Spring

Yes - this *is* a spring photo - because, you see, it was taken this morning on a glorious spring hike over the Westwood Ridges. Notice the youngest of the bunch. He can't walk yet but he sure can hike (with a little help from mom).

I officially declare today the first day of spring. It's warm! I mean really warm. The sun is positively hot! I had to peel off layers of clothing and when I took Abby into the back 40 this afternoon, I practically crawled. When it's this beautiful out, I just slow down. I want to soak up every drop of sun; I want to hear every note of every bird song. I want to smell every flower - even if that flower is the prodigally blooming skunk cabbage.

Live is very good.

Not only did we hike for more than three hours this morning, but after lunch I ticked off the last item on my spring "to do" list. I sowed the peas and lettuce - well, the first planting of lettuce. My secret to great salads all season long and well into the fall, is buy every imaginable kind of lettuce seed you can find (except iceberg), open all the packets, dump the seeds into a suitable container (Tupperware for instance), mix them all up and then sow every two to three weeks in wide rows. Results: instant fresh baby mixed greens all summer and fall.

So - that's done. I now feel well justified, after the last three active days, in being a bit lazy tomorrow. If the weather is fine I'll weed the blueberry patch and wash the car - inside and out. The car situation is desperate. It has served as a "muddy dog" mobile for the past three weeks. You get the picture.

back to local politics

I have given quite some thought to the recent local political kerfluffle re: Susan Cudahy CEO of the Economic Development Corp using a Toronto firm to get the tourism website up and running.

The outcry has uniformly condemned the move - we should have used a local company!

As a knee-jerk reaction, it's the obvious one and was indeed my first thought too. But I also had second and third thoughts, particularly when the Daily News reported that Mayor John Ruttan was going to "have words" with her.

So - yes, I would like to see government spending stay in the town, in the city, in the province and in the country, depending on which branch of government it is. Now seriously folks - does it? Have a look - especially on a national level. I understand the feds want to export  oil from Alberta (while destroying BC's forests and rivers) so that China can make a lot of money refining it.

Susan Cudahy, on the other hand, gave a contract of about $9,000 to a Toronto firm. She was in a hurry and she knew the people. Not that big a deal. Really.

But here's the really big deal: the firestorm this generated. When Ruttan said he was going to talk to her about it, I thought, "Whoa! The Economic Development Corp was created to operate at arm's length from City Hall. Hear that? Arm's Length. So that means, I guess, that Cudahy can't make her own choices about where she spends $9,000 for a web site."

I wasn't surprised when I heard she had taken some "personal time" and could not be reached for comment. If I were Cudahy, I'd be mad as hell! I'd be fuming! I'd be taking some personal time to decide if I wanted to continue working in such a small-minded place.

X country

My first day ever cross-country skiing - the verdict?

I love it!

It helped that the day was perfect with almost continual sunshine - tons of snow.

It also helped that I was the only person in my "group" lesson and so had a private lesson that progressed from beginner to intermediate.

I love going downhill in X-country because it feels like I had to work for the pleasure of flying down. And I like that I'm going somewhere - not just down a hill and then back up again.

What was lovely was that my instructor gave me an additional 20 minutes and then, when I was done, they gave me a pair of snowshoes so that I could go out on the trails for another half hour. All in all - just a great day!

Have a look at this beautiful snow:

When Will I Learn?

Seriously - when will I learn to leave well enough alone? Why can't I purge myself of this need to "stay informed."

Stay informed about what?

I just came across this while going through me end-of-day news: http://news.yahoo.com/ariz-bill-says-unlawful-annoy-others-online-223900419.html

Click on the link and you'll see that Arizona has now made it a crime to "annoy" others on social media sites.

Glad I'm not in Arizona - I mean, just mentioning this could be annoying some folks, right?

(Please don't be annoyed - we don't know when this trend will head north, especially not with Harper as our unlawful PM)

On a brighter note, The Voice was terrific.

On an even brighter note, I finished work today before noon - got my shopping done - ready to spend the day at Mount Washington. Now that's something to cheer about!

End of Tuesday

I spoke much too soon, at least in my own mind, when I predicted a fairly easy workload this week. Ha!

The Port Alberni newspaper weighed in with three more assignments that I didn't see coming and then BVI came along and suddenly, my free afternoon became two more features to write.

As for tomorrow, forget it. If I'm going to go skiing on Thursday, which I am, I'll have to knuckle down.

I booked my cross country lesson for 1 p.m. on Thursday, meaning I can have a leisurely lunch at the Nordic Lodge before gearing up. And after the lesson, I want to get out on the trails for at least another hour.

I hope I never lose the hunger for new experiences and opportunities to learn. I know and feel the temptation to stay comfortable - meaning my own well worn little groove - but it's only when I push past that and jump off the cliff that the adrenaline flows. I want to keep that - that willingness to be foolish, be brave, be crazy.

When

I had a good, busy and productive day. I wrote two stories, and then, at about 3 o'clock, I took Abby to the park. I felt good - really good. Work was done for Monday and I had only two more work days this week to think about, neither as frantic as last week.

On Thursday I am going up to Mt. Washington to X-country ski for the first time in my life! Exciting! I like trying new things! And then I will garden and hike on the weekend and all is good.

And then I thought, well, what on earth are you going to write in your blog today? That you wrote an article about a financial services company and one about a car dealership? Your life is so dull - it's hardly worth the effort to record it.

But I'm happy, I argued. I'm thoroughly content. And that's when it hit me. This is my life. At what point, does this become enough? At what point do we stop wanting to make our mark? Make a difference? Leave a legacy? At what point do we realize, "This is all there is - this is my small and insignificant life?"

Or do we ever get to that point? Will I ever get to that point? I know that if I were to die tomorrow, what would sadden me most is missing the small beauties of nature - never to see a cherry tree bud again - that would be sad. Never to feel my dog's breath on my face again - that would break my heart.

But I wonder - is there still something big left for me to do? Or will I simply continue to love this simple life?

I don't know.

Hiking Extension Ridges

As far as Sundays go, they don't get much better than this. J still has a bad back so I picked up Ocean and set off with both dogs for the Extension Ridges. I expected snow, rain and bad weather. What I go was sun and warmth and a plain old glorious day.

So - three hours of fabulous hiking.

And happy dogs - especially Ocean who has been cooped up all week.

Got back - ravenous for lunch - quick nap and then ticked off another big to-do on my garden list: pruned and weeded the raspberries.

My garden list is down to spreading manure - there really is something to be said for boarding a gang of horses: you never, ever run out of free fertilizer, digging up a patch for the first lettuce of the season and sowing early seeds. I expect to get it all done easily by the end of Easter weekend.

And then - yes, more hiking in these beautiful woods: