Radically Retired

Category: Nature

  • Late Greens

    Late Greens

    My Sept 09 post featured a bridge photo framed by foreground shrubs in their autumn colours.

    The scene in that photo is the exception this year, and you’ll notice that beyond the bridge, the trees are still quite green.

    I caught today’s feature photo about 20 minutes before the one of the bridge.

    Today’s photo demonstrates how the late August and early September rains in this area, along with mild temperatures, have largely delayed the turning of the leaves.

    Usually, by this time of year, autumn is in its full show regalia of yellows, golds, reds, and oranges.

    I love the green because it gives the feeling of extended summer and possibly delayed frost.

    An unfortunate thing about the extended summer appearance is that our farmers are struggling to get the crops in and the fields that were swathed but not yet combined are losing quality by the day.

    What looked to be an upcoming bumper crop (our way of saying a huge and high grade yield), in many cases will be lucky if it meets feed grade.

    Agriculture is one of the main drivers of our economy, so if our farmers suffer, so do we all.

    We also have many friends and family members who farm. It’s their livelihood, so we truly feel for them in a year such as this.

  • A Tad Wet

    A Tad Wet

    Yesterday’s Labour Day rainfall here was intense, causing extreme flooding throughout our prairie city.

    When I went to our balcony windows to watch the torrential downpour, I spied this fellow taking shelter under the eves of our garage.

    From the looks of him, I guessed that he was flooded out of his warren.

    He stayed in position for over two hours, which is very unusual for rabbits.

    I watched him clean and preen his paws, ears, and nose.

    Finally, he was looking dry, fluffy and healthy again.

    Shot with my new Moment 240 mm tele lens over iPhone camera’s 2x optical lens for a total of 8x optical zoom
  • I Won’t Ask

    I Won’t Ask

    On a recent daybreak walk, I noticed that our city’s historical court house (built in 1928 and designated as a provincial heritage property) was nicely framed on two levels by the foreground trees.

    There was no traffic at that time of day, so I felt safe to inch back and forth on the middle of the street, trying to get a balanced shot of the framing of both the main entrance with its front lawn fountain and the central cupola at the top.

    Unfortunately, the unruly tree branches didn’t fully cooperate for the photo I saw in my mind’s eye, but this was the closest one of several attempts.

    I wonder if the city maintenance crew would trim those branches on the left a bit for me.

    It’s fun to imagine that I could be so influential for the sake of a photograph, but no, I won’t ask.

  • Sometimes Nasty

    Sometimes Nasty

    Blue green is one of my favourite colours except when it applies to the type of algae on the river that meanders lazily through our prairie city.

    I still enjoy my early morning power walks on the trails and paths alongside the Souris River.

    I’m just not enjoying the views as much now that the annual algae bloom has set in.

    The Souris (turns into the Mouse River in North Dakota) is very shallow here. As a result, a rainy summer (which washes nutrients from nearby fields into the river) followed by heat in excess of 30°C (86°F) for an extended period, and an unusual zero wind for weeks on end, makes for perfect conditions for an extreme algae bloom.

    And blooming it is! This year, in places, the algae mat is so thick it looks like a wrinkled carpet.

    The next photo shows opposite sides of one of the bridges I walk across on my trails.

    It must get trapped under the bridge for a bit before it moves on

    Blue green algae is toxic to pets and livestock and the usual big flocks of ducks and geese have chosen elsewhere to have their last summer swims before making their way to warmer climes for the winter months.

    Thankfully, our drinking water supply isn’t sourced from the mighty and currently nasty Souris.

  • Friday Freestyling … Reflection Perfection

    Friday Freestyling … Reflection Perfection

    On recent morning walks, there has been virtually zero wind. This is a rarity in these parts.

    Besides adding to the comfort and the peacefulness of my morning power walks, the reflections on the river have been outstanding.

  • Read My Sign … Bye-Bye Pesky Gophers

    Read My Sign … Bye-Bye Pesky Gophers

    We’ve been overrun the past few years, and it’s to a point where they’re destroying crops and campgrounds.

    This fella didn’t get the memo.

  • Happiness Is … Spring at Last

    Happiness Is … Spring at Last

    Happiness landed firmly this past week, as more and more signs of spring appeared on my walking trails.

    The showy flowers on the Dwarf Russian Almond shrub in my feature photo made me smile.

    Caraganas are also finally kicking out their masses of yellow blossoms now. These blossoms always bring back happy memories of my childhood home.

    Caragana

    Everything is showing signs of life and rejuvenation after a cooler, dryer, and windier than usual May.

    Striped Squill

    The grass alongside our many trails is greening up, and the trees will soon be completely leafed out.

    Even the dandelions are a welcome sight!

  • There’s Dirt in the Air!

    There’s Dirt in the Air!

    Starting on Thursday this past week, an extreme low pressure system arrived here from the west.

    With it came winds with sustained velocity of 75 Km/h (46.6 mph) and gusts to over 100 Km/h (62.14 mph)

    We had mistakenly left our windows open after the night, and within a couple of hours of the wind starting, hubs mopped up enough dust from the floor, that it looked like the floor hadn’t been mopped in years.

    Winds aren’t uncommon here on the Canadian prairies and we’ve had tornadoes in Saskatchewan almost every summer for as long as I can remember, but this wasn’t that.

    It put me to mind of what it must have been like in the “dust bowl” of the “dirty thirties”. I can’t imagine dealing with something like this for a decade. Two days was plenty long enough.

    Hubs and I had to go out (to purchase a fan of all things) and I could feel and taste the dirt in my mouth long after returning home.

    My feature photo was sent to me by a dear friend. This was their farm yard on Thursday and that’s their topsoil in the air in the distance. They had just finished seeding that field.

  • Spring Has Sprung

    Spring Has Sprung

    On my most recent morning walk, signs of spring were finally evident.

    Greening grass
    and Canada Geese everywhere
    Red Winged Blackbirds are back
    (Robins too but I couldn’t catch one)
    Buds are opening

    This time of year brings the promise of summer, especially along the hiking/walking/biking trails and it always brings to mind the little verse I learned in my childhood:

    Spring has sprung

    The grass is riz

    I wonder where the birdies is

    The birdy’s on the wing

    Now isn’t that absurd

    ‘Cause everybody knows

    That the wing is on the bird

  • Happiest Places

    Happiest Places

    After walking the same six streets over and over again in our south Texas park for the past six months, I’m loving being back to our walking/biking/hiking trails here at home in Sask, Canada.

    There’s just something about the trees getting ready to leaf out, the fresh air, the river, the variety of trails, and the familiarity of home that makes my morning walks here at home so peaceful, meaningful, enjoyable, and special.

    The winding trails are always inviting
    Bridges over the Souris River are plentiful and varied in design
    Our city does a great job of path management and maintenance
    The river views from the many bridges are always peaceful and grounding
    One of the many bridges on this trail – one day I’ll make a post about all of them
    You always wonder what’s around the next bend

    Do you have a place that’s your happiest?