I took a little trek up Mt Work awhile ago on a Sunday for some exercise, to see if it was was still the same as I recalled it and to experience and enjoy the beauty and magnificence that is there.  I had been there once before. On another website I read that the elevation is 2238 feet or 682 metres. For sure there are quite a few steps to the Summit.

Location: Mount Work Park, Saanich, Victoria, Vancouver Island BC  A 536-hectare Mount Work Regional Park bordering on Gowlland Tod Provincial Park, situated in the Highlands area of the Saanich Peninsula.

Along the way I met several groups of people including some young bucks huffing, puffing and sweating the climb up. Although I would describe myself in better condition this time than I was when I climbed it before, it surely did not feel like it! It is quite a steady climb up and up.  A few spots level off and you go down a bit and that makes you think you have already reached the top but keep on going as that is just to fool you into thinking you have made it there.   I managed to get off the beaten track for awhile and that was interesting and a bit exhausting as I worked myself back to the path.  As if the climb itself was not enough.

Here is a clue to let you know you have finally reached the summit.  It even comes with it’s own naked tree.  I figure that is appropriate to keep it company way up there.

Near the summit are many naked trees, aka Arbutus trees. I call them naked trees because most of them are as they lose their bark and underneath.  They are so soft and smooth to the touch.  From Wikipedia:

Arbutus is a genus of at least 14 species of flowering plants in the family Ericaceae, native to warm temperate regions of the Mediterranean, western Europe, and North America.

These trees meander all over the place and are quite exotic and some even erotic.  Well hey, naked limbs all over the place.  This reminds me of one of my poems entitled My Friend. Similarities exist between the two but this was written from a different place and time quite a few years ago.

The view from way up near the summit is truly spectacular. It is well worth the trek up the mountain. You feel (the) spirit in all things and being part of it all and all there is.

Yes, the scenery around here is majestic, spectacular and varied from mountains, rain forest, mild climate and the sea. Is there any wonder I feel blessed to live in such a wonderful place!  That really is not a question at all.

May you be so blessed today and everyday.

Eugene

I must say when I came across this scene in the woods up Mt Doug way, the naked tree looked like it was dead and was going to become part of the forest floor once again.  It was lying down almost on the ground, curving and twisting its way around the bend, turning left then turning right.

It was like it was trying to figure out where to go and perhaps why. But the tree knows only one thing, to survive as best it can under harsh conditions.  I could not get the all of the tree in the same picture with its twists and meanderings.  Ah yes, well it is not completely naked, it has a touch of modesty gracing its body in the form of green moss carpet running across its trunk. Still it is exposed and scantily clad.

So around the bend it goes just feet off the bottom floor of the forest becoming more exposed the trunk displays more of its naked beauty.  The tree does not blush, nor fret, it is not at all concerned with its nakedness.  It embraces it.  It is all natural, au naturale and further up the trunk it lets the sunshine warm its trunk discouraging the moss to places below.

Then the naked tree shows its determination and shoots up towards the sky again releasing its leaves to bask in the warmth of the rays of sunshine that break though in glorious wonder, as only the sun can do.

Further down near the floor of the forest another life form displays its beauty for all to see, for all who take the time to see and discover, that is.  There is so much beauty all around. Here is another example of the beauty within.

Well that was a little bit of the wonder of the forest, once again.  I must say there are many of these little gems all around and new ones appearing all the time in this fair land.

I hope you are well, thanks for dropping by.

Cheers,

Eugene

Looking at my previous post which was quite awhile ago when the Olympic Torch passed through our local community. It actually started in Victoria, BC and was quite impressive, then traveled across the country and to parts far north.

People became quite emotional about it and the Olympic Games in Vancouver and Whistler, BC turned out to be a tremendous success with Canada winning the most gold medals after having had two Olympics on our soil without having won even one gold prior.

More than that though it gave us inspiration and a coming together in this spirit. Even our Prime Minister, Stephen Harper, attended the games and many events. Of course some were saying that is why he prorogued Parliament so he could spend a nice vacation there and enjoy the spillover effects.  Yes he is a hockey fan like many Canadians, yet mostly an opportunist.  Well we won’t let that kind of stuff interfere with the good times that happened during the games and that transcended the mundane aka politics.

All right then(now) I managed to make it up Mt Doug again, quite a few times recently, and revisited the seaside park side as well.  So I have a few pictures to share.

If you are feeling a bit crabby, I found a mate for you:

After turning it over from under a rock it was ready for me and in attack mode.

I found the leaning tree again.  It is amazing how it is still standing.  Most of the bank, where the roots stick out from, has eroded away.

I got quite close to this fellow who was pecking away without paying any attention to me.  All that pecking was doing some major damage to the tree of course.

I also caught someone else in the “act” so to speak. Well some of these need assistance in breeding their offspring. Nature, unlike most humans, does not care who is looking at them.

Yes, spring is in the air and on the land in this fair place.  I reckon we got a fair bit of heaven here.

