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The sea is never far away when you are in the Maritimes, but the land is also pretty wonderful. The more than 2500 km I drive on this trip take me past endless forests, marshes and other natural landscapes. Birds abound. There are songbirds, raptors, and water fowl; some majestic, some tiny, some plain, some funny.
Fortunately, Canadians cherish their natural wonders and have created numerous national and provincial parks in which Mother Nature rules. The parks contain paths and boardwalks, backcountry campsites, interpretive signs and the occasional toilet, but otherwise nature is allowed to follow its own course – even to the point of letting parasites ravage trees to allow for new and different growth rather than trying to control the parasites. Here, Nature is natural.
I spend hours hiking. The terrain is very hilly, and sometimes the paths are rough with plenty of tree roots and rocks over which to stumble. My senses are bombarded. Like a dog, my nostrils quiver to take in the smells. In Fundy National Park, I breathe in the rich humus smell of the moist forest and the raised humus peat bog.
In the solitude of the woods, a leaf falls to the ground. The silence is so deep that I can hear the soft landing of the leaf. Later on, the babbling of a brook becomes the rush of a waterfall. The air cools, the water refreshes. Bunchberry (also known as dogwood) and wood sorrel (looks like a big shamrock) grow among the mosses and pine needles, decorating the forest floor.
Occasionally, the dense and dark fir forest opens to vistas of more forest or views of the bay. A peregrine falcon soars by. A black and white warbler – a bird which sounds like a squeaky wheelbarrow – lands on my shoulder and perches there for a few seconds before realizing I am not a tree. This makes me feel ridiculously happy.
I connect with nature, drawing new energy.
