Alex Larose introduced me to the fine art of java 1994, in a squat rat-infested student house in Ottawa’s Sandy Hill neighbourhood, at the edge of the University of Ottawa. Alex was a professional clown with great accessories and appliances. There was a ’74 Caddy hearse in the driveway, two helium balloon tanks beside the tarantula cage, and an intimidating stainless steel coffee machine on the counter. The household was made up of a quirky German exchange student engineer, my obsessive little sister, and a hairdresser in the closet. I had moved in temporarily on a cot by the furnace in the basement, steps from the grow-op, pending my departure…

In Ottawa, Spring is a cool couple of days in mid-April. Last week we had snow. Today it’s 28C. One tulip is about to bloom in my front garden. It’s alone in the patch, the reluctant scout not sure it’s the right time to assert the colours. Maybe it’s afraid of being first, of getting picked, or of being frozen in the inevitable weather rebound. This is the capital of Canada, after all.

“My profession is to be always on the alert to find God in nature, to know His lurking places, to attend all the oratories, the operas, in nature. To watch for, describe, all the divine features which I detect in Nature.” – Henry Thoreau Take a nature tour of Walden Hill in PEI. 47 photos, taken in June 2001, species identified (when possible) with the help of Gary Schneider of the MacPhail Woods Project in PEI.