An Autumn Walk in an Ontario Forest

October 26, 2025January 18, 2025 / thealiennextdoor / Leave a comment

*Gnarly branches of black locust trees overhang a trail in Trent Forest, ON (photo by Nina Munteanu)*

It was a late October morning and I had chosen a less walked trail in the Trent Forest. It was a cloudy day that promised rain from the northeast with dark clouds; but the sun still shone in the southeastern sky through a thin screen, giving everything a bright and soft ethereal quality.

*Deeply furrowed trunk of black locust on trail through black locust grove, Trent Forest, ON (photo by Nina Munteanu)*

The main walk went first along a lowland of marshy swamp forest, mostly cedars and poplars. The less travelled trail veered up a steep incline and eventually tapered to another drier mini-ecosystem. I felt like I’d entered an enchanted grove with tall and crooked black locust trees, some very thick (a metre or so in diameter) and no doubt quite old. Vines of creepers tangled down from gnarly branches, forming intriguing webs of colour and texture. I adore the bark of the Black Locust tree; It is deeply furrowed and resembles entwined rope. When I touched the craggy light bark of a large tree, I felt its corky lightness. The bark was covered in small moss patches and tiny foliose and crustose lichen in shades of pale green and deep yellow. An entire ecosystem.

*Old black locust tree showing rope-like bark covered in lichen, Trent Forest, ON (photo by Nina Munteanu)*

Not another soul came by during the time I was there in the black forest grove. In fact, I didn’t encounter anyone on my entire walk in the forest. It was so quiet in the black locust grove. Except for some bird calling—possibly a woodpecker—and the soft trill of several little songbirds, chickadees and warblers, my constant companions.

*Trail through black locust grove, Trent Forest, ON (photo by Nina Munteanu)*

I felt a quiet calm descent on me like a soft blanket and I didn’t want to leave. But I was keenly aware of the coming storm as the dark clouds billowed closer in gusts of fresh wind and a few raindrops started to spatter down on me. Yet I lingered.

*Gnarly branches of black Locust tree arc over the trail, Trent Forest, ON (photo by Nina Munteanu)*

I got home just as the dark clouds opened to a hard rainfall. The rain turned to hail. it came down in thick sheets, bouncing hard on the pavement. By then, I was glad to be indoors with my cup of hot tea.

*Upland trail through black locust grove, Trent Forest, ON (photo and rendition by Nina Munteanu)*

Nina Munteanu is a Canadian ecologist / limnologist and novelist. She is co-editor of Europa SF and currently teaches writing courses at George Brown College and the University of Toronto. Visit www.ninamunteanu.ca for the latest on her books. Nina’s bilingual “La natura dell’acqua / The Way of Water” was published by Mincione Edizioni in Rome. Her non-fiction book “Water Is…” by Pixl Press (Vancouver) was selected by Margaret Atwood in the New York Times ‘Year in Reading’ and was chosen as the 2017 Summer Read by Water Canada. Her novel “A Diary in the Age of Water” was released by Inanna Publications (Toronto) in June 2020.

Thompson Creek Marsh in a November Mist–Art by Lorina Stephens

March 23, 2025February 12, 2025 / thealiennextdoor / Leave a comment

The Photograph:

*A November mist settles on Thompson Creek marsh, ON (photo by Nina Munteanu)*

In January of this year, I posted a shot I’d taken in early winter of a marsh I often visit. That morning was cool and a thick mist lurked in the marsh like a shadow, giving it a mysterious timeless quality. A quiet stillness had settled like dew on everything, muting both colour and sound into a hush of anticipation. The stillness made me feel as though I’d entered a John Atkinson Grimshaw painting. A moody darkness pervaded the bare braided trees and the marsh oozed the scent of humus and wet vegetation. I inhaled it all deeply.

The image I posted caught the attention of colleague writer and publisher Lorina Stephens, who is also a superlative artist and painter. Inspired, she responded to my image with a painting.

The Painting:

*Lorina Stephen’s ekphrastic painting entitled “Fog on West Grey Pond”*

“I very much wanted to create that feeling of dreamscape that often happens in still waters, of there being something out there in the mist, of that sense of wonder and mystery. So, for this painting, it meant employing a gentle hand, allowing pigment to flow and pool, waiting until water had evaporated slightly, and then using a small, natural sponge to dab out areas to allow the white of the paper to shine through, then as the paper dried in an hour or so, or in some cases the next day, brushing in details little by little, from soft washes to hard lines, in order to create depth and definition.