Well, that is it for today, as I say, more to come.

Best wishes to you.

Eugene

Indeed I have been lax in posting here and it is not from lack of information or photos etc.  The timing just has not seemed right when the thoughts come to me.  I will start with a quote and follow it up with a few other things, thoughts, poetry etc.

Some interesting material in the MillionaireX1, daily quotes and inspiration, this one came from the daily quotes from MX1.

There is much truth in this saying:

Believe nothing, no matter where you read it,
or who said it, no matter if I have said it,
unless it agrees with your own reason
and your own common sense.
-Buddha

I have been enjoying many of the quotes as well as the inspirational messages.

Many of us seek outside ourselves for the solutions to our challenges.  This can often lead us astray. The main source comes from within and many of our answers, if not all, are there for us to uncover and discover.  It is wise to be guided by our own counsel. As Wayne Dyer puts it “If you want to follow your passion, be independent of the good opinion of others.”

Some poetry for you, if you would like to read it, starting here and more by following I Am With You, below:

I Am With You

I believe this gift will, at times, to you, signify
That this dream, as you call it, will last
A dream can a reality be, it’s all within the eye
To see, or not, and deeper still we travel beyond the past

Speaking of gifts, this one is natural, and following up the previous post about my friend, “the naked one”, here is a photo exposed and very soft to the touch. No it is not Pamela Anderson but she and it is from this very island, Vancouver Island. That is as far as I will go on that subject.  At least for now. Whew!

These are magnificent and awesome trees called arbutus around here. The bark peels off naturally. A true wonder of nature.

Before I go for now, I just wanted to mention to check out Lydia’s post on Manufacturing Personal Reality.  I have this belief that we create it all.  We can get hung up on the words and terminology but the essence is in there no matter what we choose to call it.

Ok will move on out of here for now, may you be blessed with good health,wealth, love and all that you truly desire.

Cheers,

Eugene

On a walk to from the Inner Harbour around the winding pathway following the seacoast to the Seawall I came upon an interesting tree.  From some perhaps it would evoke a memory of Twisted Sister, but not for me.

Instead it reminded me of a friend from days past.  Quite a few days past.  It kind of goes like this, well it does go like this:

My Friend

Standing naked before me
Gently waiving as if in greeting
Arms reaching toward the heavens
Soaring upward yet grounded are thee

To find more about my friend go here to My Friend. You may ask what it was that evoked this memory.  Well it was this tree:

You likely know you can click on the image to make it bigger then come back using the back button.  This was originally inspired by a tree in St Vital Park, Winnipeg, Manitoba. Trees, even the twisted ones, have a lot of character and many live longer than we humans.  They are strong survivors and thrive in all kinds of inhospitable environments.

Down by the seawall the tide was out and I was able to take some closer pictures down the side.   I found this to be another interesting sight.

There are more photos which I may post on another day.

Enjoy your day!

Cheers,

Gene

At the end of May I went looking for something and could not find what I was looking for.  Actually I was a day late but did not realize it until later.  But do not tell anyone!  Shhhhhhhhhhhhh.   Hey, it happens.

So instead of heading back home I decided to explore a bit and came across the Galloping Goose Trail and I started to walk north up island way away from downtown.  I later reversed that direction and proceeded to go downtown to the Blue Bridge area.

Well as I walked north I came across an interesting over/under pass. The underpass was part of the trail that passed under The Gorge.  I noticed something from a distance that I did not know was there.

I could see that something looked like it was painted on the underpass wall and ceiling.  I approached to get a closer look and hey, I was walking that way anyway.  People walk and cycle the Galloping Goose Trail for many miles or kilometers as we use the metric system for the official measurement.

I went under the underpass and discovered an amazing sight.  It was completely painted from one side to the other and across the top.

Of course I could not capture it all in one shot nor three or four shots so I just took several pictures and this one shows the artist.

Quite a surprise and I was delighted to have discovered this on this day I was looking for something else entirely.  Goes to show that sometimes there is a reason for things to happen even if we do not know what that reason is.

So off I went towards downtown and this trail lead me to the Blue Bridge which is being replaced soon.  Many are upset as they really like the old blue bridge which was originally designed in 1920 but has gone through changes over the years.

So all in all it turned out to be a great day in Victoria, BC, which is usually does, BTW.  I am all for appreciating what what mother earth, this island, Vancouver Island and the land provides us.  It truly is a land treasure and with all the water around, a sea treasure as well.

Cheers,

Gene

I went for a walk around Cedar Hill Golf Course the other day and decided to stop along the way and relax at a water spot.  It was fairly quiet with a few people stopping to enjoy the view.  It is kind of a duck world there as it was teeming with various duck couples and duck families of different sizes.

There was a mother duck with her very young fuzzy ducklings.  The daddy, aka The Big Quack, was there also and they were standing guard.   But they seemed to be ok with me being there.  Big Quack took off for awhile making some creative waves as he left the ground into the water and then came back after awhile of being off duty.

