Hopeless Disaster Strikes Again

AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

I think I'm going to get out of the blogging buisness. I think I just killed my new old URL. Sigh.

Anyway, going to go and try and figure it out

Jenn

Haiku

Humid warmth - dog's breath
Gasping soup-thick air, singed lungs
Heave deeply to fill

Showering rain, cool balm
Brown withered grass softens, greens -
Wet earth smell revives

Chomped viburnum leaves
Curl inwards to shelter from beasts -
Small, toothed monsters

Raiding raccoons thump
Drunkenly up the drain spout -
Rooftop ruckus wakes

Libary computers
Banks upon banks in cool room
Tempted by coffee

Uh - so there we go - best pictures I can post for now

Frustration

Well, I'm still located at the dyslexic URL. They say my old URL is available, but I'm having trouble reclaiming it. I supect they just locked everyone out to keep the spammers off - their main intention. My blog is really my problem, but I don't have time to advertise the new location, and I'm waiting and hoping I can just move it back.

Jenn

In the drink

I'm measuring flow in the Wilmot here in traditional Lakehead dress.

I apologize to anyone who actually manages to find my blog - which was highjacked while being backed up. I"m waiting to see if I get my old url back if not, I'm here for a while anyways.

Cheers,

Jennith

Problems and Fixit's

I'm not sure how my blog is showing up elsewhere, but I'm having trouble seeing the pictures here and they are on my computer already. I suspect that my blogspot space is nearing its limit and I'll may have to move to araska.org soon barring any catastrophes. Until then, things may be a bit quiet here, but I'll keep you posted on whichever and the rest as much as possible.

Cheers,

Jennith

Another Butterfuly

This (I believe) white admiral butterfly was one of many we saw in the Wilmot Watershed while hunting for lost and forgotten culverts and headwater streams. All in all it was a fun day and a chance to get out and try some new techniques. I'll have to look up that hydraulic head method and see if I can't cook up an easyier way to mark it.

Sunday we had a quick visit with my Grandma Pam who finally got to meet Gabe again. Then we headed off to the races with ominous clouds on one side and blue sky on the other. We turned North and the ominous clouds won dousing us with so much water that my windshield wipers could hardly keep up. When we got to the races we watched the first two races while my grandfather explained to me how to use the racing form. We were finally ready to bet on the third race (and did), but there had been so much rain that they cancelled all the other races except the 6th and 9th races. We decided not to wait it out, and went home to play Settlars of Catan - Knights and Cities with Geoff and Erin.

After the game, I managed to call most of the rest of my close relatives whom I hadn't spoke to in a few days including Uncle Stevie and Gramma and Chris. Then we went out to Swiss Chalet for supper (never a bad meal). After we went back, we stopped by my old house - because my brother had never seen it - and on a whim knocked on the door of my old next door neighbour who's been living there since I was 2 or 3. He was home and we had a great chat. His daughter's son is now done highschool and my grade-school friend Matt is all grown up and working for OPG. We used to cause havoc at the After School Program. I can't really imagine him as more than 10 years old. So life is old. Its good to randomly talk to people you've lost track of. Hopefully I'll manage to meet up with Chris B. soon for a game of settlers. (Chris you should remind me) and with Trudi for our long planned and muched delayed coffee session.

Cheers,

Jennith

The Difference of A Shift in View

You might accuse me of already posting this photo. I have posted a similar one, but this one is at a slightly differnet zoom and from a slightly different angle.. I just happen to like this one better. It was taken on Killarny Lake and you can see the mystery bird 2/3's of the way up the tree.

I guess you can say the same about philosphies and opinions. You don't have to change much to have a very different outlook.

Night,

Jennith 

Portage from Freeland to George Lake

Ummm... another perfect day.

Sunset on a Perfect Day

Okay - its hard to imagine a perfect day in town, but it was a good day.

I should point everyone to my brothers site to look at the amazing pictures they've been posting.

The cover of McLean's Magazine - which I haven't read any of yet - bears the ominous title of "World War 3". Certainly, the crisis in in Lebbanon is a frightening development in a series of Middle East/North African region conflicts. Perhaps, the title jars me because of the truth beneath it. No question that half the problems in the Middle East have been exacerbated by world wide meddling with the Americans and Russians cold war legacy high on the list and European and Multinational bussiness not far behind. I'm actually fairly ignorant of the situation, but I suspect that the little I know is but the tip of the iceberg of what I don't even want to know. This conflict bears little similarity to earlier wars this century - if you can even draw many parallels between the 1st and 2nd World War. But I guess this time most everyone has a finger in the pot and at the very least a stake in the oil supply. I guess this is not a good blab to put under the heading of perfect day - but I was refering to the day the photo was taken 3 weeks ago.

