The north wind blew heartily this June 2nd and 3rd dropping the temperature from the high 20’s C to a crispy 9 degrees in 24 hours. What that meant was another layer of sweaters and no bug spray! I protect Molly with a product called “Force Field” and myself with a Watkins product and despite the onslaught of heavily armed ranks of black flies we prevail— untouched or even approached by these formidable foes. Despite this, it is most refreshing to get out on a chilly wind whipped June morning to lie on moist moss, bug free, and bug spray free, to revel in the beauty around us. The Tamarak leaves are a long, soft, pale green now, and the buds on the pitcher plants are well up. Bunch Berries never fail to thrill me in their singular beauty and in their profusion. If anything, it is they that take me back to my formative years spent in the Black Spruce forests of Thunder Bay.
Unfound in Thunder Bay memories, are the white and red orchids that stand tall in the forests of Nova Scotia's Eastern Shore, adding their touch of mystery and elegance to a fresh June 3 morning.
Flower buds on the pitcher plants
Bunch Berry (Cornus Canidensis)
Lady Slipper growing near one of the Pitcher Plant bogs
Lady Slipper yet to open
Lady Slipper on the hill
Three of them!
