The voluminous, steady and prolonged rainfall of the day before returned the forest to its state of deep immersion in moisture that pertained when the snowpack was melting in early spring. There are now, once again wide, deep puddles of rainwater resting on the forest floor, beloved by mosquitoes whose wiggling larvae will become those horrible bloodsuckers humankind detests.

And so they were out in great hungry crowds yesterday, but the sun was out and we evaded the puddles on our traipse through the forest trails, and we looked forward to spotting what the increased forest moisture has brought to the surface. On trees, shelf fungi now proliferate here and there, varied in form and patterns, some really lovely to look at.

And not to be outdone, mushrooms too have begun to show their presence. We saw quite the colony ensconced over an old stump. It's a colony we first noticed at this time last year, as a matter of fact, and there it was once again.

The sun was bright and warm and the day cool enough to anticipate a certain amount of time to be spent out in the garden, planting some of our many garden pots and classical urns with colourful annuals, to give us great pleasure over the coming months. Yet another of those yearly events that excite our pleasure and admiration for all growing things courtesy of nature.

The comfort of knowing the start of another season of easy living in late spring and summer months is yet ahead represents to us the longing for change in our landscape and atmosphere when we recall the leisure and pleasure of summers long past, both as children and as adults with children of our own, introducing them to all the various ways in which moderate temperatures and beckoning landscapes please the soul, just as our own experiences taught us.

Meanwhile, on our daily tramps through the ravined forest with our two little dogs, few excursions could be more to our liking, exposed to nature's generosity and the happiness exhibited by Jackie and Jillie, joyfully inclined to make the most of these shared experiences so important to all of us.