An old writing friend in California with whom I've been familiar from decades past has informed me that someone she knows in the writing community in Taiwan has proposed publishing a chapbook of her poems, translated to Mandarin. So, at age 88 she is busy doing some editing and gathering the poems she feels are worthwhile being read in Taiwan and elsewhere in East Asia. And I say good for her!

In her salad days she was literarily busy and for years was herself the editor of a poetry magazine she published herself, inviting other poets to submit their work for her to consider and eventually publish. She has kept in touch with some of her international contacts she became acquainted with when she entered her own poetry in international poetry fora.

Stimulating your brain creatively is not only good exercise for it, to ensure that what is neglected doesn't stop functioning altogether, just as it's critically important at all age levels to keep one's muscular skeleton and limbs in constant movement to ensure the body doesn't begin creaking and refusing to function as it should. Which also affects cerebral function.

It all becomes a lifestyle habit, a regular part of one's daily routine. At one and the same time, recreational enjoyment and a home remedy to keep a healthy mind and body. Exercise, leisure, and enjoyment of nature assumes the status of a a silent compulsion, an urge to get outside, to get moving, to immerse oneself in nature, a vital component of human health.

And that's what we did early this afternoon, emerging from the house while the sun still shone, as it has failed to do for much of this week where we've experienced mostly cool temperatures around 10C, wind and rain. The rain is doing wonders for all the vegetation, from trees to shrubs to perennials emerging from the soil, anxious to resume where they left off last fall awaiting winter.

There's always so much to see, roaming through the forest trails in the ravine. Each time we see a new arrival, there's a frisson of joy at coming across yet another familiar sight, part of the landscape. Wild ginger has been emerging, growing to a considerable patch, the very patch that I carefully dug up a very small portion of, which now spreads itself comfortable in our garden. 

There are also new appearances of False Solomon's Seal, emerging along with sensitive ferns and ostrich ferns and many others as well. The trout lilies are popping up everywhere, and so are the as-yet-unflowered lilies-of-the-valley. I did a little side-trip down one of the hillsides from the main trail on the spine of the ravine to see whether any more white trilliums were blooming, but it appears this year that the more rare white trilliums are in short supply, their lack of presence more than compensated for by the wider presence of their red cousins.

Because we were out at a time of day when most people are having their lunch, we saw very few other people out. We did come across a young woman walking a pug puppy, a very small, white dog unaccustomed to seeing many other dogs, and absolutely beside herself to finally see two dogs close in size (Jackie and Jillie actually though small dogs were twice  her height) to herself, and wanting to play with them.

When we finally returned home, clouds were moving in and the sun was being covered by the occasional dark cloud. It seemed that the forecast for a 60-percent chance of afternoon rain was right on the mark. As necessary as wind and rain are, they're influencing the blossoms on our magnolia tree to begin falling apart, and pink petals are beginning to stipple the lawn and the walkway to the front door. A pity, really, to see them go. But in their place will be large, glossy leaves of bright green, in themselves a beautiful sight.