I just got home from my book tour in the wee hours of this morning and in the early afternoon, Reenie and I headed out for our walk. I was stunned by the magnificent changes and the absolute beauty that had transpired in the past month I have been away.
Knudson Park is a nine acre woodland public park adjacent to my home on two sides. It has dirt trails, wooden bridges, deer paths, rocky crags, meadows, eagles’ nests, owls’ nests, - in other words, it is a wild woods and Reenie and I usually walk there daily.
Before I left to go on the book tour, it was still a winter park, muddy, lots of water, not much greenery and lots of old resting growth. Today I walked into a wonderland. The first thing to get my attention was the incredible fragrance – it smelled so fresh and so summery, I broke out in a grin. Then I noticed all the green – paths that had been bare a month ago were now almost invisible under knee height green growth. We walked over a wooden bridge, up into a meadow and were met by a field of blue that literally took my breath away. Another meadow was pink, yet another all red. The wildflowers were painting earth’s pallet.
The symphony of the song birds was a new one to my ears – so many new choruses and voices, I just started singing along with them.
I had seen my lilac tree at first light this morning – when I left almost a month ago, it barely had buds. Today it is in full bloom, fragrant, beautiful, being all that a full-grown lilac tree should be. Twenty years ago, she was a sickly bunch of broken twigs in a lot in Vancouver that was being sold. I carefully dug her up and planted her in my back yard. She struggled there for a year, but she was winning. Then I sold my Vancouver house and moved to Salt Spring Island – of course I brought her with me, and planted her on the top of a hill overlooking the ocean. For ten years she thrived on that hill, growing and blooming a bit more each year. Then I sold that property and moved to Victoria. Naturally, she came along. That was when she really came into her own. She grew tall and filled out, and each year seems to have more and more beautiful blooms. I realized today as I was walking in the woods that my relationship with this lilac tree is one of the longest relationships I’ve had with things or people. We take good care of each other. Seeing her today in full bloom after being away was like a wonderful gift. I am so grateful she is in my life.
Reenie and I did not want to leave the woods. She slogged about in the swamp, chest deep in the cold water, one of her favourite activities. We walked up hills and over rocks where tiny flowers grew. Everywhere was colour and freshness. I could have just lain down there and stayed. But the fact that I had not yet unpacked my suitcases weighed heavily upon me. With a sigh, I motioned to my wonderful animal companion, and we headed homeward to unpack and settle in again. I had not been aware of time so acutely in a long while. In one month, the changes that took place in the woods were stunning. I can only imagine that similar changes have taken place within myself. Time: at times a roller coaster, at times a gently moving concept, always with us, never leaves us, until our last breath. What changes it wroughts!
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