A Selection of Beautiful Nature Photographs from 2023

By MALIK MERCHANT

Horseshoe Canyon, near Drumheller, Alberta, December 26, 2023. Photograph: Malik Merchant/Simergphotos.

On Boxing Day, December 26, 2023, I primarily wanted to feel the excitement of shoppers in nearby CrossIron Mills. My planned early morning arrival at the beautiful “outlet” mall never materialized. All streets turning to the mall’s parking lots were jammed with cars. I did not waste my time, and headed to Horseshoe Canyon, a 100 km drive from Calgary. CLOSED, roared the road sign when I arrived at the canyon. However, with my newly acquired cleats, I was able to walk the length of an icy path to the lookout point. To my amazement, the full moon — of course, the last one for 2023 — was right across the canyon in the northeast direction. Elks grazed on the canyon’s edge looking across from where I stood; on the canyon floor, a couple and their dog walked through a trail covered with snow. Then for a few moments, nature put on a spectacular show — the canyon wall became ablaze with beautiful colours, as the setting sun cast its light on the canyon. It was a sight to behold.

The small selection of pictures presented in the slide show, below, are from hundreds of photos I took and posted on this blog in 2023. Each photograph includes a short quote that you might find inspiring or meaningful in the context of the photo. Enjoy the photographs and the accompanying quotes.

For New Year, 2024, I wish you happiness and success in your lives, good health, and the fulfillment of all your wishes.

(Readers may not be able to see or read the quotes underneath each photo on their handheld devices. Here are the quotes for each photograph, in the same sequence as the photos on the slide show):

QUOTES ACCOMPANYING THE SLIDE SHOW

  1. Lovely days don’t come to you, you should walk to them — Rumi
  2. Looking at nature brings happiness — Hazrat Ali
  3. He created the heavens without pillars as you see them, and put mountains upon the Earth — Qur’an
  4. …. and He spread it with animals of all kinds — Qur’an
  5. It is He who sends down rain. We produce from it greenery from which We produce grains — Qur’an
  6. Both light and shadow are the dance of Love — Rumi
  7. Who gets up early to discover the moment light begins? — Rumi
  8. The whole world is an expression of God’s creation — Aga Khan
  9. The leaf of every tree brings a message from the unseen world. Look, every falling leaf is a blessing — Rumi
  10. The mountain’s face lifted me higher than itself — Hafez
  11. And don’t think the grass loses its ecstasy in winter. It’s quiet, but the roots are down there, riotous — Rumi
  12. All winter you carved water jars out of ice. How well will they hold the summer snowmelt? — Rumi
  13. Love comes on strong, consuming herself, unabashed — Rumi
  14. The world is a mountain, in which your words are echoed back to you — Rumi
  15. Opening our lives to the water is to open our lives to the future — Aga Khan
  16. Every bird will follow its species — Rumi
  17. A world without huge regions of total wilderness would be a cage — Edward Abbey
  18. The sun never says to the earth, ‘You owe me.’ Look what happens with a love like that! It lights up the whole sky — Hafez
  19. The presence of even one grizzly on the land elevates the mountains — John Murray
  20. There is not a moving creature on earth, nor a bird that flies with its two wings, but are communities like you — Qur’an
  21. You were born with greatness; you were born with wings. Heart, what a rare bird you are — Rumi
  22. Beavers do better work than the Corps of Engineers — Mike Todd
  23. The train is a small world moving through a larger world — Elisha Cooper
  24. We are the rainbow people of God! — Desmond Tutu
  25. Bighorn Sheep love salt on the road — Richard Lerner
  26. Everything in the universe is a pitcher brimming with beauty — Rumi
  27. He is the One who has made the sun a glow, and the moon a light — Qur’an
  28. Water has been seen as the great source of life. When scientists search the universe for signs of life, they begin by looking for water — Aga Khan
  29. The rose and the thorn, and sorrow and gladness are linked together — Saadi, and
  30. The universe is not outside of you. Look inside yourself; everything that you want, you already are — Rumi

Please click on any photograph to begin the slide show.

Elk Island National Park, simmons trail
Lovely days don’t come to you, you should walk to them — Rumi
breathtaking view of Rock Isle Lake (left) and Larry Lake from Banff Sunshine's Standish Viewing Deck; July 30, 2023. Photograph: Malik Merchant/Simerg Photos.
Looking at nature brings happiness — Hazrat Ali
Lake Minnewanka sun set Banff, Malik Merchant simergphotos
He created the heavens without pillars as you see them, and put mountains upon the Earth — Qur’an
…. and He spread it with animals of all kinds — Qur’an
It is He who sends down rain. We produce from it greenery from which We produce grains — Qur’an
Both light and shadow are the dance of Love — Rumi
Calgary Alberta sunrise, simergphotos, Malik Merchant
Who gets up early to discover the moment light begins? — Rumi
Johnson Lake Sunrise Malik Merchant Simerg Photos
The whole world is an expression of God’s creation — Aga Khan
autumn colours Weaselhead/Glenmore Park in Calgary;
The leaf of every tree brings a message from the unseen world. Look, every falling leaf is a blessing — Rumi
Pilot Mountain
The mountain’s face lifted me higher than
itself — Hafez
Coyote, Hoodos, Tunnel Mountain Road, Banff
And don’t think the grass loses its ecstasy in winter. It’s quiet, but the roots are down there, riotous — Rumi
Mountains around the frozen Lake Minnewanka, Banff National Park,
All winter you carved water jars out of ice. How well will they hold the summer snowmelt? — Rumi
Elk Island National Park
Love comes on strong, consuming herself, unabashed — Rumi
Twilight Banff Sunrise, Mount Rundle, Malik Merchant
The world is a mountain, in which your words are echoed back to you — Rumi
Elk Island National Park
Opening our lives to the water is to open our lives to the future — Aga Khan
Elk Island National Park
Every bird will follow its species — Rumi
Elk Island National Park Bisons grazing near Mud Lake Viewpoint parking area, simerg photos malik merchant
A world without huge regions of total wilderness would be a cage — Edward Abbey
Astotin Lake Elk Island National Park Malik Merchant Simerg
The sun never says to the earth, ‘You owe me.’ Look what happens with a love like that! It lights up the whole sky — Hafez
Kananaskis Widow Maker Trail Simergphotos Malik Merchant
The presence of even one grizzly on the land elevates the mountains — John Murray
There is not a moving creature on earth, nor a bird that flies with its two wings, but are communities like you — Qur’an
You were born with greatness; you were born with wings. Heart, what a rare bird you are — Rumi
Elk Island National Park, beaver at work
Beavers do better work than the Corps of Engineers — Mike Todd
Rocky Mountaineer on the Bow Valley Parkway, Simerg Photos
The train is a small world moving through a larger world — Elisha Cooper
We are the rainbow people of God! — Desmond Tutu
Bighorn Sheep love salt on the road — Richard Lerner
Upper Grassis Lake
Everything in the universe is a pitcher brimming with beauty — Rumi
He is the One who has made the sun a glow, and the moon a light – Qur’an
Water has been seen as the great source of life. When scientists search the universe for signs of life, they begin by looking for water – Aga Khan
Aga Khan Garden, University of Alberta Botanic Garden, Autumn Fall Colours, Roses
The rose and the thorn, and sorrow and gladness are linked together — Saadi
Aga Khan Garden Reflecting Pool simergphotos
The universe is not outside of you. Look inside yourself; everything that you want, you already are — Rumi

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Date posted: December 28, 2023.

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