On The River

A day on the river is the best medicine Mother Nature has stashed in her considerable medicine chest.  Every part is stimulated by the sights, sounds and smells. Light dances with the water as it twists and turns it’s way through the rocks and slips though the crevices, tumbling into deep pools only to rise again the color changing continuously as it travels on its way.

The reflection of the tree lined shore on the water paints a mural of its own. The smells of the evergreens and the sounds of the wind blowing through the poplar trees gently erases the day-to-day issues that can be forgotten right here and right now.

Time stands still as you watch the midge flies dance on the water, could that be a big brown trout laying in that deep-water washout under that overhanging rock?

The osprey are fishing the shallow waters a sight I never tire of. Their mastery of the aerial art of fishing is spectacular and it’s impossible not to cheer silently when they make the dive to rise from the water successful. The water sprays off his wings as he heads off with his bounty to feed his family.   Beavers are busy at the river’s edge falling trees to build his lodge and stockpile the food necessary for the winter month when the river is white and still.

The shadows shift again and everything changes, a pair of noisy ravens fly overhead warning of a human intruder on the river. The chickadees, and jays flit from branch to branch and all is right with the world. A loud crack in the bush quickly breaks the solitude as you are on alert for some of the larger more predatory animals that frequent the waters edge only to see a moose enter the water upstream for a drink of water.

The day is turning to dusk and as it gets dark in the mountains very quickly it’s time to pack up and head home.  Already thinking about your next adventure, the next river and the peace you have been given.