Restlessness accompanies me on this sojourn today – unfazed by ripe red belly of robin, or shimmering emerald of breeding merganser’s crown.
My lens seeks out decay – rotting wood, darkened cavities, as if my soul craves reassurance that life persists even where death hovers – I need a sign
Discontent, I move on- drive the river road snail’s pace – praying for something to shake this malaise – birds come and go, trees radiate Spring green, I pause, unmoved.
And then I spot it, across the river, up high, a massive hulk; lens raises, adjusts, snaps, the regal hunter turns toward me regards me with ferocious intensity, does not falter on his perch –
All-seeing, fearless, he is spirit-manifested, a messenger, lifting me from stagnation – momentary redemption.
(Needing a Sign first appeared here, May 2019. Image my own.)
Rain-infused greens inspire whimsical thoughts – surely there are sprites frolicking amongst the mossy boughs, sheltering beneath ancient roots whose twisted tendrils rise and dip in rhythm to Earth’s pulses.
The muddied path pushes back against my weary legs, invites me to sit awhile, wonder at the impossible heights from which birdsong flits across treetops, pinging back from unseen distances, unhindered by human progress.
Salmonberries, newly popped, herald the seasonal shift, and I watch as a slug undulates slowly past, antennae bobbing, the black spots of its tail reptilian.
Below me, lantern-like blooms of yellow sprout at creek’s edge their pungent aroma carried by the still chilled vernal breeze.
A red-breasted nuthatch scurries up a neighbouring fir, while two robins flirt playfully on the rainforest floor, hopping amongst the freshly flowered trilliums, their white crowns a regal presence in this place of enchantment.
(Image my own) Morrell Nature Sanctuary first appeared on One Woman’s Quest II in April, 2018. Morrell Nature Sanctuary is on Vancouver Island, Canada.