Moved

I have relocated to Vredehoek in the City Bowl at the foot of majestic Table Mountain and will continue taking pics and write on my new blog:  http://capetownreflections.blogspot.com/

Patterns of Life and Death

This morning I felt strongly that it was time to visit my beloved magic forest again.

My favorite place at the Newlands Stream reflects life in the early morning sunlight.

I see the patterns of death on the stumps of the alien pines. Patterns cut into the bark killed the trees.

The soft parts slowly wither away and reveal the pattern of the life energy once flowing so strong.

Meandering out of the earth in strange waves and shapes.

Dead wood falling apart and making room for new growth.

Brightness comes back from the darkness of death.

Fungi building castles and temples out of their own patterns.

A temple for the energy of life that is creating and feeding in an endless cycle.

Young plants are born and feed out of the decaying old.

Life is unfolding itself, getting up towards the sun.

As I leave the dense forest, flowers great me in a feast of color and light.

Hunting in Kirstenbosch

Yesterday morning I went on a hunt for images in Kirstenbosch Botanical Gardens. 
Not quite Newlands forest but very close to it.
I want to enter a few photos in their centenary competition. 
This walk was slow and with the intention and feeling of a hunt.

I once met a bow hunter, one of the few who were licensed to do this in South Africa.
He told me to hunt an animal in the wild with bow and arrow you have to get very close. In fact you have to feel, move and smell like it.

My walk was a little bit like this kind of hunt, feeling into and becoming the garden. 
Appreciate what images it wanted to give away to share.
Here are some of them. 

Coming Back

It was raining heavy last night. I was so much longing to come back to the magic of Newlands Forest and the rain did not keep me away.

Water brings out the color. Everything looks clearer.

An ancient tortoise appears.

Trees making love.

Magic eyes are watching.

A tree gently touching itself in quiet pleasure.

Moss grows like pubic hair.

Monsters are crawling through the wood.

Between the trees I can look into a magic world.

There is a walk way in the distance leading out of the past.

A past full of destruction and chaos...

gets washed away. Water is gushing down the mountain. 

New life grows out of the old. Change is coming.

Spring presses out new growth....

and the first flowers enjoy the wetness.

I love this forest, the tall eucalyptus just as much as the magic of the Fernwood trail.

This forest speaks to me and I will be back to listen soon again.

Mixed Feelings

I returned to my beloved forest on this amazing autumn day. Nearly 5 months of absence, 5 months full of intense experiences. Two visits to Germany, an operation and the death of my mother mixed me up.
Newlands forest greeted me with a beautiful sunrise.

I pass an old rusted valve, water seeping out, mixed up and blocked.

Going deeper I am greeted by perfection.

I find tiny treasures along the way.

At the old tree on Fernwood trail is a mysterious black pebble in a sand stone rock. Some lichen grows on it. Nowhere else I have seen something like this.

But in the deep forest there is a constant battle happening.

The fight for light, upwards towards the sun.

There are many worlds in the forest. The fly lives in a crystal world.

Rising, blockage, perfection, treasure, mystery, fighting, and and many worlds. Mixed feelings.