Aside from the disturbing headlines - today is a minty-herby day. A 25 cent herb sale at the superstore allowed me to pick up 12 pots of herbs including orange mint, pepper mint, chocolate mint, lemon thyme, green and purple sage, bee balm a maybe something else. Heck - I might go back for more - except that we don't have anywhere to plant them. My attempt at growing herbs from seed ended with no sucess - but this could be the beginning of a herb gardan - and the soil I picked up could make it possible to reseed the lawn.

Anywho, enough rambling.

Jennith

The Resiliance of Maples

Maples are nearly impossible to kill. I have attempted to "thin" the cohort of teenage maples that have sprung up on our property of their own accord over the last 20 years. Given the tools I have available - the best I can do is prune them to the ground. Unfortunately, they have all bounce back and suckered into life. Of course I was thrilled when many of the shrubs, particularly the grape vine, di this - in the case of the maples, it is becoming frustrating.

These are silver maples living near Orono, Ontario - not in my back yard. But the picture brought my own murderous toils to mind. Proof that I'm part forester at heart. Its always fun to impress people by differentiating between Norway and Sugar maple and explain what is going on. That said. I think I want a Ginko, they are pretty cool. A sort of status plant for biology students. My other garden plan is to buy some more mint seeds and try again. Maybe in a pot this time with all nice soil. Gardening is really quite fun.

Anywho,

I ramble.

Jennith

Cheers,

Jennith

Parents Spouting Everywhere

More correctly, I supose it would make more sense to describe babies as "spouting everywhere", however, I've mostly been talking to their mothers and sometimes fathers - so to me it seems that the parents are sprouting where there were none before. I supose it's more like metamorphosing - transforming into the diper-bag lugging, stroller discussing, picture taking, exhausted humans whom all of the symptoms are caused by having a child.

I guess it is just the age that I am, or at least my friends are that are causing this trend. I'm certainly not at that stage of my life -being still a student which results in lugging big bags of text books, drinking coffee and and also being stressed and exhausted.

So, here is at least one of the cute little critters that drool and poo and stuff. I scratch my head but they do make for great photos.

Jennith 

Dragonfly Artified

And if you play with picasa enough they even look cooler! 

Another Dragon

Dragonflies, according to Up North, once had wingspans of about 75 cm (2.5 ft). This one isn't small, but he's not the size of a small eagle either. He does look furocious (drat that isn't spelt right). Hey, I even wish my eyes were that colour. 

The Falls Return

These falls were included in an earlier photograph posted this spring. Here they are again on a sunny day from the bridge rather than the stream side. There were no kayakers this time, but the temperature was in the high 30's. Its mind boggling to consider the engineering in the Trent Severn waterway and I shudder to think how much the ecology of the lakes and rivers involved were changed by the introduction of locks and diversion of flow between basins. Still the falls are pretty and nature seems to have survived our meddling.

Cheers,

Jennith

Treearch

Thoughts for the day. . .

Well, one thing to point out is the inclusion of a cluster map on my blog. So far it isn't very exciting, but hopefully it'll change over the week.

I've been reading my brains out, trying to synthesis information into a field plan. My room, as a result, has the look of a post-slimer library (for those of you old enough to remember the ghost busters.)

Alex is whistling away in the background, loud enough that I can hear him upstairs. I really need to start doing yoga again - as I've become about as flexible as a ceramic dish and my legs keep cramping up when I try to run.

Otherwise, life is quiet.

Jennith 

Petroglyph Turtle

I can add Petroglyphs Provincial Park to my list of provincial parks visited this summer. This turtle was slowly making his way across the road so we had to stop and take pictures until he was out of the way of the 4 turtle mashers on my car.

I figure he was one of the inspirations for the artists chiseling 3 in deep carvings into marble 600-1100 years ago. Gabe kept imaging what it was like hiking through untamed woods filled with poison ivy in 30 degree weather and then chiping away at rocks. (It was 35 degrees there yesterday and wicked humid too.)

There are quite a few parks that I'd like to see, however many of them are quite far away. Kawartha highlands isn't open for business yet, but it looks exciting.

Cheers,

Jennith 

Prepare for Takeoff

I've always been fascinated by dragonflies. This one has the look of a fighter jet. I realize that I'm no where near the level of writing I hoped to achieve on this blog site - I simply don't have time to write the mini-essays that I had intended to originally on a regular basis.

