A walk on the soggy side ...

It's hard to believe that we were enduring bitter temperatures just two days ago when the laundry I was hanging out didn't really need clothes pins, as the wet cloth folded over the line quickly froze in place.

Yet today it's raining.  Travel inland just a few kilometers and you'll encounter freezing, trecherous driving conditions.  But here it is above zero with a steady mist falling;  the "coastal effect" certainly dominates the weather in Eastern Passage.

Once more I heeded the "pull" of the woods at the end of the street.  I hoped it might be more sheltered there than along the wind blown cliffs of Hartlen Point.

But wet is wet and and in short time rain had saturated my coat and I could feel it chilling my shoulders in my shirt beneath.  My feet remained dry as I wore "wellies" rather than my leaky winter boots.

I had the whole pack with me.  As usual, Chandler happily ran wherever his twitching nose led.  Wendy and Trey chased the ball and occassionally Buffy would steal it and romp through the undergrowth, ecstatic that Trey was chasing her.  Sooki couldn't make up her mind so she alternately tagged along after Chandler and the "ball" gang. 

Sometimes our rambles led us onto old paths that meandered around and joined newer ones in unexpected locations.

It was wonderful to explore a rough cut road that I had discovered on a past walk.  It looped along in a "U" shape but we turned back halfway along as we were all soaked and we still had a half hour walk back home. 

Even wet and chilled, I marvelled at the wonders around me:  trees dripping with lichen,  moss still growing green -- and suspended droplets everywhere.