Greenwater Report for April 29, 2002

The Greenwater Report for April 29, 2002

Beaver at the mouth of Greenwater Creek

Greenwater Provincial Park - Monday, April 29, 2002 - by: Jerry Crawford

blizzards
April 28th, 2002: What a week! On Monday we got a real good rain about suppertime, complete with thunder and lightning, and I believe it drizzled all night. On Tuesday (or was it Wednesday?) we had several blizzards, any one of which was more severe than any we had all winter, and it stayed cold. I am not sure if spring is a long time coming, or if that nice weekend a couple of weeks ago was spring, last weekend was summer (one day) and now we are going into winter again. Today was a bit warmer, but we also had rain, snow and sunshine.

rabbits
There are rabbits all over the place! Some are very pale, others almost their normal summer colors except for patches of white on, say, the ears. They are pretty brave, too - one let me approach within about ten feet; I talked to it but it just wiggled its nose. I am surprised that there are so many, when the coyote population is so high.

coyotes
Speaking of coyotes, two ran across the road in front of us Friday. The first looked to be in pretty good shape, but we thought the second’s tail looked thin. Maybe they are having mange problems.

quitting
and
staying
that
way
Doreen sez: “Quitting smoking is easy - I’ve done it dozens of times!” There is an editorial in the Hudson Bay Post Review about quitting smoking, and it mentions the Seventh Day Adventists Five Day Program. Back in the ‘70s in Wynyard, a group Doreen was involved with sponsored the program; though we had no plans to quit smoking, we sat in. As a result, we stopped smoking. Three months later, we were complacent enough to think that one smoke won’t hurt, and away we went. A year later, same program, same result, and again after three months of total abstinence, we started again. We both quit again in 1981, and this time had enough sense to realize that we can’t have even one puff. We thought the Seventh Day Adventist program was priceless; most of those who attended quit, but most also re-started. I believe what was needed was a mutual support group with regular, frequent meetings. It could be patterned after the A.A. twelve-step program but I think the most important factor would be the frequent reminder that a smoker is a smoker for life, and all it takes is one cigarette to start the vicious cycle again.

low
water
Joyce Weber asked about water levels in the Marina, so I drove down for a look - it is well below the riprap around Norgrove Island and I would be surprised if there is enough water to float a boat at the south end. The beavers have built a dam across the neck of Greenwater Creek where it flows into the Marina, but it looks as if it is holding water back on the Marina side, as the creek is bone dry.

fund
raising
auction
The Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation Annual Banquet and Fundraiser was held at the Cove last night. The new setup was great; lots more room to move around and just not as congested as other years. For auction, there was the usual stock of prints, decoys, hunting clothes etc. but also some locally made objects that got a lot of attention. Laurel Steiestol had donated a big marten house, a beautiful thing. She donates something she has made every year. Mac Chimko donated a metal welcome sign that he had made. It was a circle about three feet in diameter, enclosing a silhouette of a bugling elk under a crescent moon. And Jan, of Friends and Neighbors Greenhouses over at Marean Lake, had built a garden pond from a tree stump, complete with plants and a tiny fountain. I am surprised she had time for it; she tells me she is gearing up for a bigger greenhouse season than ever!

Doreen & Jerry Crawford
Box 100, Chelan, SK S0E 0N0 (306) 278-3423 http://www3.sk.sympatico.ca/crawg

The Greenwater Report for April 29, 2002

	Beaver at the mouth of Greenwater Creek
Greenwater Provincial Park - Monday, April 29, 2002 - by: Jerry Crawford

blizzards	April 28th, 2002: What a week! On Monday we got a real good rain about suppertime, complete with thunder and lightning, and I believe it drizzled all night. On Tuesday (or was it Wednesday?) we had several blizzards, any one of which was more severe than any we had all winter, and it stayed cold. I am not sure if spring is a long time coming, or if that nice weekend a couple of weeks ago was spring, last weekend was summer (one day) and now we are going into winter again. Today was a bit warmer, but we also had rain, snow and sunshine.

rabbits	There are rabbits all over the place! Some are very pale, others almost their normal summer colors except for patches of white on, say, the ears. They are pretty brave, too - one let me approach within about ten feet; I talked to it but it just wiggled its nose. I am surprised that there are so many, when the coyote population is so high.

coyotes	Speaking of coyotes, two ran across the road in front of us Friday. The first looked to be in pretty good shape, but we thought the second’s tail looked thin. Maybe they are having mange problems.

quitting and staying that way	Doreen sez: “Quitting smoking is easy - I’ve done it dozens of times!” There is an editorial in the Hudson Bay Post Review about quitting smoking, and it mentions the Seventh Day Adventists Five Day Program. Back in the ‘70s in Wynyard, a group Doreen was involved with sponsored the program; though we had no plans to quit smoking, we sat in. As a result, we stopped smoking. Three months later, we were complacent enough to think that one smoke won’t hurt, and away we went. A year later, same program, same result, and again after three months of total abstinence, we started again. We both quit again in 1981, and this time had enough sense to realize that we can’t have even one puff. We thought the Seventh Day Adventist program was priceless; most of those who attended quit, but most also re-started. I believe what was needed was a mutual support group with regular, frequent meetings. It could be patterned after the A.A. twelve-step program but I think the most important factor would be the frequent reminder that a smoker is a smoker for life, and all it takes is one cigarette to start the vicious cycle again.



low water	Joyce Weber asked about water levels in the Marina, so I drove down for a look - it is well below the riprap around Norgrove Island and I would be surprised if there is enough water to float a boat at the south end. The beavers have built a dam across the neck of Greenwater Creek where it flows into the Marina, but it looks as if it is holding water back on the Marina side, as the creek is bone dry.

fund raising auction	The Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation Annual Banquet and Fundraiser was held at the Cove last night. The new setup was great; lots more room to move around and just not as congested as other years. For auction, there was the usual stock of prints, decoys, hunting clothes etc. but also some locally made objects that got a lot of attention. Laurel Steiestol had donated a big marten house, a beautiful thing. She donates something she has made every year. Mac Chimko donated a metal welcome sign that he had made. It was a circle about three feet in diameter, enclosing a silhouette of a bugling elk under a crescent moon. And Jan, of Friends and Neighbors Greenhouses over at Marean Lake, had built a garden pond from a tree stump, complete with plants and a tiny fountain. I am surprised she had time for it; she tells me she is gearing up for a bigger greenhouse season than ever!

	Doreen & Jerry Crawford Box 100, Chelan, SK S0E 0N0 (306) 278-3423 http://www3.sk.sympatico.ca/crawg