With the snow and ice finally gone from the garden, I went from clambering over snowbanks to raking leaves and pruning hydrangeas on Saturday -- a shift in activities so abrupt as to cause whiplash. But when John and I went to nearby Pacific Spirit Park for a walk on Sunday, we found stretches of ice as treacherous as anything we have seen during the whole of our six-week "winter." A last chance to break a leg! Fortunately, the ice was only on the route into the park; the trails inside were clear. Using the prescribed "penguin walk" for ice we've perfected recently -- flat-footed, bent forward, sloooww shuffle -- we made it into the park and out without falling prey to this last reminder of what we've just been through.
Some photos from the last couple of days:
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Like a moat protecting a castle, the route into Pacific Spirit Park features a dangerous stretch of ice to keep out the faint-hearted. Here I am, doing the slow "penguin" shuffle to get through without breaking anything. The red thing in my hand is a folded-up umbrella. John took the picture. |
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After the snow, the detritus that didn't get cleaned up last fall looks worse than ever. The yellow things on the ground are hosta leaves; the brown things around the birdbath are dried hydrangea blossoms. |
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Here's what it looks like after my Saturday cleanup. Little shoots of green are starting to show through when the leaves are cleared away. |
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The big hydrangea bush out front, battered and flopping after the heavy snowfall. This is pre-cleanup. It was too dark to photograph it by the time I'd finished. |
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A pile of raked-up leaves on a tarp, ready to be moved. If you look closely, you can see Mr. Darcy supervising. |
So, winter is officially over? I'm going to hold you to this! Enjoying snow today...where I like it....on the mountains!
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