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Ascending

The Mole had been working very hard all the morning, spring- cleaning his little home. First with brooms, then with dusters; then on ladders and steps and chairs, with a brush and a pail of whitewash; till he had dust in his throat and eyes, and splashes of whitewash all over his black fur, and an aching back and weary arms. Spring was moving in the air above and in the earth below and around him, penetrating even his dark and lowly little house with its spirit of divine discontent and longing.

Today I was the Mole.

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It was small wonder, then, that he suddenly flung down his brush on the floor, said ‘Bother!’ and ‘O blow!’ and also ‘Hang spring-cleaning!’ and bolted out of the house without even waiting to put on his coat. Something up above was calling him imperiously, and he made for the steep little tunnel which answered in his case to the gravelled carriage-drive owned by animals whose residences are nearer to the sun and air.

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So he scraped and scratched and scrabbled and scrooged and then he scrooged again and scrabbled and scratched and scraped, working busily with his little paws and muttering to himself, ‘Up we go!

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Up we go!
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Up we go!
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Till at last, pop! his snout came out into the sunlight, and he found himself rolling in the warm grass of a great meadow.

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‘This is fine!’ he said to himself. `This is better than whitewashing!’ The sunshine struck hot on his fur, soft breezes caressed his heated brow, and after the seclusion of the cellarage he had lived in so long the carol of happy birds fell on his dulled hearing almost like a shout.

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In case you’re wondering, this Mole is standing on Quarry Rock in Deep Cove and now must descend to her car, which is way down there; just behind the sailing club.

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Happy Earth Day my friends. πŸ™‚

Comments: 15

  • April 22, 2013
    reply

    Hi Veronica,

    I think we drive through here on the way to Whistler?? It’s gorgeous. I enjoyed your story πŸ™‚ The sunlight feels so good. I was out doing a little yard work for the first time all year. Forecast is around 60 for a couple days πŸ™‚ Yes!

    xxleslie

  • April 22, 2013
    reply

    Fantastic!

  • April 23, 2013
    reply

    Loved it! The pictures are beautiful.

  • April 23, 2013
    reply

    Fantastic! It’s always lovely to get a little warmth on your fur after a long, chilly winter. πŸ˜‰

  • Catherine Llewellyn

    April 23, 2013
    reply

    aaaaahhhh!!!! lovely X

  • Jo

    April 23, 2013
    reply

    What a wonderful trek with “mole”. It was breathtakingly gorgeous!!! How lucky you are to have a cabin in the area.

  • April 29, 2013
    reply

    Excellent Celebration of Earth Day!! Thank you for that scent of pine and lake πŸ™‚

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