CARPE DIEM!

Forget Paris in the springtime...It pales in comparison to Victoria! The rhododendrons are now in massive bloom and are breathtakingly beautiful. I've never noticed such a wonderful variety of colours before - Light pink with dark pink around the edges, golden yellow, lilac, deep purple, orange, and the deepest of red which reminds me of Chivers jelly which I loved as a child. I wish they could stay like that forever. Just like I wish little Chi Chi could have her eyesight forever...but nothing stays the same...does it? It's true - the only constant is change which is why we need to CARPE DIEM!

There is nothing like a walk in nature to quench a thirsty soul. Yesterday I decided to take an early morning stroll down as far as the ocean. Unfortunately, I only made it half way there as I could not resist the lovely shops en-route!! And the sun was shining... Then I got chatting with a lady who was having a garage sale and she told me her mother was living in Ireland and all her life story...Then I got back on the trail again and as I was walking past Starbucks the smell of croissants was too much so in I went and bought some for the family for breakfast...onwards and nearer the ocean I met a lady who was looking for a doggie bag for her dog so I had one in my pocket and gave it to her only to discover she was a patient from the office! Small world! I never made it to the ocean...but I sure had lots of fun and adventures en-route. I really don't know why I have to drag myself out for a walk because when I do get 'round to it, I love it and feel great afterwards.

So 'Carpe Diem' and get out and about and enjoy the sights and sounds of nature around you...if only for a few minutes a day! I'll end with a few lines from one of my favourite poems 'Spring' by Gerard Manley Hopkins...

SPRING

Nothing is so beautiful as Spring - When weeds, in wheels, shoot long and lovely and lush; Thrush's eggs look like little low heavens and thrush through the echoing timber does so rinse and wring the ear, it strikes like lightnings to hear him sing...

It's one of the few poems I can remember from school and now waking up to the sound of the birds chirping on the trees outside, I think of it.

Choo Choo!

Patricia xxx