Wild roses and wolf willow blossoms caress my senses with their fragrance,
as the lake water laps lovingly against the rocks along the shoreline below
the trail.
A delicate yellow cactus flower peers out between the weeds, a gold nugget
waiting to be discovered.
Between the sagebrush, antelope brush and ponderosa pine on the hillsides,
the outcropping of volcanic rock tells its timeless tales of upheaval and
subsequent peace.
Here everything is as it should be.
Looking up at the clear blue sky, I catch sight of vapor trails from
airliners headed somewhere I would never want to be. Cars whiz along the
highway on the opposite shore of the lake. Joggers and cyclists rush by me
on the trail.
Everything is right here; where are they all going?
—
© Gerry Busch, 2009
Photo: Okanagan Trail, © Gerry Busch, 2010
Author’s Note
“Wolf willow” is our local term for the silverberry bush, and “antelope brush” is greasewood.