We are in the middle of a few weeks of very cold weather. And yet, spring cannot be far away as I heard the cheerful whistles of several cardinals here at Jack Darling Memorial Park in Port Credit.



Jack Darling Memorial is a mixture of lakeshore and forest:












Some botany:



















NATURE POETRY
The new dawn blooms as we free it
For there is always light,
if only we’re brave enough to see it
If only we’re brave enough to be it. – Amanda Gorman (b. 1998)
Miles Hearn
Sunny days make the outdoors look so much better! There is life in those buds and the cardinals are beautiful.
Very timely poem today.
By coincidence, I just got home from Jack Darling Park. They have a terrific leash-free dog park integrated into the design of the water filtration plant. It’s huge (and also contains a toboggan hill) and my Newfoundlands just love playing with their buddies there.
The leash free area is really spacious for both humans and canines. One of our former dogs was always stubborn about leaving and would run off to play with another dog. She would ignore my calls to come. I
would ask the owner of the other dog to please hang on to her until I could snap on her leash!
Thanks for the pictures of the cardinals. They are beautiful birds.
What a beautiful place! What beautiful pictures!
Thanks for sharing the conclusion of that very special poem.
Yes–hearing the Cardinals begin to sing is one of the most wonderful (and hopeful) things about this time of year. Please feel free to take pictures of any Snow Drops or Skunk Cabbage you see, too, when the time comes.
Thank you so much, Miles!
Also–Hi Dog People! And Eugene–don’t take ALL the mushrooms! I won’t be there to discourage you, though, this time around. And I’ll miss what you say about them!
Yes, wonderful choice of poem.