Phew. After “The Year of Constant Physical Therapy” and various other medical interventions (for both Thor and myself), I’m revisiting my attitude toward a cyborg body. In my first science fiction novel WILD CARD RUN originally published (cough cough) several years ago, my heroine embodied my own young and agile attitude. She expressed horror at the notion of installing her brain and spinal column into an eternally youthful and healthy cyborg body. Now I say, “Bring it on!” But in the meantime, I’m happy to say that Thor and I are both recovering our hiking fitness, and recently took an ecstatic Bear dog on one of our favorite rambles up old logging roads and forest trails above nearby Lake Whatcom to a lovely overlook with views of the lake and Bellingham Bay. (Lake Whatcom Park on the map below)
Spring in our Pacific Northwest forests, especially after this unusually rainy and cold winter, ushers in an explosion of fresh green and wildflowers. And when we’re lucky enough to combine that lushness with a sunny day, the light and life fills us to bursting with delight.
Among the fresh blossoms are one of my favorites, wild currant, with its pungent scent:
Vanilla leaf hasn’t yet put up its slender spires of tiny white blossoms:
Salmonberries will ripen later with translucent orange fruit: (Watch out for the prickly stems!)
Shy bleeding-heart were my Grandma Sara’s favorite: (Here at the foot of an old cedar among the ubiquitous sword ferns)
Thor pauses on the trail to admire the ocean spray blooms:
Trillium are always special:
And let’s not forget the fresh nettles, so useful for stews and herbal remedies: (But don’t touch with bare skin!)
Soaking up that light among the mossy big-leaf maples: Back to the delights of Forest Bathing! What are your favorite places to “bathe” in nature?
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You will find The Rambling Writer’s blog posts here on alternate Saturdays. Sara’s newest novel from Book View Cafe was 
recently released in print and ebook: The Ariadne Connection. It’s a near-future thriller set in the Greek islands. “Technology triggers a deadly new plague. Can a healer find the cure?” The novel has just received a second Cygnus Award, for Science Fiction. To celebrate, for the month of May it’s on special discount at www.bookviewcafe.com online bookstore at just 99 cents!