A walk in the woods (II)

Here are a few more shots from my walk in the woods last week.

And what a difference a few days make in the weather - last week we enjoyed 80-84F (26-28C); today we were lucky to reach 52F (11C) under heavy skies and a howling wind.

Definition of a Canadian spring: the 15 minutes between winter and summer.

While the earth remains, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night, shall not cease.”   Genesis 8:22

A walk in the woods ...

“I like this place and could willingly waste my time in it.”
― William Shakespeare

“God has strewn our paths with wonders and we certainly should not go through Life with our eyes shut.”
― Alexander Graham Bell

“Many eyes go through the meadow, but few see the flowers in it”
― Ralph Waldo Emerson

“Going to the woods is going home.”
― John Muir

“If God did not exist, He would have to be invented. But all nature cries aloud that He does exist: that there is a supreme intelligence, an immense power, an admirable order, and everything teaches us our own dependence on it.”
― Voltaire

I visited this secluded area a few minutes' drive from our place - it's a favourite of mine in each season. Sasha contented herself with nosing around in the leaves and finding a comfortable spot in the shade as I wandered around in the woods. It's the height of black fly season and they were voracious. Since I'm a favourite of all biting and sucking insects I doused myself in a 98.9% DEET solution (not available in my nanny state but which I - thankfully - found in Florida) and they were forced to leave me alone.

I made enough photos for several posts so will have to share some others next time. Hope you'll enjoy the walk in His creation.

Consider the lilies of the field ...

"How could I say there is no God?
  When all around creation calls!!"
                           [Brian Doerksen - Creation Calls]

Memories of spring

First a howling blizzard woke us,
Then the rain came down to soak us,
And now before the eye can focus —
Crocus.                            (Lilja Rogers)

For the first time in 4 years, we weren't greeted by a blizzard upon our return from down south. And those who stayed and braved the winter tell us that there have already been enough April showers to bring out the May flowers. soon.

Those of us who have grown up in cold(er) climes fondly recall those first days of spring when we could finally shed our coats and bask in the warm rays of sunshine. Today was one of those days as I cleaned winter's detritus from the pond.

I trust that no matter where you live (at least in the northern hemisphere), you'll also revel in the newness that spring brings to God's good creation, and to our spirits.

A tale of 2 cities

A couple of our daughters sent us photographic evidence yesterday that winter had not quite yet released its icy grip up north. We're harbouring a not-so-secret hope that it will slip quietly into history and make way for spring before our return.

Here's what we found in our southern yard yesterday:

Contrast that to their experience: