Today brought us a heavily humid, sunny day. It's also house-cleaning day. So we had the option of waiting as usual until the house-cleaning was done and then venturing out with Jackie and Jillie to the ravine in the afternoon heat, or to immediately on waking launch us all into the ravine for a long and leisurely trot through the forest trails. A morning hike won out, as it likely will tomorrow, too.

So off we went, the sun already hot, the temperature on its way to 30C, and the humidity dripping all around us. A cursory look at the garden before leaving, to do a quick assessment of its watering needs, reaching the conclusion it can wait until tomorrow. Only the urn on the front porch will need a drink before then, since the portico protects it from rain, unless a rainfall is on a slant toward the front of the house.

The petunias and wax begonias planted yesterday among and around the earlier-planted hostas will have to put on a lot more weight before they make the statement that they own the new garden bed. With this kind of weather, hot, sunny and humid they'll make a prodigious effort. 

In the forest some of the trails have dried nicely and others remain mired in mud, the forest floor still unable soak up the last several rains-worth of moisture in an already sodden landscape. But these are conditions that the forest thrives under. The understory of dogwood and honeysuckle are so appreciative they're both heavily into their spring flowering stage.

We also came across the delightful sight of pink spring-blooming phlox, several stands of them, erect and proud to offer the sight of their bright little heads to any passersby. Halfway through our circuit we stopped to reconnoiter the area, certain we were right where a pair of owls had nested, before the storm. Irving saw the owl before I did, guided by its soft hooo, and he pointed out to me where the bird sat, not far from the nest its mate was on, with their nestlings. 

The forest was alight with green iridescence, glowing like a magic landscape, the rays of the sun turning foliage into a bright transparency, enveloping us in a bright cathedral of green. There are few other places we'd prefer to be for serene relaxation while at the same time freely exercising our limbs, than this forest. One of those few other places will welcome us mid-week when we drive a days-worth distance to arrive at a favourite forest in the Waterville Valley.

Tomorrow Jackie and Jillie have their appointment at the groomers' and tomorrow is packing day to ensure we have another day where we can make certain we've packed along everything we need for the week away. In our good old tradition of taking too much with us; the redundancy is ridiculous.