Local Scenery

This has been a busy weekend for us. We joined some friends for a birthday picnic by Alouette Lake (practically where we went last weekend) yesterday, and today ambled around the Seymour Demonstration Forest and down by Lynn Creek (more falls. more rapids. more pictures.). In consequence, we're moving just a touch more slowly than usual.

We got to the picnic site first, so claimed a table and set ourselves to wait in patience. A minute later, we'd set ourselves to tossing a frisbee-like toy* back and forth, since we'd got chilled to the bone from all that patience. That worked a charm, possibly so well because neither of us were very good at aiming the thing, and by the time one of the birthday girls and partner showed up we were fairly thawed.

They'd brought, in addition to splendid salmon (one part marinated in a ginger/soy mix, the other part left to its god-given pink goodness), a bocce ball set. They'd gotten it second-hand, and this was its first trial, and much to everyone's surprise, it was missing the white ball.

This was no great hardship, it just meant we had to rewrite the rules. Out came our frisbee-like toy, and we agreed that a ball landing within its centre would count as a double goal, with (should a ball fail to land within its centre) the nearest of all the balls scoring a single goal for its team, the rest to score nothing. Losers get to place the goal for the next set of tries, as well as toss first. It's to make them feel better about being 1053r5. It wouldn't do for someone to get mad and stomp off, after all, she'd just get lost in the woods and we'd have to call out search & rescue and it'd turn into a huge production number and so what if it was her birthday?

Nola elected to partner with the birthday girl, an error on her part, as b-day girl's partner and I watered the picnic lawn with their loser tears. They pretended not to care, that it was Just A Game, but we know better, don't we?

Everyone else eventually arrived (they'd gone to a different part of the park, for some reason, alleged to be an ambiguity in the directions. I am clueless about this stuff, since I have no idea how we got there and the directions would have meant nothing to me even if I'd read them. My chauffeur is most competent.) and we dug into the salmon and other goodies, and I took many pictures of the lake being beautiful and serene (I'm told it's a life-and-death struggle under the surface, but then I was dining on perfectly grilled salmon, fresh salad, homemade cornmeal muffins, et cetera, so again, what did I care? It looked pretty and that's all that has to count when one is well-fed.)

Another bocce game was played, with Nola wisely electing to be on my team this time, and again, despite the very first throw from the Other Team landing perfectly within the goal, we shook it off to roar past them in the final set. Another pair of teams formed and I took more pictures of the lake and other nice scenic bits, and played more frisbee (several frisbees in backpacks) and by and by it was time to pack it all up and go home.

This morning, me being slightly sore with winner's afterglow and Nola being majorly sore, having only half a winner's afterglow to sustain her, we packed a lunch** and did a turn through the Seymour Demo Forest and then down, and down, and down, and down the stairs to Lynn Creek. We followed the creek till we got to the suspension bridge, where Nola could try for a shot of the falls (I dislike being on suspension bridges) and then headed back. We got several sterling pictures of forest bits and rushing water, so now I'm once again appallingly behind on uploading.

Well, shucks. I'll get to it.

* It actually more resembles a green glow-in-the-dark chakram. Not sharp, though.

** Since we left at noon, I suppose it should be considered more of a mid-afternoon snack. Or tea. One.