….. Spring is shouting out loud that it is on the way – around the corner even! If only the rain would slow down, and let the sun break through!
There are flowers in the garden, Crocus, Hellebores, Aconite and even the little Iris’s that I planted a couple of years ago are up and glowing purple! There are birds everywhere you look, singing and chirping and announcing that change is on the way. The colours and noise of Spring is all around us now when we go for our walks.
Yes the trees are still bare – but that will change quickly. There are buds on those trees!
Even bare the trees can be incredibly beautiful. This old Garry Oak at the Nanaimo River Estuary stands alone and is an incredible reminder of the complexity of the patterns in the bare branches of the trees.
The Dried seed pods of the fall are amazing in their complexity of pattern. The shapes and forms that they create are unique to each pod.
On a sloping bank in Bowen Park I discovered a feast for the eyes – Snowdrops carpeting the ground. Pushing up through the roots and around the rocks and between the branches dropped from the trees above these tight, beautiful clumps of Snowdrops are determined to bloom and spread.
Waters are high in both Nanaimo and Millstone Rivers. Their banks are being worn away and massive tree roots are being bared to the sun and the sky! There are full sized trees caught up in debris catches along the banks as well. It is fascinating to watch as the world around is changed and reformed by the work of water; whether by the wearing away on the banks of the swift running rivers or by the sudden intense bloom of mushrooms, mosses and lichens in the trees along our pathways.
My favorite find in the last couple of weeks was this Sharp Shinned Hawk – just hanging out on the Wires above my head. It just sat and watched as we stopped the car to let me out to take the portrait. I didn’t get too close, I could see that I was being watched as carefully as I was watching it!
It is truly an amazing world that we live in. Each day we watch as the changes unfold to create a new beauty.
Happy Walking
Lynette
