Tag: forests

The little things delight

We’ve enjoyed a few more sprinklings of snow and the temperature has stayed reliably low, so there’s still a white carpet out in the woods. With luck, and if forecasts are accurate, we should have received a sizeable amount more by the time you’re reading this. Please, please, please…

At the start of the week Scout and I had the local woods pretty much to ourselves. Other than the chattering squirrels still at work, and the occasional woodpecker and numerous small brown birds I’m unable to identify, it was mostly quiet. Tracks told us of hares and rabbits, and dogs and walkers out earlier than us, but we didn’t see another person each morning. (Mrs PC remained indoors at the start of the week, under the weather and recovering from flu shots, etc. On the mend now and she’ll soon be back keeping an eye on the children…)

The air was still, with fallen snow balanced precariously on even the most delicate of branches. As morning progressed and a bright sun rose, what heat there was caused snow to tumble, miniature crystal cascades shimmering down. A tiny bird flew across the trail in front of us and into the trees on our left, almost faster than my eye could catch it. Threading through the lattice of tiny branches, wing beats dislodging snow, white puffs betraying the flight path – that was some sight!

With her half curved tail a happy question mark, Scout is most definitely a snow dog, leaping ahead or nosing into snow banks or trying to catch a snowball. I can barely keep up. If there’s a downward slope, she’ll pull hard, trying to get ahead, reach the bottom – and see if I’ll fall? Sometimes I surrender on the steeper ones, putting one foot forward and then sliding down gracefully (you weren’t there, it was graceful) as if riding an escalator, disappointing Scout as I remain upright.

“There’s a good steep slope just over the rise that’ll get him, hehehe!”

Goodness, a couple of weeks into the new winter season and Scout is yet to see me tumble. Will my luck hold? Scout isn’t a gambler, more of a gamboller, but if she could place a bet, it would be on me being flat on my face, deposited into a snow bank at some point. There is a lot of winter to come, and many more walks in the winter woods, so she’s probably right…

“I’m always right!”

The little things in an outdoor season of wonder keeping us mostly balanced – thank you, winter! Thanks for reading, and I hope you have a wonderful weekend!

Not so little

Fall-tastic?

That’s not a word, but it is an attempt to convey how much we’ve been enjoying the season. Being up with or even ahead of the latest thing is so very much us, haha. Identifying fall is beautiful? Couldn’t be more on trend… Moron, you say? No, but I’ve been called worse, by worse…

Trail starts here

Where was I? Clearly, you’re not going to get high quality season-centric (huh?) writing here (see “fall-tastic” above) but we really have enjoyed our eastern woodland leafy fall into autumn.

What a mood enhancer! We’re pretty chipper anyway most of the time, (don’t judge a book by it’s cover; it’s a smiling – on the inside – visage I present to the world) but being out in the woods the past few weeks has further boosted our generally sunny outlook. Each recent morning we’ll approach the local trail and murmur “that’s beautiful”, then a few yards on and a few turns into the trail, say again “that’s beautiful” and on and on we go.

On and on, into the woods!

The crisp air, the bright blue sky, the green through yellow through orange and into red leafy splendour, plus Scout’s bouncing gait, the wet-dry smell of leaf decay, and the satisfying crunch and scrunch underfoot? We add it up and our answer is “that’s beautiful!”

“Bouncing? Me? I’m far too dignified for that. But if you wanted to say beautiful…”

Yup, here we are this week struggling to find words and phrases to describe our autumnal adventures. Fall-tastic? Fallsome praise? Autumnulent? Why I autumn do better… Hmm. Should I stop, leaf it for now?

Just leaf it

If you’re looking to read about fall – about any season – with thoughts on the joy found in the natural world, then head over to Walt at Rivertop Rambles. He posted this week, and, like always, it’s a great read. I’m not blowing smoke from a leafy bonfire up his a- … read him, and you’ll see.

Joy

Anyway, it’s far too nice outside to be in here writing. I can see the trees from my office window, glowing in sunny autumnal glory, and let me tell you, it’s beautiful!

Thanks for reading, and I hope you have a great weekend!

“His vocabulary really is limited, isn’t it? I mean, bouncing?! What’s wrong with regal, majestic, purposeful…”

Canadian Thanksgiving!

A brief post (something readers might be thankful for) to acknowledge Canadian Thanksgiving this coming Monday.

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Low key drama
We’ve lived up in the True North for almost a decade, and we’re constantly thankful for the experience. As a nation, like other places, it isn’t perfect (many terrible mistakes have been made, particularly in relation to indigenous groups), but there is a sense of striving for a society that is working towards inclusivity and acceptance towards all – inside and outside the borders. It is, generally, a welcoming country, with many citizens who are prepared to live and let live, and where every day life for most people carries on without too much drama. Again, not perfect, and not for many northern communities, but (painfully small and slow) steps are being taken to right some of the past wrongs.

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Fall drama
For me, the real drama is found in the landscapes of this great country. Personally, we have barely uncovered the tip of the wilderness iceberg here in western Canada, and beyond that there is so much more to discover from coast to coast to coast! Like the real icebergs and the true True North. Thousands of lakes large and small, tiny creeks and rushing rivers, more mountains (oh yes!), almost endless prairie, and an expanse of boreal and coastal forest to lose oneself in.

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Lose yourself
I know, I know, we’ll never get close to exploring all that there is, but it’s fun to think that we’ll try anyway. It’s the pull of the north (and the east, and the west) and a need to see for yourself and attempt to comprehend the nature of Canada. Impossible! Folly! But so alluring…

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Alluring…
Fingers crossed, touch wood, and we’re hoping to celebrate a few more decades here, and be able to look back at travels all across this wonderful land. 

The people we know, the place we live, where we’ve come from, and where we are going – so much to be thankful for!

Thanksgiving in a cabin!
Thanks for reading, happy Thanksgiving, and have a wonderful weekend!

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Taylor Creek, AB

A holiday story and a picture…

…to raise a shiver! I know it is meant to be a time of goodwill to all, and I sincerely hope it is (beyond today), but sometimes, scary things happen. Anyway, a little gift in the form of a true story:

Last December, we were snowshoeing near Lake Louise, slogging up a short but steep trail in an attempt to shake off the sluggishness of a Boxing Day cabin morning. Decent snowfall the previous couple of days left everything looking just right – a blanket of brilliant white. But the light accentuates the dark, and a forest isn’t always a welcoming place. Nothing seemed to stir, and all was quiet, yet we were disquieted, with a nagging sense of being watched. We didn’t see anyone else on the trail, but were we alone? It felt like there were eyes on us…

 

Junior and Mrs PlaidCamper keeping watch…
 We decided to ignore my uncanny sixth sense, and bravely – foolishly? – continued, onwards and upwards. We turned a corner and came to a dead halt. A few yards off the trail, it was standing. No wonder the trail was empty. Quite unlike anything we’d ever seen before, there stood a woodland creature that defied description. It didn’t seem to be looking our way, so I decided to risk it all and crept forward to take the following photograph:

 

Beyond description…
 
I hope we never see anything like this ever again. Even now, a year later, I shudder at the memory. We are going to be super-vigilant tomorrow, only too aware of what might be out there on the trail…

Have a wonderful day, and a pleasant weekend! Thanks for being brave enough to read this. As ever, please feel free to comment or share a (seasonal) story, and keep your guy ropes secure.