Mihaela Limberea, Author at Mihaela Limberea

Kangaroo Island Glossy Black-Cockatoo

29th June 2023 Mihaela Limberea

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Pair of Glossy Black-Cockatoo (Calyptorhynchus lathami halmaturinus

I’m so happy to share that my photo of this Glossy Black-Cockatoo couple will be published in the next issue of the Journey Beyond Magazine in Australia.

This is a special moment for me, not only because it’s my first photo to be published in Australia (a dream come true!) but also because it was taken at Ecopia Retreat on Kangaroo Island (South Australia), a place very dear to me.

The Kangaroo Island subspecies of the Glossy Black-Cockatoo (Calyptorhynchus lathami halmaturinus) is listed as endangered, with a population of about 450 birds before the devastating bushfires of 2019/2020. 75% of their habitat in the western part of Kangaroo Island was impacted by the bushfires. They feed exclusively on Drooping She-oak seeds and only on particular trees in the forest, making their survival even more challenging.

Yael and Rob, the Ecopia Retreat owners, have created a haven for these rare birds around Ecopia, planting She-oak trees and putting up bird boxes to help them survive. I was thrilled and awed to be able to find them and see them going about their business in the wild.

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Happy Midsummer!

23rd June 2023 Mihaela Limberea

Wildlife

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Squirrel

Mad Song

6th June 2023 Mihaela Limberea

Poetry

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William Blake

This is post 19 of 68 in the series “Poetry Tuesday”

This is a series of poems published every Tuesday.

The wild winds weep,

         And the night is a-cold;

Come hither, Sleep,

         And my griefs infold:

But lo! the morning peeps

         Over the eastern steeps,

And the rustling birds of dawn

The earth do scorn.

Lo! to the vault

         Of paved heaven,

With sorrow fraught

         My notes are driven:

They strike the ear of night,

         Make weep the eyes of day;

They make mad the roaring winds,

         And with tempests play.

Like a fiend in a cloud

         With howling woe,

After night I do croud,

         And with night will go;

I turn my back to the east,

From whence comforts have increas’d;

For light doth seize my brain

With frantic pain.

William Blake (1757–1827) English engraver, artist, and poet. He is now considered one of the most original of the Romantic poets, but in his lifetime he was largely neglected.

To read more poems, click here.

Favorite Photos: May 2023

5th June 2023 Mihaela Limberea

Photography

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Flowers

This is post 5 of 26 in the series “Favorite Photos”

This series contains my favorite photos processed in a particular month.

Spring has finally made it to Sweden! The gardening season is in full swing, and I’m mostly outdoors nowadays, taking photos or gardening. I’m almost wishing for bad weather to catch up on culling and editing photos ha, ha! Sitting indoors in front of a computer is so hard when the sun is shining, and the garden is vibrating with wildlife and flowers!

This being said, I’ve started playing around with still life and textures, and it’s a lot of fun. In addition, it makes being indoors a bit more bearable.

This photo was taken in my garden with my iPhone and edited in Affinity Photo, to which I added a few overlays. Not bad for a first try, is it?

Forget-me-not from my garden. If you’d like to photograph flowers, having a garden is practical, no matter its size! My first garden was tiny, yet I had enough flowers to take a variety of shots from early spring to winter.

This is the only photo I have yet to take in my garden. Sadly, I don’t have a cherry tree. Yet. Until then, I visit Kungsträdgården in Stockholm every spring and marvel at the wonders of nature.

Wood anemone photographed on my window sill to which I added an overlay. The bokeh is real, created by some gold Christmas decorations hit by sunlight coming from the side.

I hope you enjoyed these photos, there are more to come next month.

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The Man of Faith Steps In and Does Something

18th May 2023 Mihaela Limberea

Art Painting Quotes

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Action Vincent Van Gogh

“I tell you, if one wants to be active, one mustn’t be afraid to do something wrong sometimes, not afraid to lapse into some mistakes. To be good — many people think that they’ll achieve it by doing no harm — and that’s a lie, and you said yourself in the past that it was a lie. That leads to stagnation, to mediocrity…

You don’t know how paralyzing it is, that stare from a blank canvas that says to the painter, “You can’t do anything.” The canvas has an idiotic stare, and mesmerizes some painters so that they turn into idiots themselves. Many painters are afraid of the blank canvas, but the blank canvas is afraid of the truly passionate painter who dares — and who has once broken the spell of “You can’t.”

Life itself likewise always turns towards one an infinitely meaningless, discouraging, dispiriting blank side on which there is nothing, any more than on a blank canvas. But however meaningless and vain, however dead life appears, the man of faith, of energy, of warmth, and who knows something, doesn’t let himself be fobbed off like that. He steps in and does something...”

