.” #rescuedogs

A small waterfall for waterfall Wednesday. The mossy rainforests of central Vancouver Island are so rich and diverse. #waterfall