Yes, on this Mother's Day I miss my mum. Of course I do. And my kids and my grand-kids. The essential mother is present though. The fella and I took the dog - did we take the dog? - no, she badgered us until we let her take us - out along the shore. The shore! At last! The fella and Bella had gone yesterday while I was still feeling the dreaded lurgy and the fella told me it was hike worthy. So we set off this morning, after breakfast and after bread was started.
Oh my, how I've missed the shore. I love the woods. I even love the old gravel roads that turn into nothingness up the hill. But the shore! The shore is what heals me. And I realized I've been rather terrified. Of what you may ask? Of the shore not being magic like it was in the last five months. The solidity was getting to me. October, November and even December brought changes every day. After that it was thrilling to be able to get places because the water was frozen deep and I could go along an area of the shore that normally I'd have to take the wood trail to get to. To make it simpler to understand - the shore of the 'bight' curves around from where we live to a point (the one we walked to and beyond on Nov. 11th). Part of the shore is beach but most of it is heavily treed and impassable. One goes through the woods on the tranquility trail and dips down from time to time to various little beaches or brooks that spill into the larger body of water. That takes a long long time. And you can't do that in the summer and accordingly you can't walk on the trail easily in the winter. Not without snowshoes and a lot of slogging. And for one indeterminable period of time you can't do it at all. When the snow is still deep but softening you break through and it takes too long on the shore. The woods are a real mess at that time. Thus walking down the almost abandoned ski-doo trail (ski-doos still out on the bay but not enough snow on the trail) or town roads.
So today the snow is gone enough on the beach and there is still enough ice out on the bay so we could get down the shore as far as a place I call Second Beach - where Bella and I have had many imaginary picnics up on the grassy verge.
And on the way I noticed that the formations that had enthralled me in the fall and early winter were appearing in reverse. The ice was melting and leaving serpentine etchings, fractals, paisley and circles. I am restored.
Here are some photos of what we saw...
Jan - What absolutely gorgeous 'photos! And you're so right about the essential mother. Right there, always, waiting, if we just drink it all in.
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