Andrew Trundlewagon's photos

Holding tight. A tiny wild bee collecting pollen in Veronica (speedwell).

Red banners, part of the Thousand Tori walk at Fushimi Inari, Kyoto. I asked Google to translate the meaning of the banners, and this is what it gave. I have no way of knowing if it got it right though, so if anyone reads Japanese script I would love to know if the translation is correct. FROM GOOGLE: "The red banners (called nobori) represent prayers and gratitude dedicated to specific Shinto deities. Left Banners (Dark Red) • 奉納 (Hōnō): The top two horizontal/vertical characters mean "Dedication" or "Offering." This indicates the banner was donated to the shrine by a worshiper. • 大黒天 (Daikokuten): The banner further back names Daikokuten, the god of wealth, commerce, and agriculture. • 弁財天 (Benzaiten): The banner closer to the front names Benzaiten, the goddess of music, arts, and water. • 開運招福 (Kaiun Shōfuku): Written along the sides in smaller text, this translates to "Better fortune and bringing in good luck." Right Banners (Bright Red) • 天宇受売命 (Ameno-uzume-no-mikoto): The main vertical text names the Shinto goddess of dawn, mirth, and revelry. • 芸能・ダンスの神 (Geinō / Dansu no Kami): The small text to the upper right of her name translates explicitly to "God of Performing Arts and Dance". People in entertainment, music, or dance donate these to pray for the improvement of their skills. Large Torii Gate (Far Left) • 和田電器株式会社 (Wada Electric Co., Ltd.): The large pillar on the left lists the name of the company that sponsored and donated that specific torii gate".

“Woman sitting on a bed”, 1993, by George Segal: Montreal Museum of Fine Art - Musée des beaux-arts de Montréal, www.mbam.qc.ca/en/works/17486 In the original the window is blackened like the rest of the sculpture. Here it reflects the background from the gallery, which creates an illusion that the window opens onto a street with passers by. The room is unadorned, with simple furniture lit by a single bulb from a cheap lamp. Is it an apartment, a cheap hotel? The bed is crumpled. A garment hangs by the chair. The blind is up but the window is closed. Is the room silent? Perhaps a radio or a TV is playing. The woman is slumped, the light falls on her shoulders, she seems tired. She is naked. Is that from the heat; has she just got out of bed, or is about to go to bed? Has a lover just left, or is she waiting for the lover to arrive, perhaps not gone but forever out of sight? A lover or a client, a man or a woman, or no one? A woman sitting on a bed.

Concrete tunnel, Metro, Montreal.

Tradescantia or spiderwort from the garden. It is a great plant for the lazy gardener, it basically takes care of itself without fuss for year after year.

Looking east over the mouth of the Cuckmere Valley towards the Seven Sisters cliffs in Sussex, UK.

by the lakeside- dragonfly wings. Au bord du lac - libellule

The flower of a tea plant, Camellia sinensis, in the garden of the Hogon-in temple in Arashiyama, Kyoto. As a tea addict I was very pleased to stumble upon this tea bush in flower. The temple ground also had a wonderful tea house. Tea has been grown in Japan since the 9th century so they know what they are doing!.

A ruby-crowned kinglet.

A male cardinal in an apple tree.

A white trillium: a common woodland flower of Springtime.

Yellow magnolia

Newton, at the British Library, London. A statue by Eduardo Paolozzi, 1995, that is based on William Blake's print "Newton: Personification of Man Limited by Reason." Blake was not a fan, and I wonder what Newton, who was deeply religious, would have thought of being portrayed naked for all the world to see?

A black carpenter ant.

The flowers of the serviceberry tress (shadberry or Amelanchier), growing beside a small lake, St. Bruno, Quebec.

Narrow-leafed sweet pea. This is an invasive plant from Europe that has "gone wild" in parts of Canada.

Moonlight at dusk.

The bronze head of Raoul Wallenberg, from a church garden in central Montreal. Wallenberg was a Swedish businessman and diplomat who, at great personal risk, worked in Budapest to rescue Jews from deportation during the Second World War. He was arrested by the Soviet forces as they advanced across Europe and "disappeared". It is assumed he died in captivity, although the details of his death are a mystery. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raoul_Wallenberg