Nature – Skelton Sketches

Stopping to See…

Posted on June 25, 2015April 28, 2017 by lindaskelton

We were on our way home last week, driving through Kootenay National Park. I was ready to be home. But Jim suggested we stop and see what this ‘Marble Canyon’ sign was pointing out. I’m so glad we did!

There was more there than met the eye from the highway…At first it was just another stream, albeit a beautiful turquoise blue one…

And more dead pine trees (amazing what a beetle is capable of!)…
These ones stood like teeth on a comb…

But there were flowers along the way…

And then we came to this impressive slot canyon with water rushing through…

Just an everyday sight to this picnicking critter.

But well worth stopping to see.

..before we proceeded on down to the valley

–LS

And Moses said, I will now turn aside, and see this great sight…Ex.3:3

April NEWs…

Posted on April 2, 2014 by lindaskelton

All new by spring’s morning light…

I slipped into my gum boots for a tromp out back to check on the skunk cabbage–sure harbinger of bears to come.

And on the way I got caught up on all the latest NEWs…

The willow’s coming out of mourning.

Rhubarb is emerging, crinkly new, rousing hopes of mouth-watering desserts to come…

The bushy willows further back are bearing pussies…

And the huckleberries have put on their dainties.

And yes, the skunk cabbage is up,

wafting it’s malodorous wake-up call to all the ursidae family far and near.

We’re sure to have bears before long…

–LS

The flowers appear on the earth, the time of singing has come, and the voice of the turtledove [It’s FROGS for us!] is heard in our land. Song of Solomon 2:12

The trudge

Posted on March 13, 2014April 28, 2017 by lindaskelton

I was tired of walking—really, trudging is what it had become.

I guess I was just tired…Sunday afternoons are made for resting aren’t they? The sun had lured me out the door but my energy was flagging…a cold coming on perhaps?

So I turned off the beaten track and settled myself on a little rise amongst the barren poplars…overlooking the sea just beyond–

And I pulled out my new book of Robert Frost’s poems (on my Kindle, of course)…and I just sat there warmed by sunshine, lulled by a trickle of water close by, and browsed among neatly laid lines of words for awhile, and read—of roses, and hayfields, of woods, and of butterflies, sorrow and love. I’ve always like Frost’s way of putting things.

And I sat silent for awhile, wordless and content to have found a spot to soak in sun.

Eventually, treading my way home, I turned aside at the little abandoned quarry—a pocket of water and silence. Louie used to stop here for a drink on our walks. It’s been a long while.

I was wishing I were home already. Tired of walking. Tired of old tired roads.

A little further along I saw a track uphill I had never noticed before. Who can resist a new trail to an unknown destination?

Curiosity overcame tired legs and up we went…

It was just a short climb to a tabletop of stone with a panoramic view. So that’s how you get here! I’d always seen this lone fir on its rocky promontory from the highway and wondered…

Now I know!

Sweet surprise for an afternoon’s trudge.

–LS

Truly the light is sweet, and a pleasant thing it is for the eyes to behold the sun.” Eccl 11:7 KJV

P.S. If you enjoy Robert Frost’s poetry, don’t miss his first anthology, A Boy’s Will, available free online at BooksShouldBeFree.com