Hello dear readers on this first day of August!  It is such a beautiful morning here.  The sun is shining brilliantly.   The emerald green leaves make such a pleasing outline against the blue of the sky.  The grass and small shrubs are so lush and green this year due to having had so much rain in July.  There is just a whisper of a breeze, barely enough to gently move some of the smaller leaves.  The sun actually feels very warm already, as it’s bright rays touch my face.  Sitting on the deck is just such a joy this morning.

It’s actually a perfect day for a walk.  Why don’t we take a short walk down the river path today?  We won’t go all the way to the river, but perhaps take one of the side paths and see what we can discover along our way.  There is always a lot to see and hear walking down this path.  It’s not only good exercise if one walks at a steady speed, but also just being out in a forest location like this is great for clearing a cluttered mind.  There is nothing quite like being in the quietude of the forest to help relieve stress.

Fortunately here we don’t have to go far to get away from the busyness of a town atmosphere to the solitary peace of the forest.  Being back here on this little path is just so relaxing.  A person can feel all that stress just lifting away.  Here it is peaceful.  Here there is no hustle and bustle of big city life.  There is no rush.  Here everything slows down.  Even time itself seems to move slower.  There is silence.  The lush, full, green forest dominates everything.  And although problems don’t disappear here in the forest,  they do become more distant for a time.  And being in such a place helps us to regain our strength, both physically and mentally.  Our minds become more clear and our thoughts can become more organized.

As we continue down the path we temporarily leave the lush forest to arrive in a clearing.  Here the trees have been cut back to make way for a hydro line running from the power station at the dam and into town.  There are a lot of wildflowers in this area. Plus a few wild blueberries, but they are not very plentiful in this location.

Here the granite rock becomes our path and there are some veins of milky quartz showing.  Quartz is a plentiful mineral around here and comes in different colors, mostly the milky white, but also clear, pink, smoky grey and a very dark, almost black color.

There is a broad-winged hawk sitting on the hydro line watching all that is going on.  He undoubtedly doesn’t like us intruding into his domain.  This hawk is not very large, about the size of a crow, perhaps a little larger.  It’s one of our forest hawks, mice being his main meal.  There really are a lot of wildflowers still blooming around here, and more will be added throughout this month as the fall flowers begin to bloom.  Not many people stop to enjoy wildflowers since many of them are smaller and just not very showy.  But when you look at them closely, what tremendous beauty can be found.  We should always take the time to stop and look at the flowers, whether they are wild or the ones growing in your, or your neighbors, garden.

Well, here we are, back at home once again.  I hope you enjoyed our short walk today.  Getting out for a walk, run or even just spending time outside enjoying a cup of coffee or tea is always a good idea.  Spending too much time indoors is really not a good.  Anyway, I hope you will all enjoy your day and God bless!

Steve and Muffin.

© 2019 Steve McLeod.