I herded the dogs into the car for the short drive to a park not far from my home. In this city of beautiful parks, this one is not. It is a ribbon of land along the Fraser river, not more than 200 metres wide, bordered by light industry on one side, and log booms on the other.
But it has an off-leash area the size of a football field, and a three kilometre off-leash trail along an ugly slough. There is a scummy pond to swim in. To Tika and Henry, it is paradise.
As we walked along the trail, I stopped whenever the dogs paused to sniff, or cool off in the slough, and I looked around me more closely. There is beauty in this unappealing park.
(Do you see the snail in the yellow blossoms above?)
An old apple tree survives here. (Can you spot the snail here too?)
A spotted towhee watched me carefully. He may have been guarding a nest.
Even skunk cabbage has a kind of elegance.
My happy dogs had put me in the mood to see the loveliness. The lesson is, whether I look for ugliness or beauty, I'll find it. So look for the beauty.
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11 comments:
That's a very nice ugly park! As long as you've got some wet land happening you're going to get something pretty.
It's all in your mind set. :o)
i love those fish in the fence...
So much beautiful color in the spring, no matter where you look. And I like the fence fish, too.
Great post...great pics...top dogs! Thanks for sharing, Voyager. :)
tatty tiara, there is always something pretty if we look for it.
Big brother, it is in the mind set, and dogs don't see ugliness. We can learn a lot from them.
Jazz and secret agent, those fish are painted by young school kids, and are put there to remind people that a stream is fish habitat, to discourage people from dumping stuff there. They appear in parks all over the city.
Lee, Tika (age 12) and Henry (age 5) are great dogs. Although, Henry was not at the front of the line when brains were handed out. Bless him!
V.
It's 1:34 a.m. here, 30-some degrees, blustery as a constant sneeze--
so I can say for sure:
I want to be where you are.
I do like the fish - see, if you look close you can usually find something pretty almost anywhere
Dogs do get you out there, don't they? Max has introduced us to miles of leash-free trails we didn't know existed until he came into our lives. Lovely post and lovely nature shots, and the skunk cabbage reminds me of my Burnaby childhood.
You found a lot of beauty in the park. I did spot the snail. That was such a cool find. Your dogs are both beauties.
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