Month: May 2020

Pond In Autumn: Impressions

by Ebb Then Flood

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‘Pond In Autumn: Impressions’

The idyllic autumnal scene in the previous post Pond In Autumn gets the faux-Impressionist treatment, all muted pastels and gauzy light.

Just because.

Because my first memories of proper art as a child were of colourful Impressionist paintings in coffee table books and I still like them!

Or perhaps to soften the blows of the quickening winter which are starting to land in earnest now…

Fleurs-de-Lys: Patron Saints & Guardian Angels

by Ebb Then Flood

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‘Fleurs-de-Lys: Patron Saints & Guardian Angels’

What if you were caught up in something that threatened your very being? And didn’t have the means or motivation to conquer it by yourself?

A fellow blogger (very talented!),whom I only know by her blog name, Beadberry, told of her escape from New Orleans ahead of Hurricane Katrina. See the previous post Five Iron Fleurs-de-Lys

The fleurs-de-lys motifs reminded her of symbols of the French-influenced Crescent City (the Saints football team amongst other things )and, in turn, those memories of fleeing the town before catastrophe struck. Someone she knew had pushed her into getting the hell out of there.

I too had a narrow escape from tragedy a couple of years ago, avoiding death only because someone passing by raised the alarm for emergency assistance as I lay prone on a sidewalk.

I still don’t know who that person was, but I consider him or her as a guardian angel.

There really are saints and angels, human, or otherwise maybe, who look out for us, I reckon. You don’t easily forget a brush with tragedy or death; you count yourself lucky for those who actually gave a shit about you in those times.

And symbols bring those memories back home to us, just when we might forget.

View From The Rotunda

by Ebb Then Flood

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‘View From The Rotunda’

More of the rotunda (see Band Rotunda ),this time from within the vintage structure in the Auckland Domain.

It’s quiet now, but come summer, come post-Covid (whenever that will be),there will be concerts, bands and music to lift the spirit.

Meantime, there is a pause before the show that hits the right notes for me, right now.

 

Parched

by Ebb Then Flood

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‘Parched’

This is what a drought does.

It leaves the local freshwater lagoon almost devoid of water and its normally hidden base soil left desiccated and cracked.

From a photographer’s perspective the repetitive abstract patterns of the dried mud are brilliant.

But the birdlife and fish at the lagoon have struggled through Auckland’s worst dry spell in a quarter century .They have boxed on in their sad-arse environs and I have felt sorry for them.

Rain is forecast for today, mercifully. The dawn showers are starting to fall, the heavier stuff will roll in later in the day. Being a pluviophile (rain lover) of sorts, I have a sense of keen anticipation. And the ducks, herons, geese, eels and carp are gonna love it!

When you are parched, you fully appreciate that which slakes your thirst.