Besides which, as a person who may be looking for employment in a year, it is unwise to express any opinions publically - so I'm a bit restrained in what I write and I feel even that could be judged. Not that I have any particularly radical opinions, I just don't dare express anything unequivically until I know what i'm allowed to admit to publically. Heck - I suspect it is unwise to say anything identifying online given that perfect strangers, some possibly malicious in intent, could read this at any time. So, between busyness and paranoia my hands are tied.

There, I think I just broke all the rules by writing that. But I ramble. . .and ungramatically at that.

Jenn 

Window View

 

Tying the Knot on a hot sunny day

I didn't catch the ministers name, but he deserves points for being a first rate wedding minister. He was serious at points, but mixed in a healthy dose humour and fatherly advice to the new couple with refreshing sincerity. Its also probably the first set of wedding pictures I've ever seen where most of the wedding party was wearing sunglasses. Of course they both look wonderful and in love.

Amanda took this picture during the ceremony owing to her isle seat.

JP 

A Good Old Barn Dance

Here is Amanda in the reception area before supper - note the day lillies and butterfly theme. 

A Butterfly Wedding

Our trip to Krista's wedding was awesome! It was great seeing Amanda again, not to mention Krista and Pam. It was a fun group of people. It was also one of the nicest wedding venues I've ever seen, held at her fathers place on a lake. They had a butterfly theme - and they let live monarchs free at the end. The colours were orange and purpole with daylillies as the main flower. Thanks to Krista for inviting me. 

Ooops, wrong lady bug picture

Red mantled Queen sits
Atop the Monarchs flowers
Awaiting dinner

Here is the one that didn't have a blurry bug 

Wilmot Creek

Here is a picture of the main stem of the Wilmot Creek. It is probably higher than normal in this picture given the recent dousing of torrential rain we had on the 10th and 12th (taken on the 13th).

The banks are well vegetated with plants I'm actually not familiar with and there are tonnes of birds and insects (including mosquites). The whole area is still fairly rural and quiet. Its a great little place to sit and read. 

Wilmot Check Your Watershed Day

Wilmot Creek is part of the Ganaraska Conservation Authorities area. I am volunteering as part of their Wilmot Check Your Watershed Day event which is a neat multi-partnered initiative to use local volunteers to gather watershed data. I went to the training event last night and met some of the neatest people. One gentleman had been living in the watershed since he was eight and took the time to point out all the coolest places in the watershed. Another was a teacher-camp counsellor-outdoor ed (probably girl guide leader type) who was just lots of fun and had her own neat stories. Not to mention the enthusiastic MNR guy and the local fisheries biologist who were both cool and knowledgeable.

So, here is the link to the Check Your Watershed Day brochure. If you are really keen, they may still be looking for a few more people (Wilmot is east of Oshawa though) It'll be a day of measuring small streams on back roads.

The picture above is a ladybug on milkweed flowers taken near a small park on Concession 5.

Cheers,

Jennith 

Alpine Lakes

Chill mountain waters
A vista of stunted trees
The short green days wane 

Alpine Meadows

There are few ecosystems as pleasant and breath-taking as alpine meadows with their amazing bright coloured flowers, pothole lakes and stunted trees. This was taken in sunshine meadows in Banff about 2 years ago. 

Cooler Places

With it being rediculously hot and humid I really wish I was here - although at the time I actually was here and taking this picture I was wearing leather girly sandals and walking on top of the columbia glacier - talk about cold feet.

My Uncle Stevie is probably the person who inspired me to take pictures. He used to travel to crazy places like ecuador and india - returning with fabulous photos of these amazing places - not to mention stories of people he met and so forth.

Cheers,

Jennith 

Classic Doe Lake Campfire Sunset

 

Sunrise Sunset - Doe Lake Girl Guide Camp

Sunset - I think the first Sunday that campers were there in July 2004 taken from Good Neighbours.

Found a neat looking site that I want to take a look at later on Saving Energy: http://www.energyhog.org/

If you are in to watershed or other modelling - here are the two best USACE sites:

http://www.hec.usace.army.mil/software/
http://chl.erdc.usace.army.mil/chl.aspx?p=s&a=Software!0

In other news - Liam is finishing up his chess tornament today. Way to Go Liam!!

Cheers,

Jennith 

Other places I wouldn't mind being

Kananaskis Country, powerful skies and a soon to be married fisherman - The beauty of the mountains is just breathtaking and they have fantastic rivers. Not a bad place for a photographer and an water resource engineer - except for the lack of Ocean in Alberta.

I'm in this kind of hyper-space that is racing in a zillion different directions, however - I suspect that bed is in the near future for me - long day tommorrow.

Sit Ups tommorrow - at least 30! There's a goal and maybe some lawn reseeding. I wonder if any of the mint seeds I planted will come up. It was an old package - so i'm not sure if there were at all viable.

