Greenwater Report for December 17, 2001

The Greenwater Report for December 17, 2001

Greenwater Provincial Park - Monday, December 17, 2001 - by: Jerry Crawford

gentle
December 16th, 2001: Continuing gentle winter weather, for the past few days. It did hit —24° last Tuesday night, but warmed up steadily, and the past couple of days have been nudging the freezing point. Some fairly stiff winds, but acceptable weather for outdoor activities.

trip to PA
We just got back from a pre-Christmas visiting trip. In Prince Albert, we visited my sister Cathy and brother-in-law, Ted, plus their daughter Elizabeth, who was up from Regina. Her son Russell was playing hockey in Prince Albert, but we didn’t get a chance to see him.

56.9¢ / litre
After sponging a night’s lodging and a couple of meals there, we went on to Saskatoon to visit Doreen’s sister, Lucille, and our granddaughter, Jill. We drove around a bit Saturday night and looked at the Christmas light displays, but didn’t go to the Enchanted Forest display at the Forestry Farm. By the way, we filled our gas tank in Saskatoon at 56.9¢ per litre. What a change in a few weeks!

Christmas
Eve

Doreen
ice
fishing

snow

Traffic was quite heavy in Prince Albert, but surprisingly light on the highways and in Saskatoon. That surprised us, as we expected everyone in the province to be running around doing last minute shopping. I fool them — I do my shopping on Christmas Eve, when everyone else has either finished or given up. Sometimes the stores are closed when I get around it it, but that’s the luck of the draw. That is my favorite day for putting up the tree and lights, too, but other members of our household have different ideas.

Speaking of other members, Doreen had a birthday last week. She’ll never see fifty again (or sixty, or…..). Everyone gives her ice fishing stuff, so one of these days she is going to have to try it. She doesn’t have an ice-fishing shack yet, or an ice auger. I should be able to go out with my cordless drill and a one-inch bit and drill a hole for her; that would let her drop her lure in, and be lots big enough for anything she is likely to catch. It’s too bad I didn’t save the outhouse we had at the other place; four walls and a roof, and it already had two holes. I don’t think it had a door, but that wouldn’t matter.

We have a lot more snow than they have at Saskatoon, and quite a bit more than at Humboldt. Doreen thought there was some fresh snow on our deck when we got in this evening.

no animals
It just occurred to me — in that three days of traveling, we didn’t see a single wild animal, unless we count that oversized old German shepherd hanging around the gas bar in Saskatoon.

Owls
Last Monday, a few miles east of Tisdale, we saw a snowy owl perched on a power pole. We drove past it three times, and it basically ignored us. We couldn’t see any sign of black feathers, and our bird book says old males may be pure white. The younger ones are liberally sprinkled with black, and they are the ones most likely to stray farther south of their usual range. I haven’t seen any sign of the great gray owl recently, though we have been keeping our eyes peeled.

wolves
On one of my perambulations around the Park last week, I heard some howling and singing that I at first took for coyotes. It was coming from due south when I was at the west side of the Marina, and didn’t sound to be too far away. Then I realized that it was a very low-pitched howling, though some higher-pitched ones did come in from the west. Some of the trappers and outfitters were talking about wolves being around, so that must be what I heard.

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

The Greenwater Report for December 17, 2001
Greenwater Provincial Park - Monday, December 17, 2001 - by: Jerry Crawford

gentle	December 16th, 2001: Continuing gentle winter weather, for the past few days. It did hit —24° last Tuesday night, but warmed up steadily, and the past couple of days have been nudging the freezing point. Some fairly stiff winds, but acceptable weather for outdoor activities.

trip to PA	We just got back from a pre-Christmas visiting trip. In Prince Albert, we visited my sister Cathy and brother-in-law, Ted, plus their daughter Elizabeth, who was up from Regina. Her son Russell was playing hockey in Prince Albert, but we didn’t get a chance to see him.

56.9¢ / litre	After sponging a night’s lodging and a couple of meals there, we went on to Saskatoon to visit Doreen’s sister, Lucille, and our granddaughter, Jill. We drove around a bit Saturday night and looked at the Christmas light displays, but didn’t go to the Enchanted Forest display at the Forestry Farm. By the way, we filled our gas tank in Saskatoon at 56.9¢ per litre. What a change in a few weeks!

Christmas Eve Doreen ice fishing snow	Traffic was quite heavy in Prince Albert, but surprisingly light on the highways and in Saskatoon. That surprised us, as we expected everyone in the province to be running around doing last minute shopping. I fool them — I do my shopping on Christmas Eve, when everyone else has either finished or given up. Sometimes the stores are closed when I get around it it, but that’s the luck of the draw. That is my favorite day for putting up the tree and lights, too, but other members of our household have different ideas. Speaking of other members, Doreen had a birthday last week. She’ll never see fifty again (or sixty, or…..). Everyone gives her ice fishing stuff, so one of these days she is going to have to try it. She doesn’t have an ice-fishing shack yet, or an ice auger. I should be able to go out with my cordless drill and a one-inch bit and drill a hole for her; that would let her drop her lure in, and be lots big enough for anything she is likely to catch. It’s too bad I didn’t save the outhouse we had at the other place; four walls and a roof, and it already had two holes. I don’t think it had a door, but that wouldn’t matter. We have a lot more snow than they have at Saskatoon, and quite a bit more than at Humboldt. Doreen thought there was some fresh snow on our deck when we got in this evening.
Christmas Eve Doreen ice fishing snow

no animals	It just occurred to me — in that three days of traveling, we didn’t see a single wild animal, unless we count that oversized old German shepherd hanging around the gas bar in Saskatoon.

Owls	Last Monday, a few miles east of Tisdale, we saw a snowy owl perched on a power pole. We drove past it three times, and it basically ignored us. We couldn’t see any sign of black feathers, and our bird book says old males may be pure white. The younger ones are liberally sprinkled with black, and they are the ones most likely to stray farther south of their usual range. I haven’t seen any sign of the great gray owl recently, though we have been keeping our eyes peeled.

wolves	On one of my perambulations around the Park last week, I heard some howling and singing that I at first took for coyotes. It was coming from due south when I was at the west side of the Marina, and didn’t sound to be too far away. Then I realized that it was a very low-pitched howling, though some higher-pitched ones did come in from the west. Some of the trappers and outfitters were talking about wolves being around, so that must be what I heard.

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