It feels like Spring has truly arrived. We've enjoyed some beautifully warm and sunny days, and even the cloudy days are warmer than they were. Hooray!
Last week Tim and I went camping, not too far away from home. It's a different pace of life, and we did some wonderful hikes. One of them was to Ammonite Falls, seen above. We meandered for quite some time before finally finding the correct trail. The trail-makers built stairs which made the descent to a small river and ascent up the other side more doable, but my goodness - I counted at least 200 steps, steep ones! My leg muscles burned! The view of the waterfall was a great reward, but then we had to retrace our steps and do those stairs another time!
The woods are full of damp green scents, the trills and chirps of many birds, and the blooms of delicate flowers like the Trilliums (trillium ovatum) above. They are native here and take a very long time to grow and bloom. Picking them is highly frowned upon, and was once illegal. I think it should still be so.
Another day, also cloudy, we hiked to The Abyss, a crack in the earth's surface caused by an earthquake long ago. The area is pure stone and I can imagine the loud cracking sound of rock when it split. The length of this crack is about 150 feet (45 metres), and its width about 16 inches (40 cm). Its depth varies, and I don't know how anyone would get out if they fell in. There are few warning signs, but hikers are cautioned to keep a close eye on children and pets.
We walked along the shore and stopped to watch this determined gull trying to eat a rather large starfish. He dropped it, picked up, chewed on it, and repeated the sequence several times before finally flying off with the starfish in his beak. Perhaps he didn't want his failure witnessed.
The view from our campsite overlooking a deep bay, the Strait of Georgia, and the coast mountains beyond. We watched ferries, container ships, and even a cruise ship enroute to Alaska, along with plenty of bird life in the river estuary. So much life!
Wood anemones were seen here and there, so lovely with the play of light and shadow.
We've had guests this week, friends from our Ecuador days who now live in New York State. How we laughed over old times and experiences. It was wonderful to catch up with them. We walked and talked and ate and that was about it for two days. Now back to real life!
How unspeakably the lengthening of memories
in common endears our old friends
George Eliot
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