A Weekend Away

These Northwest beaches are nothing like the ones I knew when I was young.  My family would drive down down down the mountains to scorch our feet on the blistering hot sand and frolic in the frothy waves.

Here there are more rocks than sand and the water is cold enough to freeze the breath inside you.  Even so, the sea is seductive and I am very happy to don windbreaker and rubber boots for a walk on the beach.

G and I did lots of beach walking this weekend.  We drove just far enough up the west coast to lose cell coverage and feel distant from the every day.  The shapes of the trees suggest that a bracing wind is the norm here.

But we escaped the worst of it by sitting right down on the rocky beach.

Selfie time.

The waves blow in then roll the rocks around on the inhale.  My favorite beach sound.

This big guy flapped past, harried by some seagulls.  Was he stalking their nest?  Stealing their fish?  We stalked him back -- through three perches until the light and angles were right for portraiture.

A rope swing on the beach.  Oh yes!  It was an erratic ride between the bouncy tree branch and all that wind, but no one smashed into the tree trunk so it was fun.

Finally a cozy retreat.  Rustic but comfortable.  Close enough to the water for the waves to flood our dreams.

A Spring Outing

A Garry Oak reaches, gnarly and solid against the somber sky.  Below it, a drift of Magnolia billows and blows.

Signs of Spring are everywhere in Beacon Hill Park.  Flowers bloom.  Ducks beg for (and often receive) handouts.  Peacocks strut.  Best of all, goats at the Children's Zoo sit patiently to be brushed by adoring, but not always, gentle little hands.

Somewhere New

In a city that draws bus-loads of tourists to Butchart Gardens, you might understand how the Horticultural Centre of the Pacific escapes notice.  I had never heard of it, and certainly never visited, until last weekend. 

Perhaps I would never have visited had Miss S not been invited to a birthday party there.

A flock of pre-schoolers swooped and swirled through the mazy pathways in search of treasure (chocolate coins and dollar store bead necklaces) before settling down to a feast of cut veggies and cake.  What fun!

But not the best way to take in the gardens.  I did notice an abundance of Heather and Hellebore.  There seemed to be a Japanese garden with a steam and a bridge.  I got off a very few photos, chalked the Horticultural Centre up to a delightful discovery and resolved to return soon on my own terms.

Have you made any new discoveries this spring?