My husband and I got out for a drive in the mountains, we stopped for a hike, we saw wildlife, and we had a wonderful, relaxing day together.
Such days are jewels.
It gives us a chance to step out of life, out of time even. We enjoy the world around us and how we perceive the world both separately and together.
We tried a bit of a trail new to us, White Goat and its branch White Goat Falls. I only made it as far as where the trail branches.
We'd wanted to go as far as the falls, but the trail turned into a steep decline and I have yet to bounce back enough from surgery to manage it.
It's a good time of year to be in the forest.
The juniper berries are juicy, and while they may be best known as the flavour component of gin they also have some long-standing therapeutic uses.
I use them for breathing.
I have a wee touch of asthma and have to almost 20 years. I rarely pay it any mind and it returns the favour.
But at the higher altitudes I find I like a good boost to the breathing and a few ripe blue juniper berries gives me that.
Husband eats them, too, as they are tasty.
Even if the boost is not needed I'll still eat them because I like them.
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| Wild gin on the hoof. |
The Western Wood Lilies are enjoying their finest moments. We saw several on our hike.
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| We commonly call it a Tiger Lily, but its really a Western Wood Lily.
The trail continues on, but I didn't.
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These are Twinflowers. Beautiful, certainly, but freaky if you look closely as they look like fairies dangling from the stems.
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| Linnaea borealis. The fave flower of Carl Linnaeus. He founded binomial nomenclature. |
And this is half a robin's egg shell. It was on the trail and I was pleased to see it. I am fond of this colour, and it tells me the robin in it got out.
Thanks so much for coming along on the hike. It was nice to spend the time together.
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| If you ever have trouble picturing robin's egg blue this is what you mean. |
And remember, this is the only imprint we leave:
