Positively Canadian!
It's the eve of Canada's 145th birthday, and I've had a positively lovely Canadian day. I had the itch to dip and cast my fishing line into any fishing hole to test out my new ultra light fishing rod. I called up my dad and we were off. My son and mother joined us. We drove for an about an hour, things were looking bright. The sky all clear with few clouds and no threat of a storm, the wind gentle but strong enough to keep the day from being a scorcher, the dodge truck loaded with our fishing gear and a quickly packed picnic lunch.
We pulled up to the prairie irrigation reservoir Cavan Lake, named after the Cavan family of ranchers. We were welcomed by a playful bunch of pelicans gracefully gliding, dramatically dipping and fishing. We drove around the lake, where would we fish? The lake was so high, fence posts were peeking their hidden tops from under the blanket of lake water, too dangerous to fish in a big boat. I did say the lake was named after ranchers, and what do ranchers build around their fields? Fences! Strike one.
Next, we found weeds, oh the weeds! Where would be the best place to fish? Wait for it... indecision hit us. Shall we fish over to the east with all the other people fighting the weeds, or to the north of the lake with the pelicans swimming in the weeds, or how about to the west by the willows near the weeds, south was out of the question, there was no road. Our decision... fish no where. Strike two.
We voted and it was unanimous. We would find the nearest tree, it happened to be next to the outhouse, how convenient, and we decided to picnic and dump the idea of fishing at this lake. We dove into our picnic lunches of freshly baked buns, fresh summer fruit and freshly baked chocolate chip and ginger snap cookies! How fresh!
We drove back to the city and headed southwest to Murray Dam, built to control water into the St. Mary's irrigation ditches. Hey, it's Southern Alberta, we fish where we can. We were determined to get some fishing done, TODAY!
Well, let's just say, we did try to fish, and I did get to test my new rod, but did we actually see any fish? No, but you guessed it, we saw... wait for it again...WEEDS and of course, what do engineers build dams with... boulders! I learned why I love boating so much... rocks make horrible seats and rocks make excellent fish hook catchers, weeds love to grow next to the rocks and fish love to hide and laugh at the poor suckers who have to sit on the rocks and try to fish through the lake salad. After a short time, my new reel fell off of my new rod, into the mean rocks and broke. Strike three!
We grew discontented and decided to head back to the Hat. We drove to the nearest Canadian Tire, returned the defunked rod and reel, exchanged it for a new one, and loaded up with some more fishing gear for another days fishing adventure in a fishing boat at a fishing lake we know! How fishy!
Our fishing was a flop, but we had fun visiting, we marvelled at the cheery yellow canola fields against the beautiful blue sky and we enjoyed the long awaited summer sunshine!
The day is done, the sun is setting, the Canadian flag is gently flying, the mosquitoes are buzzing, and I can honestly declare, we had a positively Canadian day, eh!
We pulled up to the prairie irrigation reservoir Cavan Lake, named after the Cavan family of ranchers. We were welcomed by a playful bunch of pelicans gracefully gliding, dramatically dipping and fishing. We drove around the lake, where would we fish? The lake was so high, fence posts were peeking their hidden tops from under the blanket of lake water, too dangerous to fish in a big boat. I did say the lake was named after ranchers, and what do ranchers build around their fields? Fences! Strike one.
Next, we found weeds, oh the weeds! Where would be the best place to fish? Wait for it... indecision hit us. Shall we fish over to the east with all the other people fighting the weeds, or to the north of the lake with the pelicans swimming in the weeds, or how about to the west by the willows near the weeds, south was out of the question, there was no road. Our decision... fish no where. Strike two.
We voted and it was unanimous. We would find the nearest tree, it happened to be next to the outhouse, how convenient, and we decided to picnic and dump the idea of fishing at this lake. We dove into our picnic lunches of freshly baked buns, fresh summer fruit and freshly baked chocolate chip and ginger snap cookies! How fresh!
We drove back to the city and headed southwest to Murray Dam, built to control water into the St. Mary's irrigation ditches. Hey, it's Southern Alberta, we fish where we can. We were determined to get some fishing done, TODAY!
Well, let's just say, we did try to fish, and I did get to test my new rod, but did we actually see any fish? No, but you guessed it, we saw... wait for it again...WEEDS and of course, what do engineers build dams with... boulders! I learned why I love boating so much... rocks make horrible seats and rocks make excellent fish hook catchers, weeds love to grow next to the rocks and fish love to hide and laugh at the poor suckers who have to sit on the rocks and try to fish through the lake salad. After a short time, my new reel fell off of my new rod, into the mean rocks and broke. Strike three!
We grew discontented and decided to head back to the Hat. We drove to the nearest Canadian Tire, returned the defunked rod and reel, exchanged it for a new one, and loaded up with some more fishing gear for another days fishing adventure in a fishing boat at a fishing lake we know! How fishy!
Our fishing was a flop, but we had fun visiting, we marvelled at the cheery yellow canola fields against the beautiful blue sky and we enjoyed the long awaited summer sunshine!
The day is done, the sun is setting, the Canadian flag is gently flying, the mosquitoes are buzzing, and I can honestly declare, we had a positively Canadian day, eh!
 |
| Canadian Canola |
 |
| Wouldn't You Rather Ride a Horse |
 |
| Day is Done |
 |
| The Wind Gently Whispered |
 |
| Red Spilled From the Flag and Painted the Night Sky |
.JPG) |
| Next Time Fish At Your Regular Fishing Hole! (Grassy Lake) |
The photographs are "soul property" of Renee Dowling.
If you would like to use her photographs in any way,
please contact her at
Comments
Post a Comment
Thanks for leaving comments, they warm my Canadian heArt!