Night,

Jennith 

Cape Breton Mists

Late April in Cape Breton is hardly out of winter - in fact there was still several feet of snow on the other side of the Cape - forcing us to flee to Yarmouth and fairer weather.

This is a place I most definately want to visit again - preferably in the fall when the leaves are changing colour. It amazes me how many beautiful places are in this country. 

Tintaglia on the Cape

Gabe was wistfully reminiscing about the ocean today - so I thought I'd post this picture taken at Cape Breton Park last spring at the end of the end of the road. 

Take me to your leader

Aliens bearing large white snowballs from Europa have arrived here on earth.

Hopefully I don't get my butt kicked for posting this one - but I just thought it was entertaining.

Possibly you'll be able to see more pictures and hear all about what happened at www.araska.org should he ever update his blog.

Cheers,

Jennith 

The Ginko Survives

Proof that plants are more resiliant than you give them credit for. . . This ginko was recently bitten in half by an inquisitive kitten. Its not my tree, but Ginkos being another of my favourite plants - favourite ornamental/foriegn plant for certain.

I should add that our grape vine that the city absolutely masacered leaving only a few leaves left after they cleared the vegetation on the other side of our fence, has impressively regrown its leaves and looks quite healthy after all. It may not be a good year for green grapes, but at least the plant doesn't look like it'll die.

CHeers,

Jennith 

Red Canoe on George Lake

You really can compare the image of a red canoe in an Ontarian Lake to anything. There is simply something symbollic about it. The rugged country behind it has a special kind of beauty - a rugged Canadian Survival beauty. Its a piece of home for me at any rate. The down side of the bright sunny weather when I took this picture almost a week ago, is that my back is still itching from the sunburn I got from being on the lake all day and was wearing sunscreen and I only took my t-shirt off to swim and for a brief while in the canoe. Lesson learned.

Anywho, other exciting and northern news. . . we had a visit last night from 3 clumsy, noisy, young raccoons who tried to climb on our house up the drain pipe... we scared them off, but it may result in further tree pruning which has been my hobby this summer. The other day I worked on the maples and pine in the front. Its a good thing the city picks up yard waste and does stuff with it.

I might go up to Terra if I get a chance to pick up some sand and more soil and see if we can't get some grass reseeded. We picked up some cheap rakes from Canada Tire, but the ground is so dry and hard right now that we can't get the rakes into the parts wee need to break up.

Sigh... so back to work for me -

Jennith 

Half Moon Over Killarny

Framed by maple leaves
The half moon smile gleams white -
Chesire cat stalks joy 

Ground Cedar

Another one of the best plants in Ontario... 

Troubles on High

Two stunted spruce trees
Windswept in winter - one dies
Survival impaired

Okay, thoughts for today - its been a busy one already. I'm hoping to go help Geoff a bit with his basement.

Anywho, off I go, time has run outing chatting with a good friend about a wedding next weekend.

Cheers,

Jennith 

Solitary Dancer

Curving Gracefully
The solitary dancer
Sways in summer breeze 

Floating Photography

Here Gabe fiddles with his camera preparing to get the perfect shot of that moose in the background. Note the fashionable Ontario Parks Bucket Hat (purchased at rain lake several years ago when Doe Lake banned baseball hats for staff) and the bright orange life jacket. Bell Lake's far end is a bit on the marshy side, and the place you pull your boat out isn't far from here. The pull out is kind of mucky though.

A few other thoughts:

First, an article about healthy eating advocating healthy sources of fat - I thought I'd link to it, because there were some interesting facts included. The gist: fat from fruits and seeds and nuts are healthier than those in meat and french fries. They often contain other chemical that help your body to process fats better as well.

Second, an article in the Toronto Star about the impact that massive immigration could have/is having on major cities in Canada. It advocates reducing our numbers of immigrants while funding programs to help immigrants get jobs and avoid poverty. Its a bit doom and gloom for me, but it certainly suggested some valid actions for improving the lot of immigrants while beniffitting all Canadians who live in Toronto, Vancouver and Montreal.

Cheers,

Jennith 

Itsy Bitsy Spider

This itst bitsy spider blends in amazingly with its surroundings. 

Infected Berries

Rose Family - possibly a service berry, but I'm afraid I don't actually know its name.

One of them is obviously suffering from a case of the mumps and bumps. 

Madiculous Ecosystem

I was writing a few days about Madiculous Ecosystems were water seeped over a bare rock - well, here is the photo. 

