We hadn't been back in ages. To the very place that was of such huge importance in our outdoor recreational life for so many years. There just seemed no reason to go there. It would mean having to drive over, though we could choose to visit one of the many trails we had become familiar with over the years, that wasn't quite as distant to drive to. A mere half-hour drive could take us reasonably close to a trail. But then, on the other hand, any time we wished it, all we had to do was amble up the street our house sits on, to access a long, rambling forested trail.

Of course it's far different in Gatineau Park. The sheer scope of the geography, the variety of the trails and the landscape they cover, the geology, the types of wildflowers that faithfully make their presence throughout the growing the seasons. The last time we went over there was, in fact, the last time our youngest son had visited with us. And since he was here again with us, we decided why not? He decided for us, in essence, trying to shake us out of our predictable habits.

And we happily agreed. As it happens it was also a very hot, sunny day, this very day. But we know that in the embrace of a forest we wouldn't be too uncomfortable, and we weren't. There was a nice, stiff breeze, and in a forest interior the canopy of the trees do a wonderful job of providing ample shade. So much so that at times, when the sun goes behind banks of clouds as it did from time to time today, the ambient light becomes very like twilight, lending an air of mystery to it all.

We came across a pair of rooks, saw and heard plenty of woodpeckers and crows, and while on the circuit of the trial we took, saw few people. The number of others on the trail, however, picked up as we neared the MacKenzie King Estate, heading down to the 'falls' which at this time of year are simply non-existent. Particularly now, when the water level in the stream that feeds it is the lowest we've ever seen. Despite which, the corrugated metal 'tunnel' one traverses approaching the trail reaching up to the Estate was full of water seeping through its floorboards; another of life's little mysteries.

We took our time, in no great hurry, delighted over the ubiquitous presence of tiny pink wild geraniums and ample evidence of other wildflowers, trilliums and columbine withered and gone but for the presence of fleabane and goldenrod. And fragrant carpets of sublimely lovely mauve-coloured thyme that we passed as we approached the site. A perfectly lovely way to spend a summer afternoon, far from the heat of the city, revelling in nature supreme.