The Dutch painter Vincent van Gogh (1853 – 1890) on taking action, from Ever Yours: The Essential Letters

To read more quotes, click here.

Because I Could Not Stop for Death

16th May 2023 Mihaela Limberea

Poetry

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Emily Dickinson Poem

This is post 18 of 68 in the series “Poetry Tuesday”

This is a series of poems published every Tuesday.

Things to Do in the Belly of the Whale
From Blossoms
Wild Geese
The Peace of Wild Things
My Gift to You
Departing Spring
The Skylark
What a Strange Thing!
Although The Wind …
The Old Pond
Spring Is Like A Perhaps Hand
Hast thou 2 loaves of bread …
Youth and Age
A Postcard From the Volcano
The Kraken
He wishes for the Cloths of Heaven
There Is a Solitude of Space
Because I Could Not Stop for Death
Mad Song
Answer July
Success Is Counted Sweetest
Hope Is the Thing with Feathers
The Bluebird
A Vision of the End
The Crying of Water
A Rose Has Thorns As Well As Honey
Winter
The Dark Cavalier
There is no Life or Death
Sheep in Winter
To a Snowflake
Sextain
A Crocodile
Sea Fever
The Giant Cactus of Arizona
The Coming of Night
Going to the Picnic
Moon Tonight
A Southern Night
Greenness
Twilight
On the Wing
In Summer
Before Parting
Sonnet
The Red Wheelbarrow
Acceptance
At The Pool
Incurable
Bluebird and Cardinal
[Say What You Will, And Scratch My Heart To Find]
The River
Vas Doloris
Squirrel
Ghosts
The Spirit of Poetry
Nightfall in the Tropics
Journey of the Magi
The City Lights
January
Winter Night
My Heart Has Known Its Winter
Things Said When He Was Gone
Jabberwocky
Expectancy
Surrender
At the Mid Hour of Night
Fog Scheduled for 18th March 2025

Because I could not stop for Death—
He kindly stopped for me—
The Carriage held but just Ourselves—
And Immortality.

We slowly drove—He knew no haste
And I had put away
My labor and my leisure too,
For His Civility—

We passed the School, where Children strove
At Recess—in the Ring—
We passed the Fields of Gazing Grain—
We passed the Setting Sun—

Or rather—He passed us—
The Dews drew quivering and chill—
For only Gossamer, my Gown—
My Tippet—only Tulle—

We paused before a House that seemed
A Swelling of the Ground—
The Roof was scarcely visible—
The Cornice—in the Ground—

Since then—’tis Centuries—and yet
Feels shorter than the Day
I first surmised the Horses’ Heads
Were toward Eternity—

Emily Dickinson (1830 – 1886) was one of the most original American poets. She is considered one of the most important American poets of the 19th century, along with Walt Whitman.

To read more poems, click here.

Year of Wonder

11th May 2023 Mihaela Limberea

Music

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Clemency Burton-Hill Hildegard von Bingen

Yesterday I bought a book called Year of Wonder: Classical Music to Enjoy Day by Day by Clemency Burton-Hill. Burton-Hell, a violinist and BBC Radio personality introduces readers to one short inspirational piece of classical music from various genres and periods every day, from Hildegard von Bingen to Bach, Philip Glass, and Duke Ellington.

I’ve learned to appreciate and enjoy classical music all by myself by simply listening and looking up pieces I’ve heard of (radio, movies, books, people recommendations). My music education is, well, scarce. The book seemed so accessible that I thought I’d give it a try and widen my repertoire, for instance, discover other composers than my beloved Bach, Mozart, and Marcello (Alessandro, not Benedetto). And the reward came minutes after opening the book in the form of Hildegard von Bingen, the twelfth-century theologian, composer, healer, artist, and Saint. I recognized her name, vaguely, as some early Christian saint or something. I had no idea of her music works or anything else for that matter. Most of her works were written about 1140-1160 – almost one unfathomable thousand years ago. I had O vis eternitatis (O power within Eternity) on repeat all evening and again this morning during my meditation.

There’s so much wonder out there, I thought. Much to explore and enjoy. I’ve added the book to my evening routine to read about and listen to one piece every evening. I’ve also created a playlist and plan to add the pieces that resonated most with me to it. Hildegard is at the top, of course.

The Diva Dance

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There Is a Solitude of Space

9th May 2023 Mihaela Limberea

Poetry

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Emily Dickinson Poem Walt Whitman

This is post 17 of 68 in the series “Poetry Tuesday”

This is a series of poems published every Tuesday.

There is a solitude of space
A solitude of sea
A solitude of death, but these
Society shall be
Compared with that profounder site
That polar privacy
A soul admitted to itself—
Finite infinity.