It always amazes me when depth of field happens on the two dimensions of paper, that in this flat, thin sheet of paper I can take my viewer out and away into the distance, through a portal to another place, and in this case perhaps create that sense of the dampness and chill of a foggy day.”

Biography of Lorina Stephens

Lorina Stephens has been painting since the age of 14 when she studied under well-known, award-winning Ontario landscape artist, Dorothy Milne-Eplett. In those days it was oils and mostly copy-painting, although there were originals. Most of those paintings ended up in a collection under patreon, Oscar LaBerge, who was a construction worker in Newmarket, Ontario.

In the 1980s, Lorina rediscovered watercolours during an intensive 12 week Georgian College course, during which time the Tottenham Art Association was formed, and juried shows ensued, as well as solo exhibitions in galleries in Central Ontario.

Then the recession of the 1990s happened, and art became a way to stretch the family budget by way of hawking wares at the Orangeville Farmers Market, what Lorina came to call “painting pretty pictures for tourists”. These days Lorina paints simply as a way of expressing her love of the land, the ineffable communication that exists in the vast expanse of Canadian geography.

Lorina inherited from her mother a lifetime supply of watercolour paper. Among all those papers is a block of 7″ x 10″ Arches 140 lb hot pressed paper. That began a journey of studies.

Hot pressed paper has its own set of demands, having a very smooth finish and thus doesn’t absorb water the way of cold pressed, and the weight also means it tends to buckle and warp easily in larger sizes. Lorina addresses that by using a tempered glass painting desk, and creating a suction seal with water between the glass and paper, rather than the frustration of stretching paper onto a surface with masking tape. Using hot pressed paper also allows for some pretty interesting results by way of sponging and wiping out areas, and accepting precise detail work when the paper is dry. Her palette of colours is mostly transparent, with the addition of some pretty aggressively staining bullies added in.

*Thompson Creek marsh on a foggy November morning, ON (photo by Nina Munteanu)*

An Early Winter Walk in the Forest

November 24, 2024April 24, 2024 / thealiennextdoor / Leave a comment

*Marcescent oak leaves tremble in the cold wind of November, Petroglyph Park, ON (photo and rendition by Nina Munteanu)*

I parked my car by the closed gate and walked inside along the road. The park was closed but not for me, I thought. The walk through this magnificent pine forest with its fresh pungent aromas of coming winter, invigorated me with thoughts of hope and wonder. I felt at home in this unviolated forest. It felt natural and I realized that I was desperately seeking “natural”…

*Oak leaves blaze in the grey-green hemlock-pine forest, Petroglyph Park, ON (photo and rendition by Nina Munteanu)*

I live close to a riparian forest and a large river. But there is little natural about it. Despite supporting an abundance of wildlife (e.g., squirrels, chipmunks, muskrat, skunk, groundhog, mink, ermine, voles, and red fox), the forest is disturbed and infested with invasive species. When I walk through this forest, the sounds of traffic are never far away, and I yearn for the sounds and smells of Nature inviolate.

*Small trail through pine and aspen to the meromictic lake in Petroglyph Park, ON (photo and rendition by Nina Munteanu)*

Petroglyph Park lies in the Kawartha Region of Ontario and is an hour’s drive north of where I live. Here, the sounds of Nature prevail: the wind raking through pines, the shrill haunting cry of a bluejay or aggressive chittering of a red squirrel. Nothing else. It was gloriously silent; except for the sound of my boots crunching along the trail or when I scared up a deer that scampered with the rush and rattle of leaves through the anonymity of the brush into a deep silence.

*Road through tall red pine forest, Petroglyph Park, ON (photo and rendition by Nina Munteanu)*

It was a crisp and fresh November day. I’d packed a lunch and my camera and set off down the road and along various trails to explore the park, not worried about getting lost.

*Forest fades from single oak tree into a fog of grey-green pine and hemlock, Petroglyph Park (photo and rendition by Nina Munteanu)*

And I did get wonderfully lost, particularly when I ventured off the main trail, seeking adventure. I didn’t mind being lost; when you lose yourself you find another part of you through adventure…

*Marcescent beech and oak trees add bronze colour to the grey-green of the pine forest, Petroglyph Park, ON (Photo and rendition by Nina Munteanu)*

It’s early winter, when the chill winds carve through mixed forests in a restless howl, snatching leaves of deciduous trees and sending them flying. But in this primeval ancient forest of evergreens, the few deciduous trees mimic their conifer cousins by stubbornly clutching their leaves. In winter, the leaves of oak and beech trees cling to their branches, marcescent. To the silver greens of pine and hemlock, they add flames of copper and gold

