More Than A Hike, An Education...

      Went for a hike yesterday to the top of Quarry Rock in Deep Cove with my friend Nicola and her seven year old daughter Lucy. When I first got to her place, they were eating breakfast on the front deck. 

      I hadn't seen Lucy in a while (maybe a year) and in the past encounters with her she was usually quite shy around me. This morning, however, she looked at me after I sat down and said, "He looks different, mum." To which Nicola replied with something like, "His, name is Dan and what do you mean, different ?"

      Fearing the worst because kids can be so dang honest I braced myself for the answer. Lucy simply said, "He has a different watch on." Maybe she decided to exercise a little diplomacy from her original thought but I felt a mild sense of relief, a dodging of the proverbial bullet. Nic seemed to think that was an unusual question and asked her what kind of watch I had on last time to which Lucy replied, "I don't remember." Hmmm.

      Next Lucy asked me if I wanted to see her wood bug farm.... heck ya I do. She had taken these bugs and put them in a tupperware container with some lettuce and a hunk of wood. As I watched her sprinkle water on them she told me that there were babies. Lucy lifted up the piece of wood to show me and there they were, eggs, babies and a whole lot of wood bugs. I think I said, "Cool."-- lame I know but it's all I could come up with, I'd never seen a wood bug farm before. 

       She then asked me if I wanted to see the fairy house-- fairy house? Are you kidding me? We made our way up this small trail in the forest behind their place and there it was, a tiny wooden house where the fairies live. Unfortunately for me they weren't home at the time-I think they were out gathering huckleberries because that's what fairies eat.

      Anyway the hike was excellent, the view of  Deep Cove was unbelievable and I found out a little bit about wood bugs and fairies.