You have to be resigned to accepting the reality that it isn't everything that nature presents us with that we will find pleasing. The point is that we're hugely indebted to nature for all that exists, including ourselves. And of the minutiae that nature has been responsible for creating, most of it is astonishing and pleasing to us from the tiniest grain of sand to the expanding universe and all that fits between.

Which is why observing nature at close quarters becomes a never-ending source of information, entertainment and enlightenment. The more familiar we become with all of nature's manifestations the more confident and comfortable we become in our place within her great plan of creation.

From our infinitesimally minuscule-to-vanishing vantage of our place in that universal scheme the profound effect that closeness to and with nature has on our spirit and our emotional well-being the more we seek out even greater closeness.

Our two little dogs, Jackie and Jillie embark on their daily excursions into our natural surroundings with thoughts unknown to us but the thoughts are there all the same. They may only be anticipating exposure yet again to landscapes that have become familiar to them and attractive for that very reason in the comfort that routine brings to most of us.

I'm not sure that we give it much greater thought; the prospect of an imminent jaunt along forest trails, alert to the presence of other creatures, taking pleasure in seeing, watching and hearing them, noting the presence of vegetation reflecting the changing seasons and similarly finding comfort in expectations being met and the solace given to creatures like ourselves who thrive in the familiarity of routine.

It is unexpected turning the corner into August to see before us on the forest floor signs of impending change in a lone leaf lying among the desiccated foliage of last year and years previous to that; this one fresh-fallen off a nearby tree and bright red where it should be green. Symbolic of stress no doubt, from exposure to the extremes of drought followed by an excess of moisture. Jolting us to the realization that before too long summer will transition to fall.

Even so, there is comfort in seeing the presence of the wildflower fleabane that persists through the months from late June to the present, unwilling to depart as its many other wildflower cousins do once their season has passed.

The trails that so recently were so dry that cracks were appearing on the forest floor throughout the parched forest are no longer pleading for nature to relieve their thirst. These have been latter days of rainy inundation with severe thunderstorms like the one the night before we set out yesterday morning for our ravine walk, that hit a power transformer somewhere along the line and left us with an evening of dark helplessness until we groped about to find flashlights, then candles and finally an oil lamp to illuminate our home circa 1850.