*Red pine trees tower over a deer trail near the lake, Petroglyph Park, ON (photo and rendition by Nina Munteanu)*

I found myself walking on the spongy ground, a carpet of leaves, needles and debris, not far from Gilford Lake, among a tall stand of red pines, whose thick canopy created a green ceiling overhead. Breathing in the strong scent of pine and loam, I set up my camera and tripod to capture the mood of a natural path through the forest. I’d just set up the camera, hand poised on the shutter, when a deer wandered in front of me—just three metres away! It saw me and stopped mid-step. We stared at one another in a halting pause, a moment made eternity. Then the deer leapt gracefully away, disappearing within seconds into the dark forest and leaving me in the silence of rapture. I felt laughter tease up my throat; I hadn’t taken a picture.

*Road winds through the mixed forest in Petroglyph Park, ON (photo and rendition by Nina Munteanu)*

*Winding road through mixed forest in Petroglyph Park, ON (photo and rendition by Nina Munteanu)*

My walk through this natural forest is both thrilling and comforting, uplifting and restful. I am living outside myself, sensing the textures, sounds and tastes of the forest—in sublime discovery. It is here, where the sounds and smells of the natural world abide, without regard to me, that I feel most at home.

I am simply being…

*Mixture of oak, beech, pine and hemlock conspire in a wash of colour and texture, Petroglyph Park, ON (photo and rendition by Nina Munteanu)*

When Ice Shapes Art…

April 2, 2023March 26, 2023 / thealiennextdoor / Leave a comment

*Ice sheet with embedded pancake ice breaking into fragments on the Otonabee River, ON (photo by Nina Munteanu)*

It’s spring and every day on the river is different. One day the ice thaws. The next day it reforms only to thaw again.

*Ice sheet stitched together by ice pancakes and fragments, ON (photo by Nina Munteanu)*

I love watching the process of ice pancake formation and reformation on the Otonabee River. It starts with primordial ice-froth, which then coagulates into ice sheets. These sometimes look like fabric or white felt.

Giant ice fragments with embedded pancake ice break off ice sheets in spring on the river, ON (photo by Nina Munteanu)

Then entire sheets break up into long fragments like giant pieces of glass shards, all floating down the river, little opaque pancakes embedded in clear glassy sheets. And the water beneath is the darkest blue.

*Ice pancakes glued into an ice sheet by clear ice formed around them (photo by Nina Munteanu)*

*Ice sculptures form as wave-induced ice shuga collide and form strange shapes, Otonabee River, ON (photo by Nina Munteanu)*

Nina Munteanu is a Canadian ecologist / limnologist and novelist. She is co-editor of Europa SF and currently teaches writing courses at George Brown College and the University of Toronto. Visit www.ninamunteanu.ca for the latest on her books. Nina’s bilingual “La natura dell’acqua / The Way of Water” was published by Mincione Edizioni in Rome. Her non-fiction book “Water Is…” by Pixl Press(Vancouver) was selected by Margaret Atwood in the New York Times‘Year in Reading’ and was chosen as the 2017 Summer Read by Water Canada. Her novel “A Diary in the Age of Water” was released by Inanna Publications (Toronto) in June 2020.

Snow Covered Fields–an Ekphrastic Poem by Bev Gorbet

February 19, 2023February 19, 2023 / thealiennextdoor / Leave a comment

*Snow covered farmer’s field at sunset, ON (photo and rendition by Nina Munteanu)*

Ice clad prisms, snow covered fields of glittering fire…
Winter days, the wondrous glow: ultramarine lights and turning shades
The magic song: ice and gently underflow of meandering streams
Singing waters on the tortuous pathway below…
Clangor, bell sounds: the moving harmonies on icy slopes…

*Jackson Creek in winter, ON (photo and rendition by Nina Munteanu)*

*Ice ‘islands’ touched by sunset light in Jackson Creek, ON (photo and rendition by Nina Munteanu)*

*Ice block in Jackson Creek, ON (photo and rendition by Nina Munteanu)*

*Farmer’s field in Kawarthas, ON (photo and rendition by Nina Munteanu)*

A bronze feathered hawk sails high above
Into the bright sunlit skies,
Hawk, swiftly carried in its flight above bended fir and aspen forests,
A wild, fierce, freewheeling majesty…

*Icy bay and shed in the trees, ON (photo and rendition by Nina Munteanu)*

*Small cabin in a meadow, ON (photo and rendition by Nina Munteanu)*

*Trees by fence in farmer’s field, ON (photo and rendition by Nina Munteanu)*

*Snow from a cedar tree showers down glitter-dust in a light breeze in Jackson Creek Park, ON (photo by Nina Munteanu)*

The many pristine snow reflected lights, glittering fires
Above a snow clad world in a time of darkness:
Nature’s magic universe everywhere extant:
We are overwhelmed, confounded by the wonder of it all.

