Rainbow Bridge Remembrance Day

I've been told that today, August 28th, is Rainbow Bridge Remembrance Day.  Those who have followed my blog since its beginnings may recognize these beautiful faces - all dogs who brought me much joy and are greatly missed. 

Top row:  Emma, Shiloh, Oliver
Middle row:  Eddie, Belle, Mitzi
Bottom row:  Caleb, Charley, Sadie

In addition to those nine, also running free at the bridge are those who lived with me before the blog:  Brandy, Shamrock, McDuff, Muffin, and Sam.  And right there with them are my three cats Pusskin, Goose and Allie, and foster dogs Petey and Pepper, and foster pigs Scotch and Soda.  I hope to see them all again one day.

For those unfamiliar with the concept of The Rainbow Bridge, here's the story that inspired it or perhaps was inspired by it (there is some speculation the concept is rooted in Norse mythology):

THE RAINBOW BRIDGE

Just this side of heaven is a place called Rainbow Bridge.

When an animal dies that has been especially close to someone here, that pet goes to Rainbow Bridge.
There are meadows and hills for all of our special friends so they can run and play together.
There is plenty of food, water and sunshine, and our friends are warm and comfortable.

All the animals who had been ill and old are restored to health and vigor; those who were hurt or maimed are made whole and strong again, just as we remember them in our dreams of days and times gone by.
The animals are happy and content, except for one small thing; they each miss someone very special to them, who had to be left behind.

They all run and play together, but the day comes when one suddenly stops and looks into the distance. His bright eyes are intent; His eager body quivers. Suddenly he begins to run from the group, flying over the green grass, his legs carrying him faster and faster.

You have been spotted, and when you and your special friend finally meet, you cling together in joyous reunion, never to be parted again. The happy kisses rain upon your face; your hands again caress the beloved head, and you look once more into the trusting eyes of your pet, so long gone from your life but never absent from your heart.

Then you cross Rainbow Bridge together....

(The story of The Rainbow Bridge was written by Paul C. Dahm, a grief counsellor from Portland Oregon USA, who is said to have penned it in 1981, and later published a book by the same name in 1998).  

Happy International Dog Day!

Maggie says I would be remiss if I didn't wish her and all dogs a "Happy International Dog Day!"  According to Maggie, that means all you dogs out there get extra treats today, even the mischievous ones that stick their tongues out at the camera. 

She also claims it is " Take Your Dog to the Beach" Day.  But she tells me that every day. 😄 

Blackberries, Books, Beaches and Blogs

Blogging has been at the top of my daily "to do" list for the past two weeks.  I have at least a dozen hikes to blog about - many of them new hikes to me and therefore to the blog -  and I have hundreds of photos to edit.  But instead, life intervenes and sitting at the computer takes a low priority.

For one thing, it's blackberry season!  Ever since I was a little girl picking blackberries from the bushes around town with my mom, I have loved blackberries.  Not those perfectly-formed, totally tasteless commercial ones you buy in a store at $5.00 for about a cup of about-to-go-moldy berries -- I'm talking about wild blackberries for which your arms and legs get scratched, your clothes get snagged, and your fingers get stained.  My neighbour and I found acres of them, free for the taking, just a few minutes from home.

So, of course, in addition to downing a big bowl of fresh blackberries with frozen yogurt, I then made blackberry muffins and blackberry scones, and spread the rest of the berries on a cookie sheet to freeze prior to bagging them for used later.

Blackberry lemon streusel  muffins

All that blackberry work left me too tired to blog, so I sat in my favourite chair and picked up a book.  A few days ago I called our local independent new-and-used bookstore in search of a second-hand copy of a hiking book I wanted.  They had it.  I arranged to pick it up from their shop which follows strict covid protocol. It was $7.00.  Of course, while there they invited me to look around and soon I had four more books that I just HAD to purchase - a mix of new and used.

Our library had been closed due to  Covid, and while it had recently partially re-opened for take-out service from a table outdoors, I'm more of a browser-through-the-stacks which isn't yet an option.  But as fate would have it, the day after I bought five books, the library emailed to let me know that two items I had requested back in the pre-covid days were now available and waiting for me to pick up. I stayed up very late last night reading "The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek".  I highly recommend it!

And then there is our usual Parksville pleasure - wading in the water along miles of sandy shores.  That certainly takes priority to sitting at a computer.  We're very fortunate that even during tourist time there are areas of beach that never get crowded.  Mags and I can always find somewhere to go when the tide is low.

And who wouldn't want to spend time on the beach, among herons and eagles and gulls, I munching my blackberry muffin and them munching their.....seafood?

We stroll through the surf and tidal pools, admiring seastars and crabs and shellfish.  A clam on its side, half buried in the sand, wrapped in a string of seaweed reminds me of a locket I once owned.

I watch some  kayakers paddling with the geese,

and gaze meditatively out to sea,  past fishing boats and hazy islands to the mountains beyond.

I love the reflections in pools of still water,

and Maggie, of course, is in her element, climbing every large rock to claim her turf - just look how happy and proud she is!

I think this seagull is mimicking her.

And the heron may be mimicking me:

Waves lapping, tides ebb and flow,  rippling the sand beneath to create a beautiful quilt-like image.  Nature is such a wonderful artist:

So, no, I'm not sitting at the computer for more than a few minutes a day.  I'm not editing photos when I could be at the beach...or reading on the patio....or picking and eating blackberries....or exploring new trails.   But I'll be back again soon. If life doesn't intervene.

Now it's time to grab another blackberry muffin and my book and a certain sheltie and head to the beach.  Us gals just wanna have fun.