THE BEAVER

           The last post described a visit that was on the bridge for  good beaver watching. This year a beaver dam has gone in about 60m from the walking bridge over the creek. It's a popular place for people to meet. Most of the time people are there watching for the two beavers. This is where I met the Ukrainian couple and last night I visited with  man from New Zealand. 

         A large dam has been constructed. I think now they are storing food. On a stream like this they tunnel into the bank to make their lodge. So I thought, why not do a post on beavers? 

       

                                        I walk this path almost everyday

Around a bend and you see a foot bridge.

And a little closer and you find a fine bridge. The bridge makes for a great  viewing stand. You look down about 3 m to the water surface. 

And what do you know, Mr Beaver comes along.

This is by far the largest beaver I have ever seen.

                                  The water backs up 400 to 500 m.

                               

                       And every fine outing has to end so I'm on my way back home. 

A GOOD WALK

      A long time ago, a blogger I followed said, "A good walk is an excellent opportunity for photos." That has worked for me many times. Now I rarely carry my camera. 

     I try to go for a walk every evening. My walk is usually in the 4000 to 5000 step category.

   I meet quite a few people and their dogs. Most nights I have one or two good visits. 

   My walk today was special. I met a Ukrainian couple who are doing quite well here but still struggling with things. They are both computer programmers. He had just lost his job but is hopeful he will find another job. 

   After a slow start to the conversation, it picked up. They were practicing their English with me. They found that as an older person I spoke slowly and was easy to understand. For them, younger people speak too fast and use more slang.

     They like the beautiful area here. We were standing on a foot bridge watching a beaver go back and forth under us. 

     So I get to learn about some of their culture. I try and tell them that my ancestors, although they were German, came from the Ukraine. I'm not sure that they understand that. All my ancestors spoke German and Russian when they came here and some spoke Ukrainian. 

    So it was a quiet pleasant evening for a good walk. 

WORLD CHOCOLATE DAY

       Today is a day I really like. Or in other words , I like chocolate. World Chocolate day is thought to celebrate the introduction of chocolate into Europe in 1550.

     There are several other days celebrating chocolate. 

     National chocolate day is a U.S. date celebrated Oct 28. 

    Candy makers have a day designated to celebrate chocolate. 

    So I like chocolate but there's no chocolate in the house to celebrate with. 

    I hope you will find some chocolate to celebrate World chocolate day. 

PEACEFUL SUMMER EVENING

       I've commented many times on how much I love the long daylight hours we have here. 

      There's more to it than that. We get to be outside and enjoy long evenings. Now each evening has it's own characteristics. Many times the wind doesn't go down until just before sunset. We get to see some interesting sunsets. 

     What I really like are those very calm evenings. It seems that people follow a schedule throughout the year and they are not out in the evening. So it's quiet. No people on the street! Very few cars. So with the coming of sunset the day seems to quietly wind down. 

    So on June 30 I decided to go out just before 10 PM and see if I could catch the peaceful evening. When I looked at the photos, it surprised me at how light it was. 

    So here there's little activity in the evenings even if it's light. However, in the Arctic it as different. We had sun up for 24 hours a day. People were active at any time of the day. I met some of my students out at 4 AM. Inuit got up to hunt at any time to take advantage of the tide to go out of the bay. One teacher got mixed up with time and came to school just before 9 Pm. She got teased for a long time. 

HAPPY CANADA DAY

      I have never gone out and attended a Canada Day celebration. Yes, I know I'm bad. I have attended the fireworks in the evening. I would take my family to a good vantage point and watch fireworks. It was fun when the kids were little.

     So, today I was doing my regular grocery shopping. Yes, that's me . Grocery shopping on Canada Day.   

     I met an Asian woman with three little kids doing her shopping. 

      She had a three year old who was bouncing with great abandon. That kid had energy. 

    I noticed out of the corner of my eye that the seven year old had a tiny Canadian flag and he was holding it up. I realized that he was saying Happy Canada Day. I wished him Happy Canada Day and I got the politest  "Thankyou" I've ever received. 

     The five year old girl had a pink birthday hat on. I asked her if it was her birthday and she said it was. I wished her happy birthday and also received a very sincere thankyou.

     This really made my Canada Day. 

    It was better than fire works.