An Enchanted Winter Escape

I confess that I am one of those people who loudly complains of the heat here in Arizona during our long summer months.  Our short winter here is my "summer"!  It is a chance to explore areas here in the desert and really appreciate their magic and beauty.  Our Agua Caliente park is one of those and it is truly a desert oasis due to a miraculous natural spring.  (Miracle because it's water.) 

Here are some pictures that I took the week before I took my niece here for her fashion blog photos.  http://ispyfashiondiary.blogspot.com/  I love the forest of palm trees, friendly ducks floating everywhere, and notice the turtles!  Too cute!  And the believer in me is sure that there are fairies merrily hiding around every little nook and cranny, keeping a watchful eye on their beautiful home.  So for everyone out there in the cold...here is a little winter escape.

Enchanted Forests

It is still hot here in Arizona even though it is the end of September. I really do not deal with the heat very well. I dream of the day I can escape again to a cooler climate and take adventurous, magical hikes through a beautiful cool forest. I love the forest! It is on my list to get to the Redwood forest someday soon. With such giant-sized trees, I imagine I will get a chance to feel what it would be like to fairy-sized! Miniature in comparison. Watch this video I found on Youtube and imagine yourself in one of these majestic giants.

http://jerryandmarynorthtoalaska.blogspot.com/

The best memories I have of heavenly hikes through forests and nature are from my 2 years living in southeast Alaska. I was living in Haines which is part of the temperate rainforest that covers the inside passage of Alaska. Unfortunately I didn't have a digital camera back in 2000 and I don't have a scanner to show some of my own photos. So I found some from other travelers. This first picture is of the amazing flower called Fireweed. They grow in thick fields at least 6 feet tall! There was this gorgeous patch of Fireweed in the park of Haines where I lived. They had this little pathway carved out to walk through. So Beautiful.

Then from any number of spots around town you could step off the road onto a trail through the enchanted forests surrounding the town. I used to collect twigs and then tie or glue them into fairy-sized furniture. Some were doors. Then I tucked them into some of the nooks and hollows peeking out of the thick mossy carpet that billowed up from the forest floor.

For now I must just dream and imagine that I am there.  Somewhere cool, green, and rejuvinating.