Irving thinks and feels that we need a change of scenery. Two years and more when we've gone nowhere, done nothing outside of our home territory. Seen nothing new and different. And he is restless. We discuss the issue, and though we feel differently about the need to venture out as we have done throughout our lives, we both agree that we've always enjoyed our outings, planned or spontaneous. We both miss being out in different natural surroundings. And tooting about in a different environment just seeing different things.

 

 

I'm comfortable 'stagnating'. I always find more than enough to do to keep me informed and entertained and busy. So does he, but that extra element of satisfaction in life's offerings is missing. Particularly for him. His sense of curiosity has never abated. His willingness to go a distance to find other places of interest for us to be temporarily immersed in lives on.

 

So, we'll go. An enterprise that doesn't fill me with eager anticipation, necessarily. It's not as though we've decided to fly to an exotic destination, to take a cruise, and relax while briefly playing the tourist. That's not our style. We've both had opportunities in the past to travel far and wide, to see and live within societies different and not-so-different from our own.

What we're setting out to do is not particularly out of the ordinary, and readily achievable by anyone whose interests are similar to our own. Get in a car and drive the distance, stop over and puddle about, make a temporary home for yourself, exhaust the possibilities offered in a different environment. It's what we most enjoy. And it's what Irving is determined we shall return to.

 

That said, we take enormous pleasure in our very own home and community and its surroundings. Today turned out a weather antidote to yesterday's all-day rain, cold atmosphere and wretched wind. We reached a moderate temperature high of 12C, with full sun and a light breeze. What more could we ask for? Jackie and Jillie were ready to go off with us, no little sweaters for them at this temperature, so they were free of restraints as it were as soon as we gained the ravine and removed their leashes.

 

We were not the only area residents for whom the day was perfection, needing just the addition of a forest landscape to make the most of it. Not a lot of people, but enough to assure nature that she is fully appreciated. Despite all the rain most of the trail network was in decent shape. There are always areas that don't drain as well as others, and there the mud was deep. The occasional bicyclist going through has a tendency to ruck up the muck leaving a mess that we've all no trouble side-stepping.

 

We met a young man escorting two little girls in colourful clothing, who had never been in the ravine before. The children were smiling and happy and felt entirely comfortable with their surroundings. Their escort spoke with wonder at the trails, how he had just discovered them and let them lead him, and how surprised he was to see the pair of Mallard ducks in the creek. When we made our way over to the creek a short time later, the ducks were no longer there, but a pair of dogs was.

 

And it was in that area where the wildlife meadow is that we saw the first of the spring wildflowers just beginning to emerge from the forest floor. Coltsfoot, pushing through the wet soil, through the blanket of desiccating leaf mass. I was thinking that we might soon see them beginning to show their bright little yellow faces, so alike those of dandelions but so much earlier to bloom, and there they were!

 

 

And just a little further on, another surprise, though it shouldn't have been a surprise. We see at least one wasp nest in the forest each year. They usually hang from the branches of trees. This one, however, seemed to be attached to shrubbery that looked awfully like a row of red osier dogwood. It's in a replanted area, after the summer one of the hills in the ravine collapsed following sustained heavy rains, taking part of the forest with it. Remediation work was done to protect the creek and shore up what was left of the hillside, and part of that was replanting trees and shrubs that are native to the ravine.

The rustic cabin in Port Renfrew doesn't look very difficult to take. Both its exterior and interior, though not what might be called spacious by urban standards are fairly upscale. In fact, in that spectacular setting that is remote and rural British Columbia why anyone would need more room than is required to be comfortable and efficient is beyond logic.

A fully equipped kitchen, a place to relax, a bedroom and washroom, all functioning and gleaming with the look of high-grade technology. But step out your door, pull on your boots, hoist your backpack and away you go.

There's old-growth forest nearby, and there's the ocean. Both brimming with wildlife, both landscapes aesthetically stunning, peacefully tranquil.  All it takes is the energy of appreciative curiosity to set off on hikes, covering ground with long, loping strides, stopping occasionally to marvel at the breadth of a tree, the sea spuming against the coastal rocky shoreline, sea lions basking in their element, crowding one another on the rocky slopes falling into the ocean. At night, nocturnal aquatic predators can be watched, like an octopus whose groping arms reach into ledges where fish may be lingering asleep.

The octopus's probing, suctioned tentacles startle the fish awake and they stream out of the ledge, but for those held fast to become a meal for the scavenging hunter. The sky is darker, velvety royal blue than ever seen elsewhere, countless winking stars stippling the blue, light cast by the moon illuminating heavenly light, streaked-white clouds over the horizon. This is the ultimate natural wonderland. His verbal descriptions to us of what he sees and how he reacts, along with the photographs place us in that very landscape and we imagine being there with him.

The setting sun ... approaching night.

But that, of course, is as far as i goes. There was a time when we used to be there with him. We'd fly out to Vancouver and set out with him on trips, adventures we would never undertake on our own, although it was our sense of adventure and curiosity when he was much younger that took all of us out on trips to natural settings, exposing him, his brother and his sister to all aspects of the natural world surrounding us. His own developed sense of adventure and his decision to follow his inclination toward nature became his professional life work, augmented by his never-ending intimacy on a personal level with the world surrounding us.

As for Irving and me, nothing quite so dedicated or spectacular Other than our own compulsion to making continual forays into natural surroundings an important part of our own lives. We remain committed to immersing ourselves briefly on a daily basis within the natural world, but the extent to which we do that is limited now by our energy levels dictated by age. Despite which we still gain daily opportunities gaining all the positive aspects we're left with; both physical and psychological health.

And the pleasure of immersing ourselves in an ever-changing seasonal landscape, the opportunity to see things we would never be exposed to in a strictly urban landscape, and the pleasure inherent in having two little dog companions whose own exuberance unleashed in nature entrances and pleases us no end. We are, in essence continuing to share outdoor adventures, however 'tame' they've now become, with a new, extended family who now share our home and our predilection for nature with us.