From time to time beavers appear somewhere along the creek at the bottom of the ravine in our nearby forest to resume living there. They repair the dam that beavers before them had made and which had gone into disrepair once the beavers were re-located. They erect a new beaver lodge and we soon enough notice that poplars have been randomly harvested. Usually, someone or other reports their presence to wildlife authorities and then one day they're no longer there. Until the next pair moves in.

Beavers are as natural to Canadian forests as is the presence of poplars. We have poplars to spare. We would prefer to see the beavers sharing the forest with us. And our neighbourhood forest adjacent to where we live is a mixed forest. Perhaps at one time before logging occurred in the forest, pre-dating even the time when the area where houses now stand was farmland, it was mostly a pine forest. With logging, other trees like hardwoods tend to move in opportunistically, taking advantage of a sudden vacuum.

In this forest we enter daily with our two little dogs there is a mix of hardwood and softwood; aka deciduous and evergreens. Poplars of course are there in abundance, but there is also Hackberry, Elm, Bass, Ironwood, Maple, Oak, Beech, Sumac, Birch, Pine, Cedar, Hemlock, Spruce, Fir, and others that don't come so readily to mind

There is also a presence of wild apple trees, Pin Cherry, Serviceberry, Hawthorn and Elderberry trees. Yesterday, when we were out in the morning on our daily hike through the forest trails, we noted the Elderberry trees in bloom, their wide, white floral panicles bright against the monochromatic green of the landscape, illuminated by the sun's rays.

Another hot and steamy day was ahead. When I glanced out the front door before leaving the house I could see the garden steeped in sunshine, foliage and flowers gleaming with intense colour. What a contrast to the long days of winter when the prevailing colour is white everywhere we look and the lively brightness of a variegated coloured landscape is but a dim memory..

Now colour bursts everywhere, grabbing our attention, from the ubiquitously insouciant large pink, glowing thimbleberry flowers decorating the shrubs grown much more exuberantly large this year than any other we can recall, to newly-introduced fungi on the forest floor, looking as though something has spilled out from under the dessicated leaf mass, resembling liquefied orange peel; bright, bright orange, sparkling under the influence of the sun.

We decided to take a longer route, and consequently were out for a bit longer than usual, but we had the trail system and the forest to ourselves. No one else appeared on that network of forest pathways while we were out and we didn't mind one little bit. For one thing, with no one else present requiring Jackie and Jillie to burst into their usual racket of dog-vocabulary and no doubt very rude barks, it was a peaceful, tranquil walk.

Always capped off these days by a twirl around the front garden for Jackie and Jillie. Giving us the opportunity to assess the generosity of nature, both wild and cultivated, from the forest to the garden. Whether wildflowers or cultivated stock all that vegetation, rambunctious in its enthusiasm to strut its beauty at a time of year dedicated to their presence, it's a total delight to observe.

When we enter the house, clean up their little paws, the first thing that Jackie and Jillie decide they must do, is chase one another through the house, Jackie vocalizing, Jillie challenging him and both of us laughing at the spectacle. Soon enough, Jillie is ready for a nap, while her brother roams the house restlessly. He is wired and she is not, to nervous exhaustion. He does, however, eventually collapse comfortably into rest when all other options are exhausted.