Those Who Wander

Chief among my strategies to get Finn off the couch, away from the screen and into the world, is to cajole him into taking hikes with me. Yesterday, we went to a trail that we have only hiked once before in McIvers. The first time, it was part of an art performance so we were with a lot of other people and the weather was moist, to say the least. Yesterday, it was still a bit grey but we were mostly dry.


We came across a little patch of these plants. I misidentified them as Pitcher Plants (our provincial plant) but later I was corrected by a friend with better botanical knowledge. They are Lady Slipper plants. For some reason, Lady Slipper loom large in my childhood. Year after year in school, I was told about how they were almost extinct and that no one should ever, under any circumstance, pick one. I was almost frightened of them, as if their allure would overwhelm me, should I ever actually lay eyes on one, and I would be unable to resist the urge to pluck it from the forest floor. So maybe it was a good thing I thought it was a Pitcher Plant (also endangered, by the way - don't pick those either!). I took only pictures and left only footprints or memories or whatever that saying is.


We made it to the high point of the trail and this time we could see what everyone comes to see: a magnificent view of the Bay of Islands, including the enigmatic Wee Ball looming behind Woods Island.


This sign was posted in case you had any doubts about what you were supposed to be doing.

The sign is actually posted in an odd place so that you can't see it as you approach, so I made a special trip to read what it said. When I told Finn, he asked me if it had an exclamation point. Hmmm...it could have more dangerous connotations.


We shared the trail with someone else or perhaps even two someone elses. At one point there is a wooden staircase conveniently built for us humans to get up a steep slope. The staircase is fairly well enclosed by brush on both sides so Finn and I wondered if the moose used it as well. Finn suggested a webcam to keep track and we both agreed that we would pay money to see a moose go up and down a staircase.


ETA: I totally forgot to post the photograph of the yarn that got me started on this post. Here is my latest yarn, Lady Slipper. I think it is just about the gosh darnedest prettiest skein of yarn that I have made in a good long while.


78 yds, merino, silk, mohair locks, snippets of commercial yarns and angelina. Check it out in my esty shop named after the enigmatic Wee Ball (the link is over there on the right).