When Scooby and I set out today to walk the new trail, the first sensation I noticed was the sun on the back of my neck. It felt wonderful. The temperature was a little over 70, after much cooler weather in the last days. I thought “The warmth of sunlight” is my delight for today.

Then, I walked into the shade of our forest, where one can study a square yard of ground for a long period of time and just go on noticing new details: the fern, the ground, the drops of dew, the slug trail… So I knew that “the wonder of shade” would be my topic.

We continued our walk. The new trail is steep at first, with the grounds newly cleared and smoothed, and roots excavated. It meanders north, but slowly. At times the salal and ferns obscure the new path, but there are fuchsia flags and recent traffic has begun trampling the path. But until today, I’ve gotten lost each time I’ve walked this section. Finally, I let Scooby take the lead (still on leash, because of the bear) and he followed it easily for the rest of the route.

I emerged from the park trail into bright sunshine again. Blue sky, dappled light near the forest, open sky and the Canal beyond. I got to enjoy both in the space of an hour.

So, today my delight is dappled light.