Swallowfield in Winter

Clear, crisp, and sunny - perfect days for perfect walks.  Though it is only a ten minute drive, we hadn't been to Swallowfield for a while (so many places to walk around here!), so on Thursday Gail and Sadie B, Margaret and Rajah, and Eddie and I headed out there for a walk.  I think my last visit was in October, when the fall colours were in their prime.

No matter the season, it is always beautiful.  Eddie and Sadie ran ahead to the river.  It was high and fast, so Sadie B didn't get to swim, much to her disappointment.

Sadie:  Mom, can't I go in?  Please?  Please?

We headed off to the estuary, where the fields stretched out to the ocean and islands beyond,

Estuary in winter,  sun low and shadows long

but the fields were too boggy and the channels of water to wide to cross.

Wet and mucky

So we headed back to where the path forms a t-intersection, and went south instead of north.  There we crossed another field,

Margaret and Rajah bringing up the rear

and were able to walk along the raised berm for a while.  Soon however, it petered out.  Sadie led the way down through the grasses.  Can you find her in this picture?

Where's Waldo Sadie B?

Sadie, Gail and Eddie search for a route across the streams

Frost lay like lace on the straw-like grasses,

Lace on Straw

And the old corn stalks along the road poked up through a skiff of ice.

The remains of last year's harvest in ice

Snow capped the nearby mountains,

Snow in the hills

And yet, young fronds of fern poked through the ground,

Ferns seeking out the winter sun

And even in winter, beauty is everywhere.

Chemainus River at Swallowfield

And on the local news tonight, the cherry trees are blossoming in Victoria.  

Spring is just around the bend.