I love where I live
and the joy that it gives:
Dundas, Ontario, it's Our Valley-Town,
Along Spencer Creek, where nature abounds.  
In my backyard, Great Beauty is found.

Though I didn't always know,
and I was sort of just a schmo;
For it was not but several years ago...
I'd trek along the trail,
oblivious to the snails.
Thumbs thumping iPhone,
iPod pop tunes, head down, 
and wrapped in my own private sound.  
iMind my iBusiness,
but now it seems I digress...

In my middle-aged Nowadays,
I listen to what the bird says,
the clamouring cicadas,
thundering and the creaky tree. 
The water is turning and churning,
that cascading creek, rushing those rocks!
If you really listen, you know that the creek truly talks.

When it's inspiration that I seek
I take myself out for a peek.
Sitting on a rock by a creek
I listen and hear nature speak.

I see.
And I'm in utter awe 
of many mighty, minuscule, meaningful moments:
Oh, dear! A deer
and me,
we
share a stare
while the hare hops and the squirrel goes over the bridge.

"You're an Artist. And it's a great place to Be," said the biker to the Dreamer.

And, just so you know
this is a true story,
more or less, or less is more...
Maybe it was all but a dreamer's dream,
or a poet's poem?

Here is the complete adventure in photographs:
https://www.facebook.com/missnikkirocks/media_set?set=a.10157099612965705.1073741878.605790704&type=3&pnref=story

All vibrant & fresh,
Everyday brings new life.
Spring has come to my town.

… Or, The VERY Rainy Spring…

Some POSITIVE things about our Situation, in which the thick layer of the atmosphere is causing temperatures above the melting point of water near and above the Earth’s surface, allowing for the condensation of atmospheric water vapor to form into drops of water heavy enough to fall, making it to the surface. These two processes, acting together, are thus leading to the air becoming saturated leading to liquid participation:)

1.  The rain is keeping the allergens down.

2.  It is helping to keep our robins fed.

The following (#3 – #6) are from the Hamilton Spectator, Tuesday, May 17, 2011:

3.  It’s a great time to plant evergreens, trees and shrubs, says Manfred Kastrau, an arborist and landscaper who owns a nursery in Hamilton’s east end. A long, cold spring is great for tree roots, which like cool, wet soil.

4.  Remember all those air quality warnings in the early spring? Not this year. The rain helps keep pollution at bay.

5.  Even if the summer turns hot and dry, all this rain now will help keep drought away, said Dave Phillips, senior climatologist at Environment Canada.

6.  It’ll make us appreciate the sunshine more when it comes….

7.  No sun burns!

8.  Record-Breaking, and who doesn’t love to break a record?!  From the Hamilton Spectator, Thursday, May 19, 2011:  The Wettest Spring… Ever…  It’s official. Wednesday night’s heavy downpour has pushed us well over the brink of what we actually needed to break a record this spring.  With 27.2 mm of rain Wednesday, this spring is Hamilton’s wettest. Not only is it the wettest spring on record, it is also the wettest period we have had from January 1 to May 18.  For the period March 1 to May 18, Hamilton has had a total of 381 mm of rain and snow. The record, prior to this, was in 1996 when we were showered with 363 mm. Since Jan. 1, we have received 497.1 mm of rain and melted snow, with the record being 493.9 mm.  This year, we have completely smashed the record and we still have another week and a half to go.  vkauri@thespec.com   (Well, aren’t we the over-achievers?!)

9.  And, look at all the Loveliness…