The Changing Seasons, February 2018

/ Su Leslie
Plate of seasonal fruit; nashi, nectarine and passionfruit. Image; Su Leslie, 2018

February’s finest. Image: Su Leslie, 2018

I guess we all have different ways of marking the passage of time. When I was a child, it was about birthdays, Christmas, school holidays, and later exams and assignments due.

During the “corporate” years, campaign launches, Board meetings, AGMs and salary reviews signposted the flow of months and years.

These days, it’s food. Late October is when the first local strawberries appear. November and December are cherry and pomegranate months. January brings plums and good sweetcorn, while February is all about stone fruits and passion-fruit. And I know we’re nearly in March because the apples and pears are looking fresher, and the local garlic not so much.

And in case you’re thinking that my month has been all nectarines and nashi, here are a few shots from my February. Perhaps I over-shared the fun, sunshiney stuff already.

Another stormy beach; Firth of Thames, NZ. Image: Su Leslie, 2018
Martha Mine, Waihi. Currently closed due to the massive landslip. Image: Su Leslie, 2018
Ohinimuri River at Karangahake Gorge, NZ. Currently subject to an application to mine for gold. Image: Su Leslie, 2018
Storm brewing, Waihi Beach, New Zealand. Image: Su Leslie, 2018
Castlecliff Beach, Whanganui, NZ. Image: Su Leslie, 2018
Detail; Future Islands exhibition, Tauranga Art Gallery, NZ. Image: Su Leslie, 2018
Ohinimuri River, flowing towards Karangahake Gorge. Image: Su Leslie, 2018
Alone. Exposed volcanic rock in Taupo Volcanic Zone, at Mangakino. Image: Su Leslie, 2018

The Changing Seasons is a monthly challenge, originally hosted by Max at Cardinal Guzman, whose post for this month can be found here.

I’ve taken over hosting duties this year, and if you would like to join in, here are the guidelines:

The Changing Seasons Version One (photographic):

  • Each month, post 5-20 photos in a gallery that you feel represent your month
  • Don’t use photos from your archive. Only new shots.
  • Tag your posts with #MonthlyPhotoChallenge and #TheChangingSeasons so that others can find them

The Changing Seasons Version Two (you choose the format):

  • Each month, post a photo, recipe, painting, drawing, video, whatever that you feel says something about your month
  • Don’t use archive stuff. Only new material!
  • Tag your posts with #MonthlyPhotoChallenge and #TheChangingSeasons so others can find them.

If you do a ping-back to this post, I can update it with links to all of yours.

UPDATES

Here are other bloggers’ Changing Seasons’ posts for January. Please visit and enjoy the month though their eyes. I’ll keep updating this as I see them:

Max at Cardinal Guzman

Marilyn at Serendipity

Pauline at Living in Paradise

Tish at Writer on the Edge

Sarah at Art Expedition

Deb at The Widow Badass Blog

Ju-Lyn at Sunrise, Sunset

Joanne at My Life Lived Full

Ruth at RuthsArc

Jude at Under a Cornish Sky

Mick at Mick’s Cogs

Colline at Colline’s Blog

Thanks

Ka kite anō | see you soon

Su

56 thoughts on “The Changing Seasons, February 2018”

  1. You sure do have some incredibly beautiful places. It’s heart-stopping. OF COURSE someone wants to mine that lovely area with the falls. There’s some kind of Murphy’s law that guarantees as soon as we discover a place like that, someone will strip mine it.

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    • The area was mined early last century, but at some point sense prevailed and the mining operation was closed. Now the same people who created that eyesore opencast mine want to do the same again. And still we proclaim to the world that we are “100% pure” and “clean & green” (yep, that is the sound of hollow laughter you hear) 😦

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  3. I love that you measure it in food! I’ve been enjoying meal kits that focus on fresh, organic, in-season ingredients. Your images–food or otherwise–are gorgeous as usual. Keep that eye trained for our viewing pleasure:). Thanks for sharing.

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  5. What a gentle month February seems to have been for you Su. Though I know you have been pedalling frantically under the water 😉 I love the way you now measure the years through food! I do so hope they don’t get permission to destroy that beautiful place. The destruction man does to our planet doesn’t bear thinking about.

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  6. I am glad that we now can get fruit from all over the world (though locally grown is always best) because there would be no fruit for us all winter without it. So these days I barely notice the seasons by the fruit I am eating—I am eating strawberries and blueberries and pineapple in February—all grown somewhere in warmer climates.

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  8. I smiled at your annual milestones based on the food available. I think the same way – except of course our months are opposite to yours.

    Your photos are so beautiful – my favourite being the angle of Castlecliff Beach. Such a stunning image.

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    • 😀 I’m so glad you like the photos. I was scratching around a bit for images I hadn’t already posted.
      I’ve been trying to eat seasonal and local food, so I have become very conscious of what’s good and when. We’ve lots so much arable land to urbanisation, I really feel I have to support the local growers who remain.

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  13. Love the idea of marking the year with food and realize that I’m doing that myself – waiting already for asparagus and strawberries to come! 😂 A wonderful photo gallery, the landscapes are stunning, though the landslip totally scares me! xxxxxxx

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    • My mouth is watering at the thought of fresh asparagus. I’m glad you like the landscapes — I really struggled to give any sense of the scale of that landslide. Each layer in that huge hole is deep and wide enough for quite large machinery to drive on. The layers are a kind of spiral road to the bottom. I’m glad that work has stopped there, but worry that they may try to repair the damage and start again — or just mine somewhere else. 😦

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        • One of my nephews is there now — doing much the same 😦 It is difficult, when the money is ridiculously good. It used to be a “thing” amongst the Big T’s engineering school peers that some would go off and work in the mines and on the rigs straight from university as a way to say enough money to buy a house. It probably still is, but now it’s our friends’ children who are studying engineering. Mainly daughters though, so perhaps there will be different career paths.

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  18. I hear you about Food – it pretty much marks time for our family as well … meal to meal, what we look forward to when we go on Adventures, local & abroad! Singapore is not driven by physical seasons, though, so I envy the organic nature of food cycles which you enjoy!

    Love love love your scenic compilation – some are tranquil & serene, some are raw majesty, others gritty & gripping; somehow, you manage to infuse your photographs with so much energy and emotion. With each one I viewed, I thought it was my favourite, and then the next, and then the next! After poring over them several times, the one that speaks to me this morning is the driftwood at Castlecliff Beach: the nakedness, the silvery glow, it tugs at something in me; a little sad, a little wistful, a great deal of awe.

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    • Thank you so much. I’m glad you like the photos. Castlecliff Beach seems to have touched a few people. It is a very rugged place, close to where my father lives and although I’ve visited a few times, I never feel particularly comfortable there. The sea pounds relentlessly and the beach is always covered in driftwood. It’s also a very long beach, and perhaps I just feel exposed.
      🙂

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