Val Fox Writes

It has been 15 days since I set up camp down here among the animals and birds at St. Mary's Dam Provincial Park.  To my surprise I am allowed to stay two more nights. then must break camp from this location.  I plan to return home Monday as chores beckon and I miss the kids and horses.  The children stayed with me for the first week then returned home to television and warm beds.  It's been a nice break from normal routine.  I'd love to stay here for the summer to write, photograph and be embraced by the creations around us, and plan to return soon.

Slender willows blow back and forth to the gentle prodding of the wind.  Bumble bees hover over the dandelions and buffalo beans, drawn by their sunflower yellow.  Last night while in front of the fire I saw an osprey swoop past then land on a branch offered by the cliffs.  It searched the water below for fish, unbothered by the darting swallows.  Their mud nests hang nearby under outcrops of sandstone.

A dad stands on the opposite shore teaching his young children how to fish.  A pink toddler cries her complaints, wanting to hold the struggling trout.  The brisk wind has died down and a Native family next door invites me to their camp for a bite.  The flank is burned but the humor is joyful.  Today`s gifts are many.  Thanks to the universe, the creator and to the trees and water that give life.   Here are three photos I took last week.  Bye for now, friends.

Campfire Heaven

Osprey Nest

The osprey overlooking the water for trout.

Photos by Val Fox