Evening Walk

Every evening after supper I go for a walk or ride around the neighborhood. There are suburban streets and then there are the paths, streams, walkways and nature trails, views of the mountains and forests. I wish you could see what I see. My photographic skills do not do justice to the beauty that is everywhere around me.

I also love the plants and flowers out here. Cherry, magnolia and dogwood trees are all in bloom.
Rhododendrons, azaleas and heathers and flowering bulbs make splashes of colour everywhere like some artist gone wild.



Then there are the weird, unfamiliar plants and trees. There's the Gunnera which right now looks like a pile of garden debris. It's just starting to poke up out of the ground. When it is fully mature it's leaves are the size of umbrellas and you could literally take shelter under it. I will re-vist this one later in the year. Beside it is the monkey tree - not sure where the name came from but I can tell you it not a tree to "monkey" with. It has vicious, spikey foliage.

The best part of my walks is the close encounters which of course I can never catch on camera. The other day I rounded a blind corner and came face to face with a deer. We both put on the brakes and stood and looked at each other and then the deer turned and a couple of bounds took it back down the path away from me. What a sight. I just stood and stared. Deer are everywhere here and you have to be on the alert constantly, never knowing where they'll turn up.

The light is fading now, sun slipping behind the mountains and I'm home. I'm closing with a picture of my Mom's front garden, her pride and joy. We'll see what tomorrow brings.

A Wonderful Day in the Neighborhood

I go out for a walk most evenings after dinner and for once remembered to take my camera. These are the sights I see on a stroll through the neighborhood. Views of the Comox Valley, the mountains, interesting plants, trees, and gardens...and yes that is a palm tree. Zone 9 WooHoo! Often I will see eagles soaring above and deer munching on someone's flowers but try and catch them on camera :-) Enjoy!

Storm Watching

I woke yesterday to the sound of lashing rain and howling wind. The weather channel warned of gusts up to 105 km. All up and down the island there were trees coming down and power outages, some lasting more than 24hrs. At slightly higher elevations, they got snow.
So, what did we do? - Got in the car and drove over to Point Homes to do some storm watching. The picture in no way does the live experience justice. I got out on the windward side of the car and could hardly get the door open to get back in. I thought I was going to be airborn. It was positively wild outside for the whole day and then as evening came on it seemed to have blown over and I got out for a walk around the neighborhood. Lots of debris, branches everywhere, fences and arbors blown over. Nature: it takes your breath away!