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Temperate Rainforest

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Forest Near Tofino on Vancouver Island, BC

Until I saw it with my own eyes, I did not know there was such a thing as a temperate rain forest. They are relatively rare, but you can find them in the Pacific Northwest and even in the Eastern Appalachians. Basically, they have an average temperature range between 39° and 54° Fahrenheit (4° and 12° Celsius) and are characterized by annual precipitation over 50 inches, dense canopies, and a proliferation of ferns, lichens, and mosses.

My encounter with one such temperate rain forest was close to the Vancouver Island town of Tofino. I was able to take a guided hike through it and take pictures.

Notice the Large Spider Web

Walking through the woods, I was reminded of my mother’s made-up fairy tales, which were always set in a sötét erdő (dark forest) and involved a tündérléány (fairy princess). I was walking not only through an actual forest but the land of my childhood dreams.

Fairy Tales

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Reading Fairy Tales Is Good For You!

Reading Fairy Tales Is Good For You!

This evening, I started reading a sale book I had downloaded onto my Kindle 2: It was Neil Gaiman’s Odd and the Frost Giants. I did not know it was a children’s book, or a fairy tale, but it was set in that twilight world of the Vikings and their Asatru gods. It was probably the best thing I could have read on this grim day of endlessly analyzing the investments of our largest client. I highly recommend it, as I recommend all fairy tales … because they help one do things that are extraordinary.

Years ago, there were published in England a series of fairy tale books edited by Andrew Lang. There were twelve of them in all, and all were identified by a color: Blue, Red, Green, Yellow, Pink, Grey, Violet, Crimson, Brown, Orange, Olive, and Lilac. All twelve are now in the public domain and available in cheap illustrated editions from Dover Publications. You can find them (along with other of Lang’s books) by clicking here and checking out the two pages that follow.

I own all twelve of the Lang books and frequently pick one up to read a fairy tale or two. Why should kids have all the fun?