Emily Dickinson (1830 – 1886) was one of the most original American poets. She is considered one of the most important American poets of the 19th century, along with Walt Whitman.

To read more poems, click here.

Having an Enviable Career Is One Thing. Being a Happy Person Is Another.

4th May 2023 Mihaela Limberea

Life Quotes

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Ambition Bill Watterson Calvin and Hobbes Happiness

Home office decorated in classical style with golden light streaming through the window

(…) having an enviable career is one thing, and being a happy person is another. Creating a life that reflects your values and satisfies your soul is a rare achievement. In a culture that relentlessly promotes avarice and excess as the good life, a person happy doing his own work is usually considered an eccentric, if not a subversive. Ambition is only understood if it’s to rise to the top of some imaginary ladder of success. Someone who takes an undemanding job because it affords him the time to pursue other interests and activities is considered a flake. A person who abandons a career in order to stay home and raise children is considered not to be living up to his potential-as if a job title and salary are the sole measure of human worth. You’ll be told in a hundred ways, some subtle and some not, to keep climbing, and never be satisfied with where you are, who you are, and what you’re doing. There are a million ways to sell yourself out, and I guarantee you’ll hear about them. To invent your own life’s meaning is not easy, but it’s still allowed, and I think you’ll be happier for the trouble.

Bill Watterson (b. 1959 -) is an American cartoonist and the author of the comic strip Calvin and Hobbes. Watterson talked about the difference between ambition and happiness in his speech ‘Some thoughts on the real world by one who glimpsed it and fled’, Kenyon College – 1990

To read more quotes, click here.

Favorite Photos: April 2023

3rd May 2023 Mihaela Limberea

Photography Wildlife

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Birds Insects Kangaroo Island Kungsträdgården Sakura Wildlife

This is post 4 of 26 in the series “Favorite Photos”

This series contains my favorite photos processed in a particular month.

Close up of a branch of cherry tree flowers

Spring of 2023 has been cold, extremely so. I would like to file a complaint, please! It didn’t prevent the cherry trees from exploding in pink fluffiness. Eventually.

I went to Kungsträdgården to photograph them, as I do every year, and they didn’t disappoint. It was cold and windy, and the sun made only a short appearance. I was in and out in under an hour, which must be a record for me.

A bumblebee on a purple flower — Bumblebee feeding on lesser calamint (Calamintha nepeta) var. ’Blue Cloud’, Lidingö, Sweden, June 2022

A male bumblebee feeding on lesser calamint (Calamintha nepeta) var. ’Blue Cloud.’ This is a photo from last year, obviously. I take a lot of photos during the summer when there’s light, and then I have a stock of images to process during the darker winter months. And I didn’t get to it until now, to tell you the truth. With all my travels, garden work, and the Book, I feel I’m behind with everything nowadays.

Bumblebees are so interesting. Did you know that they’re cosmopolitan? The 260 species in the Bombus genus can be found almost everywhere in the world, except Australia and most parts of Africa, and at higher latitudes and altitudes than other bees.
Some species even manage to live in cold climates, such as the high arctic Ellesmere Island, Canada’s northernmost island. They can do that because they can regulate their body temperature (heterothermy). Isn’t Mother Nature amazing?

An Australian pelican (Pelecanus conspicillatus), ready to mate, as denoted by the yellow patches on his chest. Another older photo, this one is “only” from January. I still have so many beautiful photos from my trip to Australia! I’m reliving the whole trip as I keep processing photos, so I’ll probably still work on some images next year ha, ha!

A western willow spreadwing sunning itself on a pine twig. — Western willow spreading (Chalcolestes viridis), Lidingö, Sweden, September 2022

A western willow spreadwing resting on a pine twig. Another older photo I processed only now in April.

These damselflies fly pretty late, from August to October, and can be found in still or slow-flowing water with overhanging trees such as willows, alders, or birches. Unlike other damselflies, they would lay their eggs in the bark of these trees, not in submerged vegetation.

An emerald damselfly resting on a reed — Emerald damselfly (Lestes sponsa), Lidingö, Sweden, September 2022

A male emerald damselfly (Lestes sponsa). It’s easy to tell because females lack the bright blue color of males.

Emerald damselfly, don’t you love that name? They’re most common in July and August, so this is another older image that I didn’t get to process until now.

I hope you enjoyed these photos, there are more to come next month. Hopefully, some new ones!

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Mihaela Limberea

Author: Mihaela Limberea

Kangaroo Island Glossy Black-Cockatoo

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Happy Midsummer!

Mad Song

Favorite Photos: May 2023

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The Man of Faith Steps In and Does Something

Because I Could Not Stop for Death

Year of Wonder

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There Is a Solitude of Space

Having an Enviable Career Is One Thing. Being a Happy Person Is Another.

Favorite Photos: April 2023

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