The Bearded Fig Tree (Ficus citrifolia) sends down hanging roots that attach themselves to the ground and grow in diameter. These trees can grow very large as one can see by the size of Fleur-Ange in the photo. She was doing some sketching and other art work in the shade of this tree. Yes, that is all one tree.
It was really nice to find this park and spend a couple of hours away from the noise and hustle of Havana.
Earth day was cool in temperature this year. Our high was only + 6 and there was a sprinkle of rain several times making photography not too pleasant. Nevertheless, I found Horsetails, Goldfinches, Wild Strawberry flowers, and an unknown species of moss to be of interest.
On one of my many rambling walks in Havana, Cuba I found this street musician. I thought, naive person that I am, that he was playing for his own pleasure. After some conversation I found that he was interested in money. I enjoyed the music so I gave him some of my Cuban change. When will I ever learn?
It takes months of planning, special fire fighters, traffic control, etc. to do a safe burn on prairie properties at the RBG to encourage prairie plants and discourage invasive plants.
I was quite happy just taking photos . . . from a distance.
So, what can one do with 1200 spools of thread? Just ask Devorah Sperber. This is one of her works that was exhibited at the Havana 10 Bienal. She is a New York artist. Have a look here for more information:
www.devorahsperber.com/index.html
Fabelo's installation on the Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes for the 10th Bienal was large and wonderful, if you like cockroaches. Fleur-Ange really fell for this bit of work. I enjoyed it too!
www.flickr.com/photos/eglantine/3442439018/sizes/m/
I believe this is a White Ash Leaf starting to come out of it's winter bud. Time will tell for sure. More Cuba photos will appear on my Flickr account, and maybe here too, but spring at home in Ontario is too good to ignore.
Some bamboo species only flower one time in their life. I was lucky to be in the right place at the right time. After this species blooms once, it dies. Some bamboo species live 130 years before blooming. I don't know how old this was but the main "trunk" was about 15 cm (6 inches) in diameter.
This Remix project was "inspired by the once customary practice of painting white outlines of people lying on the ground to commemorate the dropping of the atomic bomb on Hiroshima, Japan, in August 1945.
These white outlines, or "shadows," symbolized how many of the bomb victims were vaporized leaving little traces of themselves.
The shadows also represent people asleep. Hiroshima/Siesta is about remembering the disasters that human beings inflict on one another. The piece is about sleep, and about the hope that we discover in our dreams."
Quote from the Artist - Bryce Kanbara
The work was done on March 25, 2009 in front of the cafeteria at Cienfuegos University in Cienfuegos, Cuba.
+35 in Cuba - 4 with wind chill of -11 in Ontario. Somewhere in between would be nice. Maybe today?
An old palm frond, large rocks, the bay, the distant mountains, sky, and cloud make up this double exposure. I still cannot predict what the camera will do or make it do what I want with these double exposures. Happy accidents seem to be the flavour of the day.
This was the result of about a dozen attempts at this location.
I am just back from two weeks in Cuba and have many photos. This plant was found in the Jardín Botánico de Cienfuegos. The botanical garden is one of the largest ones in Cuba. I hope to have names for plants soon.
