Threshold

“ What’s comin’ will come, an’ we’ll meet it when it does.” – Hagrid, from Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire

Mid-winter is revealing more of its beauty these days, the clear blue sky often awash in layered brushstrokes of rose as the sun moves from east to west. January has now passed into February in a flurry of stunning vistas – the mountains still retaining their snow-capped ice cream white, with the forest burnished hazel by the golden sun and the sea shining ice blue. There have been days where long johns and tights are de rigueur reminding me of childhood winters but thankfully winter’s kink has uncovered sunny spots of daffodils and delicate white snowdrops, whetting one’s appetite for spring.

The air is filled with the scent of sea and winter cold as I make my way down to the seawall – the damp sand of the beaches peppered with scattered prints of canine and human alike. Crashing waves accompany me and I’m greeted with a larger than life dandelion shaped cloud in the sky spreading ever outwards as if connecting the land to sea.

Drifting tendrils of the dandelion shaped cloud against the winter sky at Second Beach (Vancouver, B.C.).

Another facet of winter’s beauty are sunset walks on the seawall – bathed in light that seems to intensify each step, casting the landscape in shadow while leaving a smoky haze of vermilion in the sky. The modern skyline calls to mind a cluster of medieval castles, their ancient dark shapes rising from the cold, green forest. Above the seawall, a large bush of impossibly vibrant holly berries glow a fiery scarlet leaving their dull orange colour behind. I find myself sitting on a bench with kaleidoscope eyes trying to capture images on scraps of paper to be wrestled with later into a line or two.

Nature’s subtle magic has captured my imagination yet again, a soothing balm bringing hope to a weary heart – there is fear and ugliness to behold if we choose to pay them any mind, it’s far better to cross the threshold and walk a different path. We don’t have to ask the man who walks barefoot no matter the weather, his white grin says it all! So I will continue to walk the liminal plane no matter the terrain because what will come, will come.

A winter shot of the wooden bridge near Lost Lagoon (Vancouver, B.C.). There is a lot of beaver activity in the area resulting in flooding!

Overlooking Third Beach at Ferguson Point in Stanley Park (Vancouver, B.C.) with the mountains in the background.

A winter shot of English Bay showing tree, sky and ocean (Vancouver, B.C.).