Author Archive
The sun sets over the Dunes of Florence, Oregon, August. 1980. (Robin Rowland)
It was forty years ago, in August, 1980, that a friend and I drove from Vancouver, BC, where I was living at the time, to spend a weekend at Florence, Oregon, which inspired Frank Herbert to write the famous novel Dune.
That’s me at the beach in Florence, Oregon, in 1980.
Like many at the time, I was entranced by Dune as soon as I picked it off a drug store bookshelf probably in 1965. It was sometime later that I read someplace that it was Florence that first inspired Frank Herbert to write about ecology when he originally visited back in 1953 when he was trying to write an article about a US Forest Service project to use dune grass to keep the sand in check. After all that research, as Herbert said in the collection of his essays, Frank Herbert, the Maker of Dune (1987): “Before long I had far too much for an article and far too much for a short story.. But I had an enormous amount of data, with angles shooting off at angles to gather more.” The result, of course, was the blockbuster novel, then more novels, then spinoffs by his son, a movie concept that was never made, an awful movie that was made, a pretty good miniseries and a new movie that we hope to see this Christmas (if there are movies in theatres).
That trip has been a wonderful memory for years, so to mark the anniversary, I found some of the old slides, taken on Kodak Ectachrome, with my old Minolta SRT101 and scanned them. For a some where the colour did not survive four decades, I converted to black and white.
Sand dunes and grass at Florence, Oregon, August 1980. You can see a family building a sandcastle in the distance along the shore. (Robin Rowland)
That amazing sandcastle on the beach at Florence, Oregon, that could be out of a Dune movie or perhaps a fantasy novel. (Robin Rowland)
Sand dunes and grass at Florence, Oregon. (Robin Rowland)
Sand dunes are like waves in a large body of water; they are just slower. (Frank Herbert, “The Sparks Have Flown” in Frank Herbert The Maker of Dune).
Dunes and dune grass at Florence, Oregon, August 1980. (Robin Rowland)
Seagulls over the Pacific Ocean, the dunes and grass at Florence, Oregon, August, 1980. (Robin Rowland)
A wider view of the Oregon coast and ocean surf. (Robin Rowland)
Ocean surf on the nearby Oregon coast. (Robin Rowland)
Ocean surf. (Robin Rowland)
A few of the protest signs from the Kitimat, BC, “peopleofcolourlivesmatter” rally on Saturday June 6, 2020.
Kitimat Mayor Phil Germouth addresses the crowd at the foot of the reconciliation and friendship totem pole. (Robin Rowland)
A few morning shots of bees harvesting nectar from mountain cornflowers (centaurea montana) in my front garden.
The Scream of the Forest.
The photo book from my exhibit at the Kitimat Museum & Archives.
The Scream of the Forest knot on an old rotten stump in Kitimat, BC. (Robin Rowland)
“In the spring of 2011, I noticed a knot on an old stump that bore a remarkable resemblance to Edvard Munch’s famous painting collectively known as ‘The Scream.”
For the past eight years, I photographed the old knot in all four seasons, winter, spring, summer and fall and in all weather conditions, rain, snow, mist, and summer sun until it was destroyed in the spring of 2019. As the world hurtles toward climate catastrophe, species extinction and destruction of biodiversity, the trees and plants have no voice in the polarized political debates—but make no mistake the forest IS screaming.”
From the Kitimat Northern Sentinel
Knot to be Missed.
Order the book from Blurb.ca $33.69 CAD plus shipping. Click on the icon below for a 15 page preview.
A varied thrush confronts a steller’s jay at my feeder during the blizzard of January 3, 2020. (Robin Rowland)
The decade of the 2020s came in like a mountain lion on January 3, 2020 here in Kitimat, with (up until now) 75 centimetres or 30 inches of snow.
I came inside after digging out the first time (I would dig out twice more today) and sat down for lunch only to see at least a dozen juncos at my feeder in the midst of the wind and blowing snow. I have an older camera on the table so I can photograph any birds that might come to the feeder. A varied thrush flew down, scattering the juncos. The varied thrush was too big for the feeder (or at least it thought it was) so it waited while the juncos gorged themselves and picked up and seeds that dropped from the feeder.
