16-31 May
Robert Burns has always been one of my favourite poets, and one of his poems that is among my favourites included the all-too-often quoted line about "the best-laid plans of mice and men gang aft agley." This part month decidedly went agley--I did manage visits to the Forest and Estuary, but writing this blog was, alas, not an option. Even so, it was beautiful and I managed some photos that give the sense of approaching summer. The path to the Marsh was lined with new flowers. Foamflowers are now abundant, and will continue to bloom into the autumn. The delicate white of thimbleberries herald the emergence of their seedy but tasty fruit. Baldhip roses are in bloom, less fragrant than the other local Nootka rose, but lovely. It seems as though there are more of them than in earlier years. Summer fungi are emerging. Many logs host oyster mushrooms. Red alder, common in cleared and sunny areas, have a relatively short lifespan of about sixty years....