Paddler's Delight

Parked in tea water
A crowded disorder, tethered
Lillies float serene 

Sneaky Beams of Twighlight

Echos of thrush song -
The embers of daylight fade
Behind a cloud veil 

Looking Downstream - End of the story

Looking Downstream on the French River from the suspended bridge - we come to the last picture in my story.

SINCE THIS IS THE LAST PICTURE - I SUGGEST THAT YOU GO TO THE FIRST PICTURE IN THIS SERIES _ A FEAST FOR SNAILS and work backwards, unless you'd like the story in reverse.

Cheers,

Jennith 

Final Stop - French River

The highway 69 bridge over the French River has always been a nice bathroom break on the way to and from Thunder Bay. A historic site marking one of the key furtrading routes - I last canoed this river in highschool. Its a nice river.

A new French River Visitor Centre is set to Open July 14th, 2006 (i.e. next week) There is also a suspended walking/snowmobile bridge over the river just downstream of the highway bridge. Its design was facinating the photogragher while the engineer was running around taking landscape pictures - we've been hanging around each other too long. 

Yum - Ice Cream

 

1956-2006: The Hungery Bear Trading Post

I've eaten here before, but it looked inviting (and busy) so we stopped, as I remembered that there was an unusually nice tourist junk gift shop. We had burgers and ice cream (yum if not healthy) at a very reasonable price. They even had stuffed mascots of the hungery bear and blueberry hound.

The giftshop hadn't changed, nothing that I wanted to buy, but lots of neat stuff to look at. It wasn't hard to figure out how they'd managed to stay in business on the side of a lonely highway for 50 years. Although, with the improvement of the highway, twinning it until Parry Sound - I'm sure it is a lot less lonely than it use to be.

I had expresso flaky/chunky monkey icecream. Yum. 

Mystery Bird

 

Canoe to Killarny Lake

On our last day, we paddled through George Lake, Freeland Lake and over a 455 m portage to Killarny Lake where we had lunch on a rocky point, followed by a refreshing swim. You'll note if you look carefully there is a large bird in the tree nearby. I have a close up, we believe that it is a heron, but didn't get a close look to see its colours.

We had amazing weather, although by the time I took this picture it was starting to become overcast. It started to rain, just as we pulled out of the entranceway to the park and continued to rain at scattered intervals the entire way home. 

Ghost Family Reunion

Speaking of favourite plants, Indian Pipe is one of the most fascinating plants in Canada. This clhorophylless parasite saps its energy from neighbouring trees via fungi.

We saw two other unusual plants - one whose name eludes me and striped coral root - an orchid that also takes its energy from decaying organic matter again with the help of soil fungi. (A saprophyte)

:D JP 

On the Slopes of Silver Peak

White quartzite rock gives these hills their characteristic colour. In a windswept landscape of stunted trees and shrubs clinging to the crevices and pockets of soil on this bare rock, one is amazed at the smoothness that the surface has been ground too while towering above the other hills. Glaciers are mind boggling grinding machines.

From the top, you can see Sudbury in the distances, landmarked by its ultra-tall smoke stacks. Georgian Bay glitters in the distance while a sea of hills dotted with gem-like lakes makes the 45 minutes of straight up hiking worth the climb even on a hot humid day. 

A Meal for a Moose

Here is our moose at Bell Lake near the landing for the Silver Peak Trail. The hilarious thing is that she was still there when we came back. 

White Water Lillies

I'm not sure about that last picture, but I think it may be George Lake. There seems to be more pictures from the hiking trip and the Bell Lake pictures start with a lily pad munching moose.

As a natural history buff, I have a million favourtie plants and flowers, but the white lily is definately up there on the list of favourites (comping with bunchberry, trilliums, orchids, jewelweed, leatherleaf, sweetgale and pitcher plants).

Anywho... picture of moose is next up 

Bell Lake Beauty

The next day we day tripped to Silver Peak - which I believe is one of the highest points in Ontario. The day began somewhat overcast and misty. Here you can see the pink granite and the white quartzite charactering Killarny.

Now that I think of it, this could actually be George Lake from the Cranberry Bog Trail - I'll have to check the picture order.

JP 

Blueberry Bouquet

On a whirlwind trip to Killarny Park this weekend, we had the benifit of good luck and wonderful weather - securing the last campsite within 5 hours of Toronto on the long weekend and having wonderful weather to boot. I even went swimming twice, and I hate swimming in cold water. These blueberries were ripening somewhere along the cranberry bog trail, which we hiked in light to medium rain shortly after arriving. 

Feast for a Snail

Eyestalks extended, this Guelph snail ponderously munches a delicious breakfast of dead leaf at The Spruce. This appears to be a popular restarant with a crowd of hip snails all around.

JP