It is March and I feel spring in the air! Crocuses and other flowers are blossoming. I can lie in the warm sand on the beach or hike on trails through the lush coastal rain forest of British Columbia. My love of nature is rewarded on the Sunshine Coast near Vancouver. In other places in Canada, people have to dig out their houses from snow banks or stay home because another snow storm is in the works. But here in Gibsons, the birds are already nesting.
I once read a scientific study about how being outdoors stimulates the brain. Walking along the beach or in the forest triggers sparks of inspiration and new astonishing thoughts emerge seemingly from nowhere. When I hit a snag with a plot in a murder mystery, it is often solved beween giant ferns or while I am watching sea lions (for instance).
