Walkin' with Wahlbrink
I go on a weekly photowalk often more than once. A lot of these photos never see the light of day. They are more like "training" for my photography.
These photowalks were a life-saver during the pandemic. They helped me not only in a photographic sense, but also in a mental health sense. I use these walks as a type of meditation. Someplace to sort out my thoughts and feelings. It is also a good excuse to get outdoors and enjoy being alive.
These photos celebrate those moments of the day.
Enjoy
Held in place by a rusty nut and bolt
Photo: ©2022 Phil Wahlbrink
9bis
Bellevue, France
Photo: ©2022 Phil Wahlbrink
9bis
Bellevue, France
Beyond this sign I am leaving my town. The world beyond. When I first came to Europe I was a little surprised to see these city limits signs marking the end of the city. As I was growing up in the US we didn't mark that you were leaving a the city. There was a sign on the other side of the road telling those from the other direction they were entering.
Is that because once you enter a city you can never leave it?
In a sense yes.
Being in a city or a place, it and the people becomes a part of your existence. You will always carry the memory of them firing between synapses in your brain, if not in your heart.
So beyond this sign is just another place that will become part of me. That's a road I can follow.
I hadn't been out much recently. Covid put me in, and the weather has not helped encourage me to get out and shoot.
Today though, the weather was nice.
I haven't been to visit my favourite tree in a long while, so out I headed. This branch of holly was laying next to my tree. He's standing behind him. This poor thing won't make it to next year. The bush has been broken. Photo: ©2022 Phil Wahlbrink
Rue de Canacan
, France
I sat watching the light pass through the forest illuminating one tree after another and then hiding the tree in shadow as the sun continued its journey west. The light fell on this dead pine tree, denuded of its bark. The fungi have started taking the nutrients back to return the energy stored in this magnificent tree back to the earth. The tree behind will profit from this death as will the forest. It is a circular economy, the currency-energy. Giving and receiving-the way the world should work.
Photo: ©2022 Phil Wahlbrink
D 47
La Basse Griffais, France
I have always loved the way mosses capture the light and emit their unique shade of green. This is one of the things that first caught my attention on my favourite tree. I don't spend enough time with him.
Photo: ©2022 Phil Wahlbrink
D 47
La Basse Griffais, France
The Golden Hour and Blue Hour were converging in the sky and water. Crossing the bridge leads me into the night. Quiet beneath the waxing crecent moon the Semnon in flood flows on to the Vilaine and from there to the Gulf of Morbihan.
Photo: ©2022 Phil Wahlbrink
Rue de Canacan
Poligné, France
As I was walking past the Halte du Volcan this Llama from the petting zoo showed his curiosity of the strange man walking in the dim light. We had a short conversation before I continued on my way back to the car.
Photo: ©2022 Phil Wahlbrink
Rue de Canacan
Poligne, France
Beehives at a winter sunset. The season is over
Photo: ©2022 Phil Wahlbrink
7
Bellevue, France
Beehives at a winter sunset. The season is over
Photo: ©2022 Phil Wahlbrink
7
Bellevue, France
The newest subdivision is getting its start with digging holes. The old field looks like a giant mole has been making the rounds.
Photo: ©2022 Phil Wahlbrink
7
Bellevue, France
It had been a while since I'd gone out on a photowalk. The weather has not been great, and the short days bumping up against work means I don't get to go out. Today it was raining. I actually like being out in the elements. It just takes a lot of encouragement to get up and go. After I've done so, I'm always happy to have done so.
Sprouting out of the mosses surrounding it, this Bay Bolette mushroom was heads and shoulders above the rest. Making his appearance with the rain.
Standing alone on the lawn, this copse-like stand of Inky Cap mushrooms stood out. The rain and overcast skys made them shine. A short-lived fruiting mushroom, they will be gone in a matter of hours.
Exploring the field, a Button mushroom towered above the fallen leaves.
Seeking to release its spores to the winds to propagate itself throughout the field and spread the mycorrhizal networks further.
The bright reddish orange Hairy Curtain Crust bracket mushrooms stood out amongst the green and brown surrounding it. The rainy day only enhanced their colours more.
