Circling the Lake of Tavelsjö

A few days before midsummer, we set out again to the countryside just to look around, enjoy the idylls of rural scenery and the serenity of the atmosphere.

One of our well-loved villages around our city is Tavelsjö, a pastoral place with hillside neighborhoods set in exquisitely verdant surroundings.  Groups of houses and colorful meadows wreathe around the lake. Circling this lake in different seasons has become our yearly habit.

On our way to the lake, we spotted this lone reindeer heading toward the road. We pulled over to take a few shots.

When it saw us, it started to run away.

Then it came back to pick up some food.

Perhaps it noticed my camera, so it favored us with a momentary pose. 

This end corner of the lake has never lost its charm to me, and so we stopped by to enjoy the view. We noticed a solitary horse grazing in the meadows. We tried to wheedle it to come closer, but it wouldn't cooperate. It didn't care at all.

It finally looked up.

And just stood there, staring at us.

Then a huge bird flew overhead, too fast that I didn't have enough time to learn which bird it was. I just blindly pointed the camera to it and pressed the shutter. Bad capture, a mere blurry silhouette.

Here's an interesting cellar that caught my eyes while driving along,

and a meadow with lounging cows.

an old barn beside the lake ( a drive-by shot),

a hilly landscape (another drive-by shot),

some curlews (storspov in Swedish),

a little pool with the buttercups and queen anne's lace meadow behind the trees,

and a partial view of a village from a hill.

It didn't take long for us to circle the lake and drive through the villages, but even in such a brief travel, I found many things that lifted my spirits and strengthened my bond to the Maker of such wonderful things.

Out In The Night With The Supermoon

23 June 2013, past midnight

Before midnight, I went out to our back porch and surveyed the sky in search of the supermoon. It was nowhere to be found. Since our neighborhood is surrounded by several apartment buildings and towering trees, I figured out that perhaps, it was rolling horizontally behind those trees. A bit disappointed, I went back inside, thinking that I might miss it again this year like all the previous years that I had been watching out for it.

At past midnight, I looked out again through our window blinds in a desperate attempt to find it. This time, I espied a glow behind the foliage of the pine trees. I went out for the second time to check it out. It was the moon! And so big! Since I couldn't see the whole of it, I set out on a tour around the neighborhood to get a better view of it.

Finally, I was able to witness this phenomenon called perigee, the moon's closest point to earth. Even though midnight here is bright this time of the year, the moon's golden face glowed clearly amidst the semi-bright blue sky.

While I was shooting the moon in many angles, my eyes were drawn by fiery gleams of light in the part of the sky opposite the supermoon. Then I saw a pillar of light projecting across the streaks of blazing stratus clouds. Another light phenomenon that graced the sky in conjunction with the supermoon. What a midnight treat!

I went back home at past one in the morning, happy and satisfied. And I slept soundly and sweetly.

"(God) has made the moon for appointed times;

The sun itself knows well where it sets."

-Psalm 104:19

Queen of the Meadows

They flourish like the innumerable galaxies in the universe. They form a massive cloud like a nebula that fills the void of space. Their clustered flowers are like the clusters of galaxies that swirl in close proximity with one another. Being with them is like floating through a sparkling cosmos, causing the heart brim with cosmic happiness....

Ooops...I'm rambling again in my typical extra-terrestrial language. Can't help it. Such beauty easily transports me back to my home galaxy....aw!.... I'm drifting again.

Okay, back to earth, I'm talking about the Queen Anne's lace, anthriscus sylvestris or cow parsley, to be exact. These flowers presently predominate the meadows, roadsides and fringes of the little forests that are interspersed throughout our city. They transform an otherwise bare space to a stunning landscape. They're just awesome!

They also mingle with another flourishing occupants of the meadows, the buttercups. These little golden wildflowers have a similar charm like the cow parsleys. They lavishly blanket the meadows with the glow of a billions stars. Together they thrive in admirable harmony and subdue the ground in a delightful way.

And my heart was subdued by their queenly beauty that generated bliss.

If the "heavens are declaring the glory of God", so are these little wildflowers that He placed on earth to live with us every summer.