We found a piano
in the woods.
I do not know any of the answers.
We take the bicycle to buy vegetables and eggs at L’Abri VΓ©gΓ©tal.
At the edge of their property is an historic covered bridge.
Under the bridge is water.
At the edge of the water is mud.
In mud lies
happiness.
Under new management, Camp Val-Esterie, a previously profitable outdoors camp, went bankrupt a few years ago,
leaving behind, amongst other things, the best playground in town.
Real see-saws.
Metal slides.
Tall swings.
Used tires.
Wood climbing structures.
The best.
According to me.
It is perhaps because it all reminds me so much of my childhood
that photographing it in color seems wrong.
If only Akiva’s boots were not so blatantly patterned, one might question the year.
This playground is, by far, not the newest.
That award would go to the
skate-park-louge-obstacle-course-tennis-court-ice-rink-pavillion-playground
located in the center of town.
This 400-acre property,
with its out-door obstacle games, rivers, trails, magnificent building, and outbuildings,
and not to mention the coolest playground in town,
is for sale for a mere half-million. However, it is not for development.
It is for sale to be run as a non-profit education center.
The quality of light is poor, but the quality of children is superb.
Minimal rust. Low mileage.
Kids not included.
We ended up getting $500.
We stop in the woods at the side of the bike trail, to visit the Massawippi River.
And, look! So many things to see.
What else can we find?
In this little sliver of heavenly woodsβ the greatest blooming of Indian Pipe that I have ever seen!
My camera cannot capture the masses and the expanse, for at a distance, they simply blend into the forest floor.
Closer and closer, to the limits of my camera. I cannot move in close enough.
Again, we take the bike path to North Hatley.
Like the tourists, local folk, motorcyclists,
bicyclists, summer people, and retired folk,
we are ones who like to watch the lake.
Exploring before this year’s school starts, we find ourselves a swing.
To bike to North Hatley, we take the dirt road that goes over the covered bridge.
Before the bridge, there is a pull-out at the Massawippi River.
The slope at the bottom is gradual.
It looks like a nice place to get wet.
The bottom is covered in small pebbles. There is no industrial debris.
Certainly there is agricultural run-off. Fortunately, there are no cows standing in the river.
Few cars pass. We are alone.
I am certain we will come again.