Photo: ©2022 Phil Wahlbrink
Chemin du Château des Pères
Piré-Chancé, France
As we were crossing the bridge, I caught a glimpse of something nearly pure white. Usually this is some trash, but this time it turned out to be a Porcelain fungus. It was surrounded by the hairy curtain crust bracket mushrooms. The old fallen log is providing nutrients for a whole host of organisms.
Sometimes you get the sunset, sometimes the sunset gets you. Weather was looking promising for this image and then the clouds moved in. Enjoyable evening at Tertre Gris. So calm and quiet. The occasional trail runner or hiker breaking the silence of the forest.
Photo: ©2022 Phil Wahlbrink
D 47
La Basse Griffais, France
This Red Northern Oak (Quercus ruba) never fails to put on a show in the autumn. Photo: ©2022 Phil Wahlbrink
Rue du Général de Gaulle
Bellevue, France
The drought has dried this blade of grass, but not before it was able to use the energy trapped from the sun to produce it's seed head. This year's drought seems to be a trend rather than a one off. Since I moved here in 2002 we have seen more and more heatwaves. Few people had fans when I first moved here, much less air-conditioning. Our first heatwave in 2003 very few retailers even bothered to carry fans. It is one of the reasons that heatwave was so deadly. 20 years later fans and air-conditioners are on sale almost everywhere. This grass managed to complete its life cycle...this year. But are the seeds viable for next year? Only time will tell.
Our world is changing, as it has for millennia. We can argue it is a natural or man-made or even God-made process. But that doesn't change the fact that we must change with it.
Photo: ©2022 Phil Wahlbrink
Route des Carrières
Bellevue, France
The statue of the woman doing laundry at the old public laundry wash basin, which is currently full of duckweed.
Photo: 2022-08-25 by Phil Wahlbrink
Bain-de-Bretagne France
A Bottle floating in a sea of duckweed at the old public laundry wash basin
Photo: 2022-08-25 by Phil Wahlbrink
Bain-de-Bretagne France
A dead immature Western Cattle Egret (Bubulcus ibis) floating in the lake.
The drought this year has caused the cyanobacteria to blossom, possibly contributing to this birds death.
Photo: 2022-08-25 by Phil Wahlbrink
Bain-de-Bretagne France
An empty beer bottle floating in the lake
Photo: 2022-08-25 by Phil Wahlbrink
Bain-de-Bretagne France
A Narrow-leafed ragwort in different state of development, flower
This old shed sits behind some houses and is hard to find a good angle to shoot it. The light had hidden itself behind the valley.
It's been over a year since I last visited my old sick friend the Oak of Breslon. I've been negligent. I don't drive drive out this way very often, so as I was passing by, I thought I'd pay a visit and get an update.
I was happy to see new growth appearing, so the old chap hasn't given up the ghost. There are still new bore holes from the Capricorn beetle, but the fella is attempting to compensate.
Perhaps it is due to Divine intervention. Somebody has left these prayer beads hanging on the old oak.
Apparently I'm not the only person worried about this massive natural monument. This Oak has a history described in previous posts.
https://philsphrozentime.photodeck.com/-/galleries/blog/le-mort-dun-roi
I'm not sure who this profile belongs to. I read Rene Langston or something like that. Patron Saint of Trees. I initially thought it was the Pope.
A tree surgeon has obviously come out to care for this massive oak. The larger branches have been cabled together to hold up. If one of these huge branches falls off again with somebody underneath them, it could be catastrophic.
The gaping wound from the loss of its branch seems to be recovering nicely. It's sprouting new branches to try to counterbalance itself again...how many years will that take to accomplish?
Minimalism-were it only true that this discarded plastic bottle was the only one. Unfortunately, plastic pollution is not a minimal problem.
The sun is setting and the colony of Western Cattle Egrets (Bubulcus ibis) and sailboats have settled in for the night.
Le côté obscur du soleil. L'oxtongue hérissée (Helminthotheca echiodes) qui cherche à atteindre le soleil.
Helminthotheca echioides, known as bristly (or prickly) oxtongue,is a stiff annual or biennial herb native to Europe and North Africa. It was traditionally used as an antihelminthic treatment
Wikipedia contributors. (2022, June 12). Helminthotheca echioides. In Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved 14:21, June 28, 2022, from https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Helminthotheca_echioides&oldid=1092810327
