Steve`s Country
For a smile as wide as a country sunrise
A Walk By The River. Part 3.
Hello everyone on this beautiful July day. Beautiful in some ways. Not so beautiful in other ways. This morning smoke rolled into our town. Heavy, thick smoke, like a thick fog. From forest fires. There are 28 fires burning, 12 are not under control. They are not close to us however. But that can change. Quickly. One year some careless people were not watching their campfire. What damage can a small campfire do? It was a windy day. In one week that small campfire destroyed 50,000 hectares of forest. That’s a lot of damage from a small campfire.
I better stop. I could write an entire post on that subject. But today we are finishing the river walk. Too bad it took so long to find out about this beautiful spot. But I’m glad to find out at least. After my little incident with the slipping rock, I decided to find a nice spot to sit and relax for a while and just enjoy the remarkable scenery around me. Once I found a good spot to sit I noticed my friendly pelican had moved away from shore a bit so I took a couple more pictures of it. Looked so nice and bright white bobbing along on the water.
The water here is sometimes much higher than it is now. You can see the high water mark on the rock along the shore. It could be another 8 feet higher with water. That’s a lot of water. That would be at times in the spring when they have to let a lot of water through the dam. That would be quite interesting to see from this vantage point. Right now it looks so calm. A person’s cares could easily float away downstream on a day like this.
The merganser family is staying around too. Just amazing how those little critters can so easily swim around in that terrible current. Those little legs and feet are moving incredibly fast. No wonder they want turns on the mother’s back. Must be tiring for them.
This is a large and beautiful river. This is the Winnipeg River which winds its way to Lake Winnipeg which is Canada’s 6th largest lake. The Winnipeg River can be up to 2km wide in places and has many islands of various sizes along the way. But right here it is very nice. It would be a wonderful spot for a picnic and enjoy the amazing scenery while eating. The many species of birds in the area produce a constant chorus of song for everyone’s listening pleasure.
Plus all the fantastic variety of wild flowers. From the tiny wood sorrel to the larger ladyslippers and wood lilies. Plus wild roses which have such a wonderful scent. It would take a whole post to list all the flowers that can be found here. But I guess it’s time to leave once again. So I pick up my camera and start on the trail back to the beginning.
But I shall return again with camera in hand to hopefully capture some more wildlife in this beautiful spot. Perhaps even that eagle. Until then, I hope you all enjoy your weekend and God bless!
Steve and Muffin.
© 2019 Steve McLeod.
A Walk By The River. Part 2.
Hello everyone on another sunny day here at Steve’s Country. We did have a bit of rain overnight and there must have been thunderstorms in the area. Muffin sensed it and hid under the bed. I didn’t hear any thunder. But I will trust her anytime. And this morning the temperature was only 13C. That’s only about 55.5F. That is way too cool for July, even in this cold climate. Oh well. I hope that doesn’t mean something. The main thing is, the sun is shining. But you know, if we look at things right, the sun is always shining. Just sometimes we can’t see it, that’s all.
Okay, back to the river for part 2 of our walk this week. From the initial location, which was so beautiful in itself, I turned to the right to follow the trail alongside the river. I didn’t get far when I spotted a large white bird on the water. A white pelican. I have been wanting to get a picture of a pelican for some time now. Finally. Got one. Actually, more than one. It was a little far away, but I am happy with it for now. It’s always so nice to get a picture of something different.
I kept going. I wanted to see if I could get a picture of our dam from here. Sure enough, there it was. I couldn’t see the whole thing though. The trail ends at that spot. Nothing but steep sloped ground ahead. It’s the only way to get a picture of the whole dam though. But it’s something to do next time.
I decided to come back a bit to a nice spot I saw, just to sit, relax and enjoy the view across the river for a while. It is just so calm and peaceful here. People need to get out more often and enjoy nature. If you live in a town or city and can’t make it to a country location, there usually is parks and other green spaces that you can go to and just relax for a while. Enjoy the beauty of the trees, bushes, flowers. Listen to the birds singing. Watch them as they fly about. Breathe in that beauty folks. Stress, worry, anxiety will fly away quickly. Allow that beauty to come in. Think about it for a while. Enjoy it. Feast on it. Stress can’t hang around long when we are doing that.
As I was sitting I saw a duck coming along the shore with her babies. Fantastic. I have been waiting for an opportunity like this. It is a common merganser. Amazing how those little ducklings can swim in that fast current. Though I noticed they were taking turns riding on mom’s back. Need a break now and then I guess. I got some pictures but was hoping for something even better. So I decided to try and get ahead of them. I got as low as I could and started across this big rock outcropping. I thought it was a good idea. But I slipped. And there was nothing to hold onto. And nothing but deep water and terrible current below me. I kept sliding as I desperately tried to stop myself. It was kind of a steep sloping rock.
Finally I stopped. A couple feet above the water. There was some little ridges on the rock at that point which helped. If I had gone into the river, well, no more Steve. I would have been gone very fast. But I managed to move slowly sideways until I reached a spot where I could jump off to safety. Scared the ducks too. Oh well. I did get some good pictures anyway. Really, I knew I shouldn’t have gone across that rock, but it was quicker and quieter than going around. Sometimes I tend to take chances. Never usually works out so good. Well, I guess sometimes it works. But I think I need to be a bit more careful.
That’s all for today folks. I hope you enjoyed part 2 of my river walk. Yes, part 3 will be coming. I hope you all have a great day and God bless!
Steve and Muffin.
© 2019 Steve McLeod.