*Skier checks his path on a slope at sunset, BC (photo by Lindsay)*

*Snow glistening in the sunset on a very cold day, ON (photo and rendition by Nina Munteanu)*

*Reflections in Thompson Creek outlet after a new snowfall, ON (photo and rendition by Nina Munteanu)*

*Otonabee River glittering in the sun, ON (photo and rendition by Nina Munteanu)*

Bev Gorbet is a Toronto poet. She has published several poems with the Retired Teachers Organization and most recently in “Literary Connection IV: Then and Now” (In Our Words Inc., 2019), edited by Cheryl Antao Xavier.

Nina Munteanu is a Canadian ecologist / limnologist and novelist. She is co-editor of Europa SF and currently teaches writing courses at George Brown College and the University of Toronto. Visit www.ninamunteanu.ca for the latest on her books. Nina’s bilingual “La natura dell’acqua / The Way of Water” was published by Mincione Edizioni in Rome. Her non-fiction book “Water Is…” by Pixl Press(Vancouver) was selected by Margaret Atwood in the New York Times‘Year in Reading’ and was chosen as the 2017 Summer Read by Water Canada. Her novel “A Diary in the Age of Water” was released by Inanna Publications (Toronto) in June 2020.

When a Gentle Fog Settles Like Water’s Beauty Transformed…

January 8, 2023January 9, 2023 / thealiennextdoor / 2 Comments

*Rotary Trail in Peterborough during a foggy day, ON (photo and rendition by Nina Munteanu)*

A few days ago, I woke up in the morning to a dense fog outside. I hastily dressed, grabbed a clementine, put on my boots and coat and raced outside into the gentle morning. The air was fresh. A calm stillness had settled over everything, from ghostly forest to dripping branches by the path to people who appeared and disappeared in the mist.

*Rotary Trail path to the bridge across the Otonabee River, ON (photo by Nina Munteanu)*

As I strolled along the trail and forest paths, camera in hand, I realized that I needn’t have rushed; the fog didn’t burn away and dissipate beneath a strong sun. It remained foggy the entire day.

*Path through winter forest on a foggy morning, ON (photo by Nina Munteanu)*

*Thompson Creek marsh in the fog, ON (photo by Nina Munteanu)*

*Otonabee marsh in the fog, ON (photo and rendition by Nina Munteanu)*

*Dogwood shrubs add colour to the marsh as ice forms, ON (photo and rendition by Nina Munteanu)*

At Thompson Creek marsh, crimson dogwood shrubs and gnarly trees greeted me with arms stretched through the fog. The damp air, fragrant with the stirring of Winter, caressed my cheeks. I felt like I’d entered a Camille Pissarro painting…

*Alders, willows and other trees, amid ruddy dogwoods, line Thompson Creek marsh behind, ON (photo and rendition by Nina Munteanu)*

*Road to Lakefield along Otonabee River in the fog, ON (photo and rendition by Nina Munteanu)*

During my drive along the river, the calm stillness of the day settled over me with muted beauty. Nature’s shapes peered through the mist like quantum entangled apparitions, coalescing to the nearness of my gaze then vanishing again on my parting.

*Shore of ice-strewn Otonabee River off Lakefield Road, ON (photo and rendition by Nina Munteanu)*

*1906 building on shore of Otonabee River during a foggy day, ON (photo and rendition by Nina Munteanu)*

*Small island in Otonabee River on road to Lakefield, ON (photo and rendition by Nina Munteanu)*

I drove along country roads that vanished in the mist. As I plied through the fog, phantom trees loomed, quietly announcing themselves on the side of the road as their shapes assembled into something solid.

