Yesterday was Earth Day and, lo and behold, Spring sprung in Southern Ontario. The previous Sunday we huddling inside, waiting for the power to fail. Yesterday we could enjoy mid-teen temperatures and trust that Winter was in the rear-view mirror.
We tied our canoe on the roof of our vehicle and headed twenty minutes north of Belleville to a put-in for the Moira River. There were some other canoeists at the landing but we headed south while they paddles north. We knew our destination, an area of maple swamp that is flooded sufficiently to navigate because of the Spring run-off. We found our way through this area and into another stream which virtually dries up by early Summer.
We did pause in the trees, both coming and going, and just listened. It was so calm that the mirror images of trees was stunning. Nearby a Pileated woodpecker pounded insistently, like someone rapping on a door in the dead of night to wake a friend. We heard ducks and frogs and red-winged blackbirds in a wonderful chorus. A turtle slowly emerged onto a log and a kingfisher skirted past us. Even though there wasn't a leaf in sight and no green anywhere the promise of new life was all around us.
Being on the water, away from other humans and human-created sounds was a blessing on this Earth Sunday. I hope you were able to venture out yesterday as well and bask in Creation.
No comments:
Post a Comment