Irving thinks and feels that we need a change of scenery. Two years and more when we've gone nowhere, done nothing outside of our home territory. Seen nothing new and different. And he is restless. We discuss the issue, and though we feel differently about the need to venture out as we have done throughout our lives, we both agree that we've always enjoyed our outings, planned or spontaneous. We both miss being out in different natural surroundings. And tooting about in a different environment just seeing different things.

 

 

I'm comfortable 'stagnating'. I always find more than enough to do to keep me informed and entertained and busy. So does he, but that extra element of satisfaction in life's offerings is missing. Particularly for him. His sense of curiosity has never abated. His willingness to go a distance to find other places of interest for us to be temporarily immersed in lives on.

 

So, we'll go. An enterprise that doesn't fill me with eager anticipation, necessarily. It's not as though we've decided to fly to an exotic destination, to take a cruise, and relax while briefly playing the tourist. That's not our style. We've both had opportunities in the past to travel far and wide, to see and live within societies different and not-so-different from our own.

What we're setting out to do is not particularly out of the ordinary, and readily achievable by anyone whose interests are similar to our own. Get in a car and drive the distance, stop over and puddle about, make a temporary home for yourself, exhaust the possibilities offered in a different environment. It's what we most enjoy. And it's what Irving is determined we shall return to.

 

That said, we take enormous pleasure in our very own home and community and its surroundings. Today turned out a weather antidote to yesterday's all-day rain, cold atmosphere and wretched wind. We reached a moderate temperature high of 12C, with full sun and a light breeze. What more could we ask for? Jackie and Jillie were ready to go off with us, no little sweaters for them at this temperature, so they were free of restraints as it were as soon as we gained the ravine and removed their leashes.

 

We were not the only area residents for whom the day was perfection, needing just the addition of a forest landscape to make the most of it. Not a lot of people, but enough to assure nature that she is fully appreciated. Despite all the rain most of the trail network was in decent shape. There are always areas that don't drain as well as others, and there the mud was deep. The occasional bicyclist going through has a tendency to ruck up the muck leaving a mess that we've all no trouble side-stepping.

 

We met a young man escorting two little girls in colourful clothing, who had never been in the ravine before. The children were smiling and happy and felt entirely comfortable with their surroundings. Their escort spoke with wonder at the trails, how he had just discovered them and let them lead him, and how surprised he was to see the pair of Mallard ducks in the creek. When we made our way over to the creek a short time later, the ducks were no longer there, but a pair of dogs was.

 

And it was in that area where the wildlife meadow is that we saw the first of the spring wildflowers just beginning to emerge from the forest floor. Coltsfoot, pushing through the wet soil, through the blanket of desiccating leaf mass. I was thinking that we might soon see them beginning to show their bright little yellow faces, so alike those of dandelions but so much earlier to bloom, and there they were!

 

 

And just a little further on, another surprise, though it shouldn't have been a surprise. We see at least one wasp nest in the forest each year. They usually hang from the branches of trees. This one, however, seemed to be attached to shrubbery that looked awfully like a row of red osier dogwood. It's in a replanted area, after the summer one of the hills in the ravine collapsed following sustained heavy rains, taking part of the forest with it. Remediation work was done to protect the creek and shore up what was left of the hillside, and part of that was replanting trees and shrubs that are native to the ravine.