There it was, the old giant of a pine, still standing, just within the edge of the forest where it begins to dip into the ravine, not far from the trail we used to take many years ago in our then-regular circuit of the forested ravine. When we first discovered the forest so close to our home, when we moved into the house we're currently owners of, twenty-five years ago, that old pine had a companion a short distance away, outside the forest confines by a short distance. It had been the larger of the two back then. And twenty years ago it had been hit by a lightning strike, which felled it, to our great dismay.

Over the years since, the remaining pine gained in girth, since as softwoods, pines grow fairly quickly. Where the other tree had fallen is no longer visible, its great trunk well overgrown by other flora over the years. The entire area is much, much different than it was when we used to frequent it. At that time there were optional trails we could take that are no longer there. It's a ravined forest and over time areas erode, where promontories which used to host very narrow trails have fallen away taking the trails with them.

The linked circuitry of trails on that side of the ravine which we seldom visit anymore are nowhere near as extensive as those on 'our side'. And over the years there has been quite a bit of housing encroachment on what was once level and undeveloped land bordering the ravine. The steady influx of new homes cut off access to the animals which live there, the wildlife corridors suddenly disappearing. It's why we see far fewer animals and ground birds than we once did.

Jack and Jill were interested enough to explore new territory. They would hardly remember, we assume, the few times we've taken them on previous occasions. And since we venture there so rarely now, considerably lengthening our walking circuit when we do, there is always something different to be seen. Some of the flora grows differently there, since there are more wide open spaces than in the part we regularly tramp over. Wildflowers are more abundant.

And for another thing, as an example, the native fox grape grows there, and there are ancient vines looping over trees, always fascinating to see.  And today we saw a single flowering plant whose presence we found odd, since there was only one to be seen, and it looked quite different; a yellow flower with a decidedly pink interior. Until we looked a little closer and realized that the pink interior was actually a lovely, delicate pink moth nestled in the centre of each of the two blooms that had reached maturity. And I finally recognized that the unknown plant was an evening primrose.