Not so long ago...

It is April again, and I cannot help but to think back to last April 11, as we returned to our cabin in the woods of northern B.C. There was still snow on the ground, and ice in the creeks, but the bird migration was returning to the north. I wrote “Two pair of Steller’s Jays spent the morning flying from the crab apple to the tangled branches of bare hawthorn trees and back again, their dark crest and iridescent blue feathers bright in the sunlight. They are the provincial bird of British Columbia. And we spotted a Red-breasted Sapsucker after days of hearing it hammering alone in the birch forest. The Sapsucker belongs to the woodpecker family and in the photo you can see the tidy, parallel lines of ‘wells’ it has drilled in the bark of the tree. The wells fill with sap, which attracts insects – so they eat both the sweet sap and the insects. Hummingbirds often associate with Sapsuckers and sip sap at the wells too. But we have not seen the hummers yet. Other birds hopping and singing around the cabin today are: Mountain Chickadee, Varied Thrush, Dark-eyed Junco, and of course the proverbial symbol of spring, Robins. The Dark-eyed Juncos are in competition with two red squirrels over the seed, nuts, and fruit we’ve placed on the stump outside our front door."

April 17, 2008 “Yesterday I wrote about signs of spring. Today it is snowing and we were treated to a very special sighting… a Canada lynx, a rarely seen animal that preys almost exclusively on snowshoe hares. Bob quickly dashed off e-mails to friends and family…”

(Photo: Nature Canada) Pawprints in the Snow

"Just a few minutes ago we saw a Canada Lynx. I was having lunch and was looking out the front windows when I saw movement out toward the bench under the Black Hawthorns near the road. At first I thought it was a coyote - but as it moved it was clearly a cat of some sort. I called Morningstar to the window and we both got out our binoculars. Bobbed tail, black tip - also black tips on the ears - long legs. We had at least five minutes to look as it moved around the bench and went to the edge of the meadow and peered into the east woods. It then backtracked past the bench and headed behind the sheds and disappeared toward the woods on the west side of the meadow. Wonderful experience! It is called the gray ghost of the North."

On Earth Day, April 22, 2008, I wrote, “This morning we spotted a beautiful thick-furred coyote walking down our driveway. He was in no hurry… just out for a leisurely stroll, and maybe a little vole or deer mouse if one happened to be handy. Eventually he turned off the dirt track, crossed under the crab apple tree and slipped into the woods.”

I tell you of these things because this has NEVER been a CANCER BLOG. It is about LIVING and living with whatever situation we happen to find ourselves in. We miss our off the grid lifestyle… the simplicity and quiet, the abundance of wild creatures. But we are here now in Bellingham, and the Farmer’s Market starts this weekend. That is something very special to look forward to.

… PLM (Sapsucker and coyote photos by Morningstar)