I imagined I was catching the breath of heaven…

*Country dirt road in the Kawarthas on a foggy day, ON (photo by Nina Munteanu)*

*Tree ghosts in a farmer’s field in Kawartha country, ON (photo by Nina Munteanu)*

*Snow melt stream and marsh on the side of a country road on a foggy day, ON (photo and rendition by Nina Munteanu)*

The fog is a shape-shifter. Sometimes a brooding beast, obscuring all in its indiscriminate path. Other times an impish rogue, a pale coquette, winking and teasing as it both reveals and hides, like a good mystery novel…

*Fog over the Otonabee River, ON (photo and rendition by Nina Munteanu)*

*Thompson Creek marsh in a winter mist, ON (photo by Nina Munteanu)*

Nina Munteanu is a Canadian ecologist / limnologist and novelist. She is co-editor of Europa SF and currently teaches writing courses at George Brown College and the University of Toronto. Visit www.ninamunteanu.ca for the latest on her books. Nina’s bilingual “La natura dell’acqua / The Way of Water” was published by Mincione Edizioni in Rome. Her non-fiction book “Water Is…” by Pixl Press(Vancouver) was selected by Margaret Atwood in the New York Times‘Year in Reading’ and was chosen as the 2017 Summer Read by Water Canada. Her novel “A Diary in the Age of Water” was released by Inanna Publications (Toronto) in June 2020.

Nature as Poet … Country Roads in Winter

March 14, 2021March 14, 2021 / thealiennextdoor / Leave a comment

*Undulating hills of a farmer’s field in Kawartha countryside, ON (photo and dry brush rendition by Nina Munteanu)*

*Country road in Kawarthas during snowfall early winter, ON (photo and dry brush rendition by Nina Munteanu)*

*Farmer’s field by country road in early winter, ON (photo and dry brush rendition by Nina Munteanu)*

*Country road viewed from Kawartha drumlin during snowfall, ON (photo and dry brush rendition by Nina Munteanu)*

*Small farm in Kawartha countryside in winter, ON (photo and dry brush rendition by Nina Munteanu)*

*Country road in winter on a sunny day, ON (photo and dry brush rendition by Nina Munteanu)*

*Farmer’s field during snow fog of winter, ON (photo and dry brush rendition by Nina Munteanu)*

*Country road during snowfall, ON (photo and dry brush rendition by Nina Munteanu)*

*Farm and field during heavy snowfall, ON (photo and dry brush rendition by Nina Munteanu)*

*Country road in Kawarthas in winter, ON (photo and dry brush rendition by Nina Munteanu)*

*Farmer’s field aglow at sunset in winter, ON (photo and dry brush rendition by Nina Munteanu)*

Nina Munteanu is a Canadian ecologist / limnologist and novelist. She is co-editor of Europa SF and currently teaches writing courses at George Brown College and the University of Toronto. Visit www.ninamunteanu.ca for the latest on her books. Nina’s bilingual “La natura dell’acqua / The Way of Water” was published by Mincione Edizioni in Rome. Her non-fiction book “Water Is…” by Pixl Press(Vancouver) was selected by Margaret Atwood in the New York Times‘Year in Reading’ and was chosen as the 2017 Summer Read by Water Canada. Her novel “A Diary in the Age of Water” was released by Inanna Publications (Toronto) in June 2020.

Nature as Poet … The Forest in Winter

February 14, 2021March 14, 2021 / thealiennextdoor / Leave a comment

*Woman and her dog walk the cedar swamp forest, Trent Nature Sanctuary, ON (photo and dry brush rendition by Nina Munteanu*

*Trail through cedar forest in first snow, Trent Nature Sanctuary, ON (photo and dry brush rendition by Nina Munteanu)*

*Moss covered roots and trunk of yellow birch after snowfall, Jackson Creek Park, ON (photo and dry brush rendition by Nina Munteanu)*

*Young marcescent beech tree among moss covered glacial erratics in Jackson Creek Park, ON (photo and dry brush rendition by Nina Munteanu)*

*Snow-covered marcescent beech leaves in Jackson Creek Park, ON (photo and dry brush rendition by Nina Munteanu)*

*Heavy snowfall at bridge in Trent Nature Sanctuary, ON (photo and rendition by Nina Munteanu)*

*Cedar pine forest after first snow, Jackson Creek Park, ON (photo and dry brush rendition by Nina Munteanu)*

Nina Munteanu is a Canadian ecologist / limnologist and novelist. She is co-editor of Europa SF and currently teaches writing courses at George Brown College and the University of Toronto. Visit www.ninamunteanu.ca for the latest on her books. Nina’s bilingual “La natura dell’acqua / The Way of Water” was published by Mincione Edizioni in Rome. Her non-fiction book “Water Is…” by Pixl Press(Vancouver) was selected by Margaret Atwood in the New York Times ‘Year in Reading’ and was chosen as the 2017 Summer Read by Water Canada. Her novel “A Diary in the Age of Water” was released by Inanna Publications (Toronto) in June 2020.

Nina Munteanu Writing Coach

nature as art