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Pastimes : The Sauna -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Peach who wrote (1650)	8/11/2001 5:31:52 PM
From: The Philosopher	Respond to of 1857

Thanks. Yes, indeed, it is a magical place. I try hard not to take it for granted, but to appreciate how fortunate I am to live here. The kids and I just took a walk round the place in the sunshine; each of them took a camera and they were looking for things to photograph, so we sauntered slowly appreciating all the beauty since we were looking specifically for it. Among other things they took pictures of wild roses, blackberry vines ranging all the way from flowers to a few ripe berries (lots and lot of green ones; it's going to be a good blackberry season), a bee visiting the roses, a dragonfly which magically lighted on a fern in a ray of sunshine at just the right moment for a picture, and other vignettes of beauty which it takes a deliberate decision to slow down one's life (and turn off the computer and go outdoors!) to appreciate.

To: Peach who wrote (1650)	8/11/2001 6:30:32 PM
From: Poet	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 1857

Hi Peach! Wasn't that post beautifully written? I've got a butterfly bush outside my office window and kept seeing these large furry insects gathering pollen from it. One day last week, I tiptoed closer to the window and realized they were hummingbirds. Time for a visit to the opthamologist. -g

To: Peach who wrote (1650)	8/11/2001 8:54:24 PM
From: The Philosopher	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 1857

Today seems to be my day for close encounters of the natural kind. Went out in the late afternoon to wash and wax my truck. Just after starting I heard a rustling on the other side of the driveway, about 10 feet away, and a deer's head poked out of the salal bushes, which grow about 6 feet high there. I stood still while she examined me, reassuring her that I was no threat to her. After long thought she apparently decided to believe me, and went to work eating salal berries, which deer love, while I went on washing and waxing the car. She moved along the driveway slowly, but we were at this for perhaps an hour (washing and waxing a country truck takes a while!) I also admit I worked more slowly than usual so as not to spook her, and also to contemplate the contrasts between us. Here was pure nature on her side, while on mine a technological marvel of metal and plastic, a Ford F-150 4wd with lots of goodies loaded in. We were both designed to traverse the back country, but she much more effectively than I. Four legs beat four wheels this time, for sure. She was covered in deerskin, which needs no maintenance, while here I was spending tine and effort trying to keep my vehicle skin in good shape. As it turned out, she was done dining just about the same time I was done waxing, so we gazed at each other again for a bit, then slowly turned and went our separate ways. It was a quiet and peaceful afternoon, certainly the most enjoyable and thought provoking truck washing I've done in quite a while. And, I might add, a good reason NOT to turn the radio on when you clean your truck. If I were one of those who need music blaring to do the simplest chore, as too many are these days, she would have been driven perhaps to a less berry laden salal patch, and both of us would have been the poorer.