Niagara Scenes

This is Southbrook Vineyards on the Niagara Stone Road.  As it faces south in an open expanse, it has reflections of the sky all through the day.  This is the reflecting sky at sunset.  It is an imposing  structure - the wall stretches 200 metres long and is periwinkle blue in colour.  It changes in the day's light from the deep blue we see here to a dove grey in bright light.  In front of the building there usually are ponds reflecting the wall and building.  

Jack Diamond is the architect and the building won the 2009 International Architecture Award.  Looking out from the winery, one sees the Skyway that stretches over the Welland Canal. The picture shown here was taken in the spring of 2012 and the flowers in the field are dandelions.  

The Lotus

I was lucky to find a few lotuses over the last year that were close enough and in good light so that I was able to photograph the details of the flower petals and stamens inside.

It is a distinctive plant:  the flowers, seeds, young leaves and roots are all edible, and we can get canned pods to use in salads.  I didn't realize that lotus plant fibres are also used to make fabric.   

The lotus has been recognized as a religious and cultural flower of significance by the Egyptians and in the religions of Hinduism and Buddhism.  It is the growth of its pure beauty from the mud of the pond that captivates:  "I love the lotus because while growing from mud, it is unstained." (Chinese Confucian scholar Zhou Dunyi).

Today's images show why cultures associate it with elegance, purity and grace.