Touring Paradise

Well, OK, so right up front let me confess, today it’s not paradise.  Here we are in July, the 4th of July no less, and I’ve lit a fire in the woodstove to ward off the damp chill of another rainy gray day…but I’m reliving the happier days we’ve had this week…

Company rarely comes this far off the beaten path.  But this week we had a second cousin visiting from England—his first visit to Canada.  So we had to do the royal tour of Powell River and surrounds…P1070112
We squeezed in all the adventures we could starting with a tandem ride around Inland Lake.  Yes, we have more than one tandem so we in fact double tandemed around the Lake on a brooding-but-not-yet-raining morning, stopping for snacks and stone ‘skimming’, finishing the 13km. circuit just before the rain began in earnest.

P1070125 On a fine windy day of mixed sun and cloud (and a bit of spitting rain) we headed off under full sail to find sanctuary in our beloved Copelands.   With just enough wind and mishap to make an adventure we had a full day of it—the motor quit at an important interval, but was readily diagnosed and put right.  Jim’s long beloved hat went overboard, and then the pike pole that was to retrieve it!…The pike pole was retrieved despite high winds ably manipulated by Captain Jim.  Unfortunately the old felt Fedora was lost from view in the scuffle and likely sank. sigh.

P1070146 But the islands were lovely as always…

On the lee side, out of the wind I wandered on a cliff among the treetops where little birds flitted and tweeted about finding refuge from the wind.  Hummingbirds came diving to spin in space staring at this new sight—an interloper in their private arboretum…

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We had a campfire and introduced our company to the marvels of roasted marshmallows and the sticky sweetness of some-mores…And ‘smokies’ too were a first… Hotdogs never taste so good as roasted on a stick over a campfire.

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Tromping about we looked at oyster beds and found these strange mysteries recently sprung from the earth… not iron at all, but some sort of fungi…

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And eventually, when we’d eaten, napped, hiked about and generally delayed as long as seemed feasible waiting for the wind to die down a bit, we headed homeward the long way, tacking,  into an only slightly diminished Southeaster.  My captain was in his element; I was glad to get back to finish that piece of the tour!

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And so goes life in paradise—much like where you are…not all sunshine, but always an opportunity for adventure of some sort…

–LS

Blooming Beauties

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We took a jaunt up to ‘our’ best loved islands one sunny afternoon this week…

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The slopes are abloom with ‘lemon chiffon’ flowers…

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But we weren’t the only pair enjoying a get-away….

Meet the Mergansers, diving fresh-water fish ducks trying out the salt-water chuck, just back from wintering in Mexico…

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Mr. Merganser…                                       and the Missus taking a look back at us…

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What a hair-do she sports eh?!

 

And in our ramblings we were secretively surveilled by this SKINK until Jim noticed him and called me back to see what I had walked right past….

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Then it was our turn to do the staring.  He refused to give us the time of day, just stood (yes, he has feet) motionless hoping we really didn’t see him as we got closer and closer with the camera lens… till we were only a couple inches from his face—then he relinquished his spot in the sun and slinked off…

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I did a little reading up on this fellow later.  Glad not to have tried picking him up.  Apparently young skinks do bite and then they drop their BLUE tails to squiggle and squirm while they run for cover!  The tails grow back but usually not blue…thus this stoic camouflaged fellow—older and wiser.

 

But back to the blooming beauties of the place…

…a trailing blackberry(?) gets its start on a rocky ledge…

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…and tiny wild things bloom underfoot, miniature bouquets for the passersby…

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…tokens of God’s glory,

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…and His Love.

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–LS

“We love Him because He first loved us.” (I Jn.4:19)

Opportunity…

“I’m heading out to the boat.”

It was Friday afternoon.  School was finished for another week.  Friday’s blog was posted.  Jim came in the door announcing that there was a bit of wind and he was going for a sail… My moment of opportunity. This happens every so often.  I generally bid him farewell and ‘please don’t drown’ and stay home quite content—warm and dry in my little ‘pumpkin shell’…  But today I took a gamble on staying warm, piled on as many layers as I could creatively and comfortably handle and sallied out the door with my favorite person in the whole wide world…

Beneath sunny skies we sailed out of harbor over the glinting seas—relishing a precious opportunity to just be together.  Talking or quiet–(I often read)—it doesn’t much matter, chill breeze brushing our faces but toasty warm inside…together.

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The Ragged Islands are our favorite all-time destination.  They are close at hand and always a delight.

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We anchored and climbed up the bluffs to survey our peaceful kingdom…

 

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The manzanita bushes are festooned with their delicate pink bells, calling all the bees to wake and feast. The buzzing of spring has come.

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We rambled and clambered exploring a while.  We shed layers and napped in the sun’s sleepy warmth on a bluff face… till the sun began slipping into the treetops, casting shadows on our warmth and it was time to bundle up for the bracing voyage home…

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The boat tucked safely in its berth, lines secured, we trudged up the hill to where we’d parked—but not without turning around a moment to watch the sun set across the water…

LundA fitting close to a beautiful day.

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Hallelujahs by Chris Rice  is a fitting benediction.

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All thy works shall praise thee, O LORD; and thy saints shall bless thee. Ps.145:10

–LS