Something to remember

Sunday was a repeat of Saturday, except with the dry morning preceding a wetter and darker afternoon. As is so often the case, the Sun broke through in the early evening, as it descended to the western horizon.

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This time, thick cloud prevented the formation of rainbows.

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Even so, the end of day is worth savouring.

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There comes a stillness just before dark, when the diurnal have retreated to their nests and the nocturnal have not yet emerged. Sunday’s rain had ceased, but drops of moisture dripped from many surfaces and a gentle, cool breeze stirred the wind chimes ever so quietly.

Magic.

It has never been possible to decide between dawn and dusk as my favourite time of day.

and…

What of a clear sky on a dark night? Beholding the Universe is another kind of special.

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Raccoons are said to be nocturnal, but we see them at all times of day.

Perhaps they gear themselves to our habits, since they seem to pop out the moment food is scattered about.

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Wet weather seems to stimulate appetites. Baldy appeared just before dark. One of the other groundhogs chased her off a couple of days ago, but she appears unperturbed. She even seems to be growing patches of hair in some of the bald spots.

Meanwhile, the baby groundhogs have not been seen for several days, which is most unusual. Once they make a first appearance, we have always seen them every day through summer until they hibernate in Fall.

Tiny babies are vulnerable and may fall to predation, but it is improbable that all 5 would go that way at once. It is more likely that the mother may have moved them. They will do so if they perceive a threat.

Foxes had been coming for peanuts near the entrance to the groundhog burrow, but I’ve not seen one there for some time. Even my early morning customer who comes to feed by the garage has not been around for a couple of days. Yesterday, I chastised myself for getting up late (at 0515) but Lily issued a wake-up at 0430 this morning, yet still no fox.

Caring about wild animals leads to sadness. It is part of the contract you make when you take up residence in the country. A few days ago, Grant was doing some work outside and made a distressing find. The corpse of a tiny fox kit had been abandoned near the woods. It had clearly been savaged by a large animal, but a predator would not leave its kill, so perhaps the kit was killed by a rival fox.

One has to accept that this is what happens in Nature, but I’ll admit to feeling very sad at the sight of that savaged little body. Grant placed it under the trees where hopefully some other creature found itself a meal.

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It is good to be up early, but these 0430 wakings are leaving me quite sleep-deprived. I am encouraged to take a nap during the day but doing so only results in a headache. I have never been able to sleep in daylight, even in a darkened room. Working the “graveyard” shift was pure torture, though luckily I managed to avoid it for the most part.

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Grant decided on Sunday morning that we needed a change of scene. I am quite likely to fall asleep in a car, but not usually when sight-seeing.

But where to go? We fancied something new but not too far.

Photographs of Lake Bonita were slightly misleading, so it wasn’t the most exciting excursion, but it got us out and provided a little exercise which is never a bad thing.

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To reach the lake, we discovered, one had to negotiate the woods.

But it seemed not far, nor too difficult for the old girl…

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The younger me would have managed this without a second thought, but old feet getting caught in roots upsets balance that is already unreliable.

So, I employ a hiking stick and keep my eyes firmly on the ground, no matter the temptation to search the trees for birds that called out as we passed below.

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The problem with keeping your eyes downcast is that you fail to observe your surroundings. Grant is quite steady, so he can afford to be less cautious, but his attention was focussed on guiding me.

A thought waved at me from the back of my brain, but I neglected to acknowledge it, or perhaps I simply dismissed it. We would not get lost!

After all, we were only going to the lake, just there, it was no distance.

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At the lake, we found that we could barely get a good view as there appeared to be no shore and we could only peak through gaps in the trees that went right down to the water.

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As we surveyed the beaver’s accomplishments, a lady came upon us and exclaimed that she must have overshot the parking lot. We smiled and waved: “Oh yes, it’s up that way.”

As if we knew.

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Then we turned to make our own way back. Hm.

There is no clear or obvious path and the woods all look very similar when you’ve not been making notes.

Brain had been trying to warn me.

“Remember that time you went for a five minute walk and got lost?”

That day I’d been in the wilds of Utah on a very hot day. Yes, I remembered. No way I could have got lost that day. I’d only walked a few hundred yards, but I got totally disoriented. So why would this be different?

Today, we were two and this was not the wilds of Utah. Also, it was a delightfully cool, so getting lost would not be the disaster that could have been, but nah, we were not getting lost.

Until, – we weren’t exactly sure which way to go, other than vaguely, up there and that-away. Grant parked me on a fallen tree trunk and set off to check things out since he can move a lot faster. I had visions of him disappearing and us being lost apart. That wasn’t going to happen! I kept my eye on him the whole time and soon he turned and waved for me to follow.

We both carried cellphones, but you cannot rely on having a connection. We did in fact see several other people in the woods, so there was no great danger, but it was a reminder of how very easily one can become lost.

It isn’t just your own safety at stake. Often, when we need to be rescued, we put others at risk.

Something to remember.

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