So I took the opportunity to just be for awhile then I snapped a few photographs.

Here are a few of them.

Then along comes another little bigger duckie newbie and Mother Duck is Giving that one her scorn.  “You stay away from my duckies or you are going to be one sorry looking batch of feathers devoid of any life form known to duckkind.” Yes, you don’t want to mess with Mom!

Ok, that is a wrap as I got to go.

Be kind be serene enjoy the scene.

Best wishes to everyone.

Cheers,

Gene

I received an email from Scott last night in which contained a link to a video about water.  The video was called Water, The Great Mystery.  Indeed it is, I added the life part because without it life simply would not exist.

The video was compared with the movie What The Bleep Do We Know, which is an excellent movie. I have viewed that movie 5 or 6 times and learned something each time.

Anyway, this video is not quite the same thing but does give some powerful insights on just how magnificent water really is, H₂O.  It has some amazing qualities. Of course we know that life would not exist without water. Our bodies can contain up to 78% water.

Oops, just had to go and get a drink of water.  All this talk about water was making me thirsty.  We are fortunate to have an abundance of water around here.

There are many interesting things in the video, such as the work of Dr Masaru Emoto who has done experiments examining such emotions as love, peace, music, photographs, thoughts, prayers and the effects they have on water. How water responds differently to different emotions and treatment.  Also discussed is how our emotions affect one another and also can be transferred to water.

The video is 1 hour and 20 minutes long so view it when you have some free time, grab some popcorn or a glass or two of water.
Click Here to View, Water, The Great Mystery

Enjoy the movie!

I will leave you with a few more pictures from Mt Doug.  These are hidden treasures that you won’t see unless you hike up the trails.  Worth the effort, for me, at least.

Yes, I want to rename the blog, keeping the creative waves but the rest, I don’t know yet.  Suggestions?

Cheers,

genes creative waves

Sure there may be monsters lurking up the pathways of life and perhaps even Mt Doug as we have seen.  Fakers will be exposed so be careful where you tread.  I managed to tread carefully as best as could be and travel on and not retreat, although this makes for a nice retreat.  I am glad I did.

The essence of life and spirit is everywhere. This is a great way to meditate, sit awhile or a walking meditation. Ha, even Lydia could meditate up here!

So along the pathways I kept wandering and meandering up and over and around and I did discover more treasures not all of the wooden kind.  Scenic treasure of lush green and colorful abundance.

Trees around here some of which are many hundreds of years old.  Here is an old tree giving life to a new one.  The new tree is growing and feeding on the old decaying moss covered tree remains.

This stuff growing on the trees is called someone’s beard or something.  Old man’s beard I suppose.  When it dries it is really neat and you can make it into craft material and such.  It goes grey or white when dry.

There are some humungous trees around here and a real northern rain forest type of environment.  So it is very nice to view.  Look up way up!

Springtime is special with all the new growth coming through and the regeneration.  Old gives way to youth eventually and so are reborn and renewed.

Ok, so those are a few more of the delights I found in the forest to balance the monsters and to provide contrast, nourishment for the soul.  I do like to discover and rediscover the hidden treasures of the wooden and earthy kind.  Mother Earth you are so wonderful.

Cheers,

genes creative waves

Well I suppose it is time to go green and provide a bit scenery from the other half of the excursion I made to Cordova Bay then hiking up the back side of Mt Douglas aka Mt Doug.

First though I am going to give an award to a fellow friend and blogger who writes very well and is a treasure.  Her name is Lydia and she has a blog entitled Serenity Talk for which you will find the link to on the right hand side.

The flower is not from Mt Doug, it is one I found in my yard.  Very pretty and appropriate I think.

Ok, so back to the trek up the mountain.  It is quite a climb but well worth the effort.  Here is what I found along the way. You must let your imagination run wild using the right side of your brain which is the most important one you know, for creativity.

Well, the first one is a beaver eating a dog , a croc, or something.  Surely this is a Canadian beaver.

For sure this is a beaver.  It is really clear.  You can see the foot or hand at the bottom.  I go with foot. But who’s foot is it?  Is partially consumed and being sucked in? That is one huge foot, magpie.

There is definitely a monster up this tree.  Look carefully at the menacing eyes and snout.  Looks like a werewolf from hell.  Or is it from Transylvania? Do not mess with this sucker if you want to get out of the forest alive.  I had to run like a bugger to escape, believe you me.  It is clearly excreting something below.  Well see more on that down aways.

This one has one eye or two with one covered with the focalized brains exposed.  They are not going to get my brains out of my head like that. I am out of here, quick!

I am afraid to even guess what is in here.  This tree is possessed.  Yikes!  NO NO do not stick your fingers in the crack.  It is a trap and you will be pulled in and devoured and become part of this scene in no time.

Thank God I got out of there before they got me!  But I think I have to go back, I forgot something there. Well that is part of the trip.   You should see the obstacle course I had to cover.  That will have to wait.

Cheers,

genes creative waves and ways