We took a hike in the Whiteshell today. It wasn't going to rain there, so that's why we picked it. And then it was maybe going to rain, only 60% chance and only in the evening, or maybe late afternoon? We’d be gone anyway. Basically, we tried to plan an outing on a hot day, with cooling water at a location where there would not be rain. Largely, we succeeded. The Whiteshell is stunning and full of sapphire blue lakes.

We ate a picnic lunch, doused ourselves in mosquito spray and took a hike to the rapids. We looped back on another trail clambering over the rock surfaces of the Canadian Shield and met hikers. The views were very pretty. Our puppy is an eager hiker.

We came home and the boys were put in the bath, I washed myself clean of mosquito spray and made supper while drinking beer. The stuff we’d packed was put away, everyone was clean and supper was ready: that creamy bacon and shell pasta recipe we like.

We take a day, make an adventure, and when there are so many bugs, when the dog meets nose to nose with another dog whose owners have thought it was unnecessary to put theirs on a leash, when my son has tears because a bloodsucker has attached itself to his foot and when the scenery is best appreciated fleetingly because of the bugs, again, so many bugs, it's all fine by me if it means I can be home in time to prepare supper and eat it in clean skin.

My appreciation for nature has an eight hour limit.