jeanne

“sy AM an inveterate pedestrian. I walk daily for pleasure,
exercise and control of the waistline. But mostly for
pleasure. For health of both body and mind there is nothing

to beat pedestrianism.”’

So begins Nature Diary of 2

Quiet Pedestrian, a book in which

- close observations of the changing
seasons in West Vancouver mix
with sketches and watercolors of
the scenery, plants and creatures
encountered upon the 2uthor’s dai-
ly walks.

Nazure Diary was written by the
late Philip Croft, a longtime West
Vancouver resident who also wrote
a book on the history of color
photography and ‘helped to il-
lustrate Nature West Coast. and
Exploring the Seashore in British
Columbia, Washington and
Oregon. coe

The diary, which was completed
shortly before Croft’s death in
1985, not only spans an entire year
of ‘natural occurrences in West
Vancouver, it is also peppered with
Croft’s philosophical observations,

historical notes on the wildlife he .

encounters and such tidbits from
“the rest of his life as the “pif-
flesnorker”’ with .which he and
friend Humphrey, each sporting a
‘red rose, would religiously toast
St. George every April 23.
--Croft,. an engineer by profes-
*- sion, was also a Past Master of the
King David Masonic Lodge in
West Vancouver.

PHILIP CROFT ... Inte West
Vancouver resident and author of
Nature Diary of a Quiet Pedestri-
an.

Nature’ Diary was published by
Harbour Publishing Co. Ltd.,
Madeira Park, B.C.

The closest entry to today’s date
is for Oct. 8:

“This appears to be the time
when the Red Cedars divest
themselves of their spent leaves,
which for some time now have

nm hanging rather prettily, cin-

namon-brown in color, among the
newer green growth of these great
conifers.

“Each dead twig, with its flat
display of withered leaves, is loose-
ly attached to the axil of a
recently-formed new twig, and
detact!:<.itself at the proper mo-
ment ‘ty fall silently to the ground.
But last night’s wind and rain has
brought them down in great quan-
tity, and the area around the
cedar-trees, including the two large
ones outside my front dcor, is
pleasant to walk upon, but messy
to clean up when putting our
garden to bed for the winter.

“But today the weather is con-
ducive to indoor pursuits, pleasant
hours at the drawing board with
paper, pencils, water colors, and

brushes. Today also, my Constant

Compazion and I are celebrating
fifty-four happy years of constan-
cy and companionship, and an
evening by a fire of fragrant
alder-logs and a bottle of good
wine will provide a good environ-
ment in which to await the return
of good weather which is promised
for tomorrow.”’

15 - Sunday, October 9, 1988 — West Vancouver Villager

_ A year in the life of a West Vancouver
- pedestrian is captured in nature diary

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ILLUSTRATIONS .on this page
were among the many drawn by
Philip Croft for his book Nature
Diary of a Quiet Pedestrian. The
mushrooms are White Ivocybe, the
yellow-jacket wasp is easily recog-
nizable, and the inch-worm-like
‘creature at the top of the page is
one of the incarnations of the

-Winter Moth.

Swiss Sports Haus
490 15th Street.
. West Vancouver ©. .
Phone 922-9107. ~