The trails through the green

The trail welcomes you in and the golden grand-dog was eager to go. The leafy bloom of summer is well established and various shades of green urge us onward. We accept the invitation and head into the Rotary Trail.

It is easy to walk here with groomed trails through forest beside farmland. Trails off the main path are designed for mountain bikes. There is plenty of room for anyone who wants to bathe in the green.

Bird song fills the air. We stop periodically to listen and look for the singer but to no avail. The trees hide them well now, creating anonymity for those whose song we don’t recognize. 

An unfamiliar song draws the eye upward and there it is in a dead tree, singing its heart out, visible. On this grey day, the sky provides little contrast but this Red-eyed Vireo allows a photo. 

Each section of the trail draws us onward. Around every turn, the path through another green vista invites passage. My husband and I keep going, through a cave-like opening, where the canopy darkens the path except where a spotlight focuses the eye.

We pass a stand of pine which is showing off its new growth. 

Within a huge stand of deciduous trees the canopy shades the forest floor which is covered green now too. Sarsaparilla and fern love this location. 

The canopy and the green floor create a huge room which mosquitoes love as well. We walk through quickly having forgotten the bug spray.

In more open areas, false baby’s breath

has replaced the lupins of a few weeks ago. 

We walked for an hour then left for home, refreshed in body and spirit.

The wait

Two degrees Celcius and the sun is shining. The frozen bay is spread before us! My husband and I are dressed for the cold as we park by the boardwalk in North Rustico on the central north shore of Prince Edward Island. We haven't been back here since July and everything is covered in its frozen shroud. We are curious to compare the scenes of summer with winter in North Rustico. 

The Acadian monument is partially buried in the snow now, waiting for its time to remind visitors of that proud heritage. The shrubs behind the monument are mere skeletons of their former selves.

 

                                             

 

Only vestiges of some plants, such as Queen Anne's Lace, remain now, the stalks and seed pods having survived the worst nature can dispense.

 

                                                   

 

The entrance to the bay is the only open water in the March setting.

 

                                                                      

 

Winds have taken their toll on the patriotic display at Court's Wharf.

 

                                                                    

 

The pine trees have lost their brilliant green as a result of the decrease in daylight hours in the cold season.

 

                                                         

 

Ouside the bay, the breakwater is encased in ice and snow.

 

                                                                                   

Activity on the bay is different now, snow machines replacing human power.

 

                                                            

 

                                                           

Yet, some things never change. The lighthouse stands vigil as it has for almost a century and a half, though it might be ready for spring. We are!