About an hour later a steller’s jay joined the group. The thrush and the steller’s jay seemed to get along at first but later this was a confrontation between the two while the juncos watched. The steller’s jay, being a smarter bird (like all corvids) did find a away to get at the feeder.
Juncos congregate at my feeder in the midst of the blizzard. (Robin Rowland)
A junco waits its turn at the feeder. (Robin Rowland)
The varied thrush perches just below the feeder. (Robin Rowland)
The patient varied thrush waits for the juncos to drop some seeds. (Robin Rowland)
The varied thrush lands under the feeder beside the steller’s jay (Robin Rowland)
The varied thrush looks up at the feeder (the juncos had temporarily departed) as the steller’s jay watches. (Robin Rowland)
A shot of the steller’s jay. (Robin Rowland)
The steller’s jay finds a way to get at the seeds in the feeder. (Robin Rowland)
Most of the juncos and the varied thrush were still there a few hours later as it began to get dark.
A TTC streetcar on the Queen Street bridge over the Don River, Nov. 15, 2008. (Robin Rowland)
Sunday, Dec. 29, 2019, was the last day of service for the Toronto “red rocket” CLRV streetcars that have been in service for 40 years. So I decided to look through my files for some memorable photographs of the iconic streetcars.
Streetcar at King and University during a snow storm, Feb, 6. 2008. (Robin Rowland)
Street car on Queen St. East, Sept. 25, 2008. (Robin Rowland)
Streetcar in the snow, Dec. 16, 2007. (Robin Rowland)
A streetcar in heavy snow on Broadview Avenue, Dec. 16. 2007. (Robin Rowland)
A red-tailed hawk surveys the bush just outside Kitamaat Village, BC, Dec. 14, 2019. (Robin Rowland)
For the Christmas Bird Count in Kitimat, there’s usually a lot of ground to cover in a very short period of time–that’s because here in the northwest daylight hours are limited as we get closer to the Winter Solstice. So we started before dawn, which is OK for those who are counting but not so good for photography.
A belted kingfisher is seen on a snag near the Kitamaat Village dock in the pre-dawn light on Dec. 14, 2019. (Robin Rowland)
The highlight of my day came at what is known as the Maggie Point trail to a gazebo overlooking Kitmat harbour built by members of the Haisla Nation. The problem is as you get older, hiking a trail in icy weather can be quite dicey, especially for me who has had minor hip problems since I was a kid. So with ice on the trail, I decided to stay by the cars and wait while the rest of the gang went to see what they could see from the gazebo. Then a swift flying bird landed on the branch not far from the parking area. I wasn’t sure what it was, but I began shooting with my SonyRX10iii which is 24 to 600 mm 35mm equivalent.
I wasn’t sure what the bird was, but I guessed it was a raptor since it sat there for almost ten minutes, surveying the area. At one point a crow flew by and the raptor didn’t budge. Then it swooped down over my head and into the bush. It was only then I checked the display to see the yellow rimmed eyes. The birders debated whether the raptor was a merlin or a sharp-shinned hawk and then came to the conclusion looking at the eyes that it was a dark red-tailed hawk.
The red-tailed hawk perching on a branch, watching over the trail. (Robin Rowland)
The red-tailed hawk. (Robin Rowland)
The red-tailed hawk looking down at me and the trail. (Robin Rowland)
And here are some other views from the Christmas Bird Count 2019.
Two bald eagles fly low over Kitimat harbour. (Robin Rowland)
A bald eagle high over Kitimat harbour. (Robin Rowland)
A bald eagle takes a traditional perch on an old snag at MK Bay. (Robin Rowland)
Mallards fly by Kitamaat Village. (Robin Rowland)
Mallards fly “in formation” over Minette Bay. (Robin Rowland)
Mallards flying over the wetlands at Minette Bay. (Robin Rowland)
Canada geese and mallards in the wetlands of Minette Bay. (Robin Rowland)
All the images were taken in the morning up until about 11 a.m. I went home for lunch, ingested the morning images and then we went out again. But with heavy cloud cover, fading light and fewer birds, the afternoon session was a bust. No photos worth posting.