I wrote about the wonders of Mother Nature a few years ago, but during a couple of short rambles with Andy over the last few months, it hit me again just how marvellous she is.

One such ramble was on a lovely sunny day in June this year when he took me to Valley de Santiago.  This is a very fertile valley where not so much is grown as in years gone by, but they still grow vines, potatoes, corn and other vegetable crops.  So, our walk started on the outskirts of farm land but then we took a track just off the road which was like a little English country path.  It was a gravel/loose shale path with grasses and wild flowers on the verges.  We saw red poppies, opium poppies, a couple of blue poppies, daisies, Canarian dandelions, and many other wild flowers.  Of course, these were really attracting bees, butterflies, moths and many other flying insects.  We saw many of the native lizards which scurried underneath rocks as we disturbed their little lives and I caught a brief glimpse of a little mouse which also did a runner as I approached.

Another memorable ramble was in the rain forest in Teno.  Andy knows I love a rain forest! It must be the romantic in me but walking through this eerie landscape really sends my imagination into overdrive.  In places, the forest was partially blanketed in a fine mist which I often refer to as my chiffon scarf.  Lichens carpeted the forest floor and tree trunks, and mosses hung from branches, and dry leaves crunched underfoot.   Was there someone following me? No, it was only my imagination but it could have been the setting for a ghost movie!

These two rambles demonstrate two of the extremes of mother nature; the beauty and the beast.   The beauty being clear blue skies and pretty late spring flowers, and the beast of the spooky forest.  I wonder if it is haunted?