Tag: Vancouver

One Strong Breeze

One strong breeze and everything can change . The wind topples the top of a tree, with a loud bang and a snap it falls to the forest floor, where it will decay and provide food for all things in nature or it will become the nursing branch, from which news saplings will grow

One strong breeze can move clouds at amazing speed. Creating cloud formations that are joyous to watch and opening up spaces for the sun to shine through, changing a cloudy forecast to a sunny spring awakening

One strong breeze creates a playground for eagles to practice their soaring skills building strength for their powerful explosive hunting dives

One strong breeze can change a calm ocean into ripples and waves carrying in sea life for other sea creatures to have life.  Washing up debris on to  ocean shores, nature’s way to self clean itself from things no longer needed

One strong breeze changes so many things

Thank you for reading

Live Love Laugh

Catherine

Snow in the City

Snow in the city…. It doesn’t happen often but when it does you need to grasp the moment

Looking out the windows I am flooded with memories of childhood and the wonders of snow.  The wide eye excitement of getting dressed and rushing outdoors, mothers calling in the distance be careful, wear your hats, be home before dark.

I was drawn to the outdoors this morning to relive parts of those memories and to create new ones reminiscent of this time in my life.

The city so still, grounded to a halt by snow. Cars and roads covered in a  thick  quilt of white and fast falling snowflakes, this morning was perfect

The city looks abandoned, as if some strange phenomenon has taken most the population and the few that you do meet are different,  they are happy, giddy and exuberant just by being in the snow. Shouts of good morning, happy holidays, Merry Christmas have replaced the angry or non-existent chatter of normal city life

The excitement of being the first to lay footprints on patches of new snow, as if we have claimed this land for the first time.  Making snow angles and snowman with Maggie jumping around laughing and smiling, the two of us being child-like again.

As the morning draws on and the skies get brighter our world looks a bit different, more people have emerged and the cars are starting to come to life.

Our moment of morning snow bliss has come to  end with new memories of this life, this day and reminders of the past we trudge home to tired from play and happy for the moments

Our city,  our snow, our story

Catherine & Maggie

 

Life Imitating Nature

Decisions on life cloud my mind today just as the clouds take over the sky. Lakes and streams overflowing, mirroring the depths of human emotion

The heavy rains slow to a misty overcast ,  hovering in the layer of fog, the silhouette of lone coyote, a reminder of self preservation.

The rains let up ,  the clouds open to allow a sliver of sun, symbolic of possibility. Before they close back in again and torrential storms settle in

My storms, my thoughts, my day

Catherine

Rain

In the still of the rain we found some peace today. A week of stress and uncertainly gave way to playing in puddles. The air so crisp,  fresh and quiet and the presence of people absolutely nil.

Just Maggie and Me forgetting all the woes of the week, walking in wonder through raindrops.

So cold,  the rain teetering on the edge of turning to ice, laughing and running with reckless abandonment.

Remembering that life just is, people are just people and letting go every now and then is a must

Our day, our rain, our story

Catherine

img_6889

A Perfume Called Fall

Two of the greatest smells of all.

When you combine the smell of decaying leaves after a rain storm and campfires burning you have a collision of fall scents that awaken every sense of your being.

Taking deep breaths to try to take in as much of the aroma as possible hoping that if I hold it in, the smells will stay deep within my soul.

Bottle this and call it fall for these two smells can calm the most erratic mind and elevate mood to the point of elation

How is it that two means of ending, wood burning down to ashes and leaves decaying into dust can create such an alive feeling?

 Strange what nature has to offer, leaves, fire and life …. a perfume called fall

My Story My Fall

 Catherine

The Solo HIke

DSCN1486

Well it was more a walking/ hiking trail but it was certainly solo.

I much prefer NOT hiking alone but with everyone’s lives taking different twists and turns no one was available to come along so this one was on me

Hiking without a partner is different , it was less about enjoying the little things that most people miss on the trails, likes weird trees, snails and tree bark…. and more about self-awareness and positive affirmations

We are in bear country here and my only aversion to hiking alone is the Bears. With another human with you, you have someone to hide behind, someone to feed to them , someone to go get help while they are feeding on you and or simply someone to talk loudly with so you are not seen in the forests talking to yourself .

All kidding aside I believe in the law of attraction so I made a decision today to stop thinking of the Bears and to think only of cool, positive, self-supporting things.  Off we went on this short pretty shoreline / forest hike.

With no one to talk to I cranked up the music on my phone and opted to sing really loud. It was sort of liberating acting like I had the singing voice of an angel. And I can assure you no wild life would approach us after they heard my first few high notes. Even Maggie looked at me funny and I suspect I bit embarrassed.

I should have brought my heart monitor , I know my heart thumbing as I rounded each corner and I am not sure if the sweat coming off of me was due to hot flashes , the humidity or the adrenalin .

The longer I walked the more calm I became, perhaps the positive internal reinforcement was helping or it was John Denver singing Sweet Surrender https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sDl8c5dtqdk   , but I started to see things around me, I started to see nature….

So my first solo hike with Maggie and me was not so bad. My choice is to always hike with my friend but I now know I can go alone if I need to

Thank you for reading and being part of the journey

Catherine

%d bloggers like this: