An end and a beginning

2015 is done with. And here's 2016, all fresh and new.

Our markings of time, the ticking of the clock, the turning of calendar pages, the march of decades, mean nothing, really. Time - real time, as we experience it - goes on at varying speeds, sometimes backtracking, sometimes leaping ahead, sometimes freezing in place. Some years (by the calendar) are longer than others.

2015 was one of those long years for me. Too much has happened, too much has changed to be contained in 365 days, although some of them had more than the required number of hours. I'm glad it's over.

And now? Nothing is the same as it was a year ago. I've moved house, I've settled in, I've winterized. I've scoped out the boundaries and made a new mental map, found my landmarks. I've said goodbyes, and tentative hellos. That done, what next? Where do I go from here?

View from Tyee Spit at the mouth of the Campbell River. Just before sunset.

I'm making plans. While winter lasts, I'll spend time in the museum archives, researching, poring over maps, getting ready for summer explorations. I'll do a lot of birding, whether or not I can get any decent photos. And I'll take a few trips; I made it to Victoria and back in one day, 8 hours of winter driving, with a wild party while I was there, and it was all fine, a good trip. (Even if I did sleep most of yesterday recovering.)

(And I saw a black bear on the side of the road near the Malahat Summit in the middle of the night. And a deer. Maybe I should be planning more night excursions.)

Late sun, peeking over the clouds at the float plane dock, Tyee Spit.

And then, spring! The beaches will be free again; the tide goes 'way, 'way out. Beachcombing! Critters! Seaweeds! Can't wait!

And there will be green lights in the forest understory, mushrooms and slime molds beneath them. And singing birds! Flowers! More bears!

And a garden to plant and tend! And feed the birds in!

Light and shadow. And look closely; can you find the eagle? Look for a bright head and tail.

In the summer, I'll be heading out, across the Island to Tahsis; north to the end of the road, at Port Hardy, southwest to Ucluelet, across the channel to Quadra Island. And more, following my whim; wherever I may go, there will be goodies to discover.

From Tyee Spit, looking north. Dreaming of boats and that long, blue road.

2016 is going to be a good year!

Random meanderings

The night is calm and clear. No snow, no rain, no wind. Nothing to shovel tomorrow.

My desk is clear; so is the calendar. The bills are paid. The next event is a whole week away.

Let-down time. De-stressing. And I wander around, picking things and ideas up, putting them down, unable to settle.

So here's a collection of random notes and randomly-chosen recent photos.

House finch, at my feeder today.

1. My oldest grand-daughter just announced her engagement. I'm not old enough for that!

Reflection of condominium tower in an office building, Metrotown. A couple of days ago.

2. The "Tumbledown Dairy" we photographed a couple of weeks ago collapsed in the snowstorm. Only the rear part is left standing.

Bench beside our walkway. Freshly upholstered.

3. My grandson gave me a book for Christmas; "Does Anything Eat Wasps?" by New Scientist. It is a collection of short answers to questions posed to the "Last Word" column of the magazine. It's light reading; the perfect bathroom book. I've been reading about how the British Isles are like a teeter-totter (Scotland coming up, England sinking for now), how they get the bubbles in Aero chocolate bars, and how fast the wind has to be blowing to keep the mosquitoes from biting you. (That one, at least, is a useful bit of knowledge in BC.)

And the wasps? I have seen ants eating them, spiders do, too, frogs love them, birds ... What I found unexpected in the book was the story of a crab eating a wasp.

Orchid. Taken in IKEA, on Boxing Day. Not a great shot, but I was surprised that it came out at all.

4. Scruffy the squirrel dropped in today. She is fat! Really, really fat! Her fur is still dull and ratty and missing along the spine, but she bulges all over. It looks like someone has been very generous with food, now that the weather is so bad, and she has been taking full advantage of it.

It's a difficult winter for our wildlife; we feed some because they are cute or pretty, but others have to struggle to survive, in a climate that until now had been kindly. Many won't make it. Huckleberry described the plight of herons, the other day; the photograph of the mourning mate haunts me.

Sofia does Mastermind. Her rules. Last night.

5. I don't make New Year's Resolutions. That way, I don't break them. Good planning, huh?
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Early bird

"Now is the accepted time to make your regular annual good resolutions. Next week you can begin paving hell with them as usual."
--Mark Twain

Next week?

Oh, dang it all; I've already started.

Got the worm, anyhow.