Mer Bleue Hike: A Few Photos

"And so I go into the woods. As I go in under the trees, dependably, almost at once, and by nothing I do, things fall into place."
- Wendell Berry, A Native Hill

home

birches standing tall

silhouette of a Northern Flicker

trout lily

hiking compadres

trillium

Earth Day Wendell

"we and our country create one another, depend on one another, are literally part of one another; that our land passes in and out of our bodies just as our bodies pass in and out of our land; that as we and our land are part of one another, so all who are living as neighbors here, human and plant and animal, are part of one another, and so cannot possibly flourish alone"
- Wendell Berry, excerpt from The Unsettling of America

Happy Earth Day.
xox

Snow

The snow floats down, fluffing the city to death.
Children and those at peace like sails
catch the surge, mastered giggle-like, and roll
into the snow across the wide, wide spaces
white; the wraith - lovely, inscrutable - calls.
Cars begin to sputter and curse; one by one
withered white they die
as buttoned, capped, and booted, you and I
go dancing, tromping, dancing by.
- Snow, by Mark A. Noll

We're getting another six to ten inches of snow today and tonight. D and I took Cassie for a walk after dinner; I definitely tromped. And I felt like dancing. Peaceful.

Winter Solstice Morning

I just had to write.

I'm at a lovely inn about two thirds of the way home and decided to trek outside in the cold to see if I could catch a glimpse of the sunrise. It's a crisp -30 degrees Celsius (a random conversion site gives me -22F).

Standing alone in the parking lot, I was too early for the sunrise but was greeted by silence, a dim glow to the East, a crescent moon high in the sky and get this ... a shooting star.

How freakin' cool is that.

Happy Solstice Morning.

A Walk in the Woods

It's food for the soul I tell ya. For the first time in four months, D. and I loaded Cassie into the car to hit the trails for a morning hike and oooooohhhhhh so lovely it was.

I inhaled deeply, soaked up the sun and entertained a chickadee on my palm. I felt buoyed.

Here are a few pics:

blue skies

brown earth

a spot of red

golden curlicues

golden sun

Retreating to Nature

As the first no-rain (or at least lower-chance-of-rain) weekend of the summer approaches, D. and I decided to take advantage of it by booking a last-minute camping trip. I can't wait. This country girl urbanite feels a deep need to get away and commune with Mother Nature!

We booked two nights at Bon Echo Provincial Park, a place I've been itching to explore for a few years. Campfires, breakfast and morning coffee in the great outdoors, hiking, silence - blessed silence. It may not be a retreat by the water (see Pondering post, item #11), but right now it's close enough for me.

Chickadee Heartsong

Watching the Chickadees flit about my backyard canopy makes my heart sing. Simple. Happy. Peaceful.

Fun with Fungus

D. and I went on a great hike today and I seemed to be fixated on fungus. I have no clue what these are, but was drawn to take a few photos:

yellow frilly number

fungus or coral?

crimson clan

mango (slightly out of focus) loner

burnt orange beauties

Aren't they fun? I already have two mushroom identification guides on request at the library. I am such a nerd.