It took quite some time for our inner body temperatures to return to normal, as evidenced by the perspiration that kept forming on our hairlines and dripping down our faces yesterday after our afternoon hike through the ravine trails. So hot and humid we had to stop multiple times to rehydrate Jackie and Jillie. The heat obviously convinced a lot of people that even though the temperature in the ravine is lower than out at street level it would still be too uncomfortable hiking uphill and down, exerting oneself in the process, resulting in few people about in the forest.

From yesterday's humid 30C and evening rain to today's high of 17C, quite a reversal. Last night gusts of really cold wind wafted through our bedroom window, making sleep far more comfortable than the night before. One of our neighbours told us yesterday that in Washington, D.C. where she spent some time last month, she discovered that air conditioned homes have two AC systems, one for the first floor, another for the 2nd. Efficient cooling, they call it.

With our air conditioning system, the basement is chill, the first floor tolerable, the second floor where our bedrooms are located, are far too warm. The reverse occurs in the winter, when the heating system is on. And in Washington, our neighbour told us, there are also two furnaces commonly in the homes she was talking about, doing the same thing the double AC systems do. One doesn't normally think of the city of Washington and single-family dwellings. 

And the environmental movement is so strong in the U.S. that they turn their focus not entirely benign in nature, on Canada's energy sources, campaigning to shut them down, while operating a myriad of pipelines, and burning coal in plants like nobody's business. No outrage at double furnaces and double AC systems?

Needless to say, with cooler temperature and cloudy skies (threatening rain again) our hike through the forest trails was infinitely more comfortable today. Jackie and Jillie were completely disinterested in having any slurps of cool water, though they were enthusiastic enough about doggy treats. And far more people were in evidence here and there on some of the trails, and with them their companion dogs. At times it looked like the forest belonged to dogs, there were groups accumulating in sniff-fests on the occasional trail linkages.

 

The forest wildflowers are truly in their element; all growing conditions are completely optimal and it shows, with the spread of daisies, black-eyed Susans, ragweed, flowering clover and a host of other wildflowers, including thimbleberries. Today, for the first time compass plants proliferating everywhere are now in bloom to accompany Queen Anne's lace. A symphony of colour; pink, white, purple, yellow. Enough to dazzle the eyes, even under an overcast sky mysteriously casting down a luminous glow to illuminate colour and shading in a way far different from a clear and sunny day.