On the sheer joy of being outside


I've spent these last three weeks working in a warehouse. As such, I haven't seen much in the way of nature. Well, that job ended yesterday, and today I went for a walk....my first decent walk in quite some time. I saw deer, of course. These days in Ottawa deer have become part of the scenery rather than anything particularly noteworthy, not unlike grass, the sky and people who think that everbody but them should be doing something to prevent climate change. So, in spite of the fact that I saw many a deer, I won't be devoting much time to them.

I was walking through the woods, when I came to a dip in the trail. It's an area with a few dead trees, and a patch that can either be a lowlying, grassy bit, or a knee deep swamp depending on whether or not you've looked at it the wrong way. in the middle of the trail, there was what, at first glance, very much appeared to be lump of earth....one, moreover, with pokey bits. Upon closer inspection, however, it proved to be none other than what I persist in referring to, in my head, as a Porky-pine (I blame Walt Kelly), more correctly called a Porcupine (erithizon dorsatum) . I had heard that there were Porcupines in the woods, but never before had I seen one there. I kept my distance...well, in this case distance means about 2 meters, close enough to make out every quill. Porcupines are pretty inoffensive in general, but I had no particular desire for a shin full of quills, so I opted to not annoy him. he moved rather like a very fat man, and, having notice me, skittered up a nearby tree, making clicking noises as he did so. Porcupines can probably climb quite quickly, but he didn't seem to feel the need to do so, and he was still clicking he way up when I left...the dip having, apparently, been looked at the wrong way, and therefore being completely impassible.

it felt good just to be outdoors for no reason other than feeling like it. it was damp, true, and cold as well, but you feel alive, out of doors