October 13^th, 2002:

Not a pleasant day - overcast with a strong south wind that cuts right through a jacket. Yesterday, we got everything - sunshine (not much), rain, snow, sleet and lots of wind. We are rapidly losing our fall color! The very high wind Friday and Saturday has the leaves blowing all over the place. The poplar leaves that were so green a few days ago have turned brown and will likely let go any day. Sad to see the leaves fall, but we got lots of photos while we had the chance.

The Ducks Unlimited 13^th Annual Banquet and Auction was held at the Cove last night, and it had to be one of the good ones. We had a great steak dinner and an evening of fun. Managed to spend a few bucks, too, but for a good cause - DU spends many times as much money in Saskatchewan as they raise here.

While in Regina at the end of August, I got a ticket for running a red light. We were going north on Albert in a rainstorm; stopped for a red light at 11^th, then were halfway through the intersection at Saskatchewan Drive when Doreen hollered at me that the light was red. By then, it was too late to stop so I just kept going. There was a bright flash, and Doreen told me I was on candid camera. I got the violation notice the other day, complete with three photocopied photos of our car. One was a close-up of the license plate, clear as can be, the others more distant shots of the car, suitable to identify the make and model. Technology!

Last Tuesday, we went outside to see a big helicopter flying over, making a terrific racket. Alex told me it was like one of the big gunships used by the US during the Viet Nam war. Awhile later it flew west, dangling the cupola from the fire tower. It made a few more passes in the early afternoon, but I couldn’t see what it was doing. Several of the fire towers in the area have been shut down because of structural problems and we don’t know yet which will be rebuilt. I walked over to the compound and there was the cupola, looking a lot smaller when sitting on the ground.

Our nephew logs on the west coast of British Columbia, on the steep slopes and rain forest where faller-bunchers can’t work. He falls red cedar trees with a chainsaw. The crew is flown in and out by helicopter, and the logs, too. Red cedar must be a valuable wood to justify that expense!

On Wednesday, the temperature got up to above +15° so I decided the time had come to take the boat out of the water, and to dismantle our dock, almost the last one still out. One last boat ride, and a few pictures of the fall color, so I phoned Rose and Jim Steadman and we went out for a couple of hours. It was quite pleasant, too, especially out of the wind, and we got enough sunshine to brighten up the leaves.

The beavers have run out of poplars in a lot of places, and are taking birch trees. It seems a shame to see such beautiful trees cut down, cut up, and jammed in the mud. Even more of a shame are the ones the beavers kill, then leave standing.

Over at Uskatik, where Jenny used to have a cabin, there was a big beaver lodge ten or fifteen feet from shore. There must have been a tidal wave, because last time we were out the beaver lodge was right up on shore. On Wednesday, though, there was another one built right where the old one had been, and just as big.

I had to get wet to dismantle the dock, but not for very long and only to my waist. Then I let the truck do the bull work of dragging the sections onto high ground.  The boat and motor home are winterized, and we just have to put them in storage; then we will be ready for whatever the weather wants to throw at us. How glad we are that we got that work done before this cold weather hit!

We went to Tisdale on Thursday. It was nice to see some combines working, but there’s a lot to take off yet. Most of the crop is in swath, which I understand can stand a snowfall, but any standing crop will suffer.

The larches from south of Crooked River to just west of Chelan are incredible - bright flames against the somber blackness of the spruce. It is one of our most attractive trees, light and fluffy in the spring, gentle in the summer, and gorgeous in the fall. It took a long time to get home from Tisdale, stopping a dozen times to take photos of the larch, and of the colorful reflections in a glassy slough. Luckily, Doreen is patient.