plants – Page 2 – A Tangled Mind In Motion

The Deepest Secret Is The Wonder That Keeps The Stars Apart

February 16, 2013July 2, 2016Posted in SabaTagged Caribbean, clouds, cottages, Hiking, photography, plants, Saba, The Bottom, The Ladder, viewsLeave a comment

Saban Houses, The Bottom, Saba, Dutch Caribbean

Red Roofs Beget Saban Fairytales

Saban villages are lovely settings for these red tin roof cottages and houses, their wash white painted shingles, their green gabled shutters. You walk the friendly Road and people young and old greet you with a variety of waves and acknowledgements; I think brother Michael has catalogued ten or more different waves in his visit here. Those of you who havent been, put Saba on up your bucket list and come here one day to witness in person what I’ve tried to convey in this blog, this charming rock and its rugged shores and guts and mountains, its hardworking people.

When two photographers walk together, particularly brothers, often as not, they happen upon scenes or settings where they both see the image to be captured; so it is with today’s picture. We were on our way through The Bottom to hike The Ladder when we turned the corner near the Thomas Dinzey cemetery and came upon this juxtaposition of Saban houses against Paris Hill greenery, a clouded sky above. We both saw it at almost the same time…I snapped a few pics, he snapped a few pics, here’s my favorite of mine. Hope you enjoy it!

Left My Heart In Saba, But My Love Is Still Somewhere At Sea

February 13, 2013July 2, 2016Posted in SabaTagged Captain's Quarters, Caribbean, diving, flowers, Hurricane Georges, nature, photography, plants, Saba, scuba diving, seahorse, Windwardside, writing8 Comments

Captain's Quarters, Windwardside, Saba, Dutch Caribbean — Captain’s Quarters, Windwardside, Saba, Dutch Caribbean

Remains Of The Day

Can’t help it. Keep finding myself drawn back to the Captain’s Quarters ruins here on Saba, because so much beautiful stuff has grown over it. Do you agree?

Seahorse, Stingrays, Sharks = Underwater Happiness

Scuba divers new to a location, and particularly new to diving, as my visiting brother is, have no frame of reference for sighting (relatively) rare aquatic life around Saba. They simply think this is what those of us who dive often around here see nearly every dive. In any case, today, our bundle of smiles and energy Sea Saba dive instructor Kelly took us to the windward side dive site of Big Rock Market and 5 minutes later, we spotted bright yellow gorgeous seahorse wrapped around a rope coral, then he let go and started swimming around. Perfectly elegant and moving to be in the water with the little fella. Same dive had two eels (my first spotted and a baby green), stingray, bro’s first shark (nurse), and much much more. Of course, no one had a camera. Gaaaaah – sorry about that.

Vanished Trees Pandering In Whispers To The Last And Greatest of Human Dreams

February 10, 2013July 2, 2016Posted in SabaTagged Caribbean, ferns, flowers, lillies, photography, plants, Pond, Reflections, Saba, Tropical, Windwardside3 Comments

Catch Basin Pond, Windwardside, Saba, Dutch Caribbean

A Saban (Pond) Reflection

As you meander down below Windwardside proper and edge upon the remains of Captain’s Quarters below the hill, there is a square concrete catch basin on your right, just below weathered beams and frames that stand by themselves, undaunted by the years that’ve passed since Hurricane Georges in 1998. I don’t know what it was when the building was there, but the basin has taken on a pond life of its own, guppies darting about, lily like plants and their water reflections, colorful pink coral vine and other beautiful flowers growing wild around it. Every time I go by it, I just put my face up close and watch it for a while, life among the ruins.

Bug, Sweat, and Fears: Hiking A Place of Quasi-Infinite Happiness

February 10, 2013July 2, 2016Posted in SabaTagged Caribbean, elephant ears, giant ferns, Hiking, jungle, jungle atmosphere, Michael Siu, nature, outdoors, photography, plants, Saba, sandy cruz, Sandy Cruz Trail, Tropical, writing2 Comments

Michael Siu On The Sandy Cruz Trail, Saba, Dutch Caribbean

The Joy of Hiking The Rainforest

The locals and expats who live on the island of Saba often cite the Sandy Cruz trail as their favorite. Sandy Cruz traverses the north side of the island across several guts, and does so almost entirely under the cooling canopy of rainforest flora, excepting one short breakout strip that has a 180 degree vantage point to the wide Caribbean.

The other thing about hiking the trails of Saba other than Mt Scenery is that they are more often than not lightly traveled; its possible to spend a couple hours out and see no one, just the chirping of tropical birds, the wind in the giant leaves, the chatter of occasional rain onto the canopy above. On Sandy Cruz, there’s very few biting insects as well and it tends to be cooler, so it’s all the benefits of a jungle atmosphere to love without the mosquito kill slaps to the neck.

If you’ve read my Saba blogposts, I rarely have people as part of my landscape photos, but I caught my visiting brother Michael looking up as we were crossing one particular gut; reminding me not concentrate so hard on the trail that I forget to look up in the rainforest. Some gorgeous interplay of giant ferns, elephant ears and some of the amazing trees on Saba make for a beautiful canopy. You also get a sense of scale in this wet, wonderful wilderness.

In post processing for this picture,I desaturated the overwhelming green of the rainforest to get the red browns of the trail and the swinging vines to pop out around my brother. Michael is an exceptional photographer himself–check out his photos here–and we both dug the result, so here it is for your viewing pleasure.

Novel Update

Forty pages in and a plot line bubble sheet that resembles the doodle drawings of an asylum patient, the book effort continues to form as I forge forward each morning, getting my 500-1000 words in before heading outside for the day. I try not to re-read what I’ve written too much so as to avoid the infinite editing loop and/or get discouraged…this is still the precious draft period, so gotta get it all out of the muse first.

Have a glorious day, folks! It’s back to the ocean depths for my bro and I today.