Thames River Cleanup

Saturday was a day of volunteering involving both coyotes and Elvis.  First I spent the morning cleaning up along a  portion of the Thames River. Once a year there is a big event where members of the Thames Valley Trail Assoc. help cleanup along the river. Why oh why people have to discard such large amounts of garbage along the river banks eludes me. Just lazy I guess. And NOT nature lovers.

My helpers, Michelle and Miriam, were bold and eagle-eyed! When I spotted a broken recycling bin down in the ravine the 3 of us climbed down and hauled up all kinds of discarded treasure including a mattress, a seat from a car, tons of barbed wire, plastic bottles, glass bottles, coffee cups from Tim Hortons (TONS), windows, lots of broken glass, broken buckets etc etc etc...

Our first pile, then we went down into the ravine again and found lots more...

We found several animal carcasses, we think they were coyotes because of the long and shaggy hair and their shape was dog-like....

Apparently farmers are allowed to kill coyotes if they find them on their land...(I guess the coyotes aren't aware of where their land ends and the farmer's land begins!!

There was a total of 43 people in our location and we easily filled a large bin with our collected garbage...plus we recycled all that we could...

A peek inside the bin...

Men with trucks came along periodically to collect our garbage which we just piled along side of the road...

 There's a better picture of the bin.

It was a glorious day - warm and sunny.  The camaraderie was apparent and lots of laughs were had.

 Can you find me?

Some big bird's foot!! Poor thing! Maybe a coyote got a hold of him. I thought it looked a bit like Woodstock, the bird from Charlie Brown. Some macabre humour to lighten your day!

Stay tuned for an Elvis sighting!!

On the Mend

I am happy to report that my back/hip/buttocks area is feeling somewhat better! And heeding doctor's and acupuncturist's advice to "use it or lose it" I went on my first hike yesterday in 3 weeks. And oh what a loverly day it was! Not a cloud in the sky and the temperature rose from -1c when I got up to 17c by the end of the hike. It felt good to be alive!

Here we are gathering for the hike. Over the course of the next couple of months (every other Sunday) we are walking the entire length of the Thames Valley Trail (around 150km). Sunday's hike was about 10km.

We stopped occasionally for water and snacks. Those who needed to slipped off into the woods for a pee break but without any foliage there wasn't much coverage!! (Glad I can hold it!!)

Much of the trek was along the borders of farmers' fields and it was pretty mucky!

This is when I need a good zoom lens! Can you see the heron sitting in her nest?

And perhaps this is dad on guard nearby.

Not much shelter in this teepee!

I just couldn't get enough of the blue sky. The buds are on the trees so any day now leaves will bust out! Or is that burst?

After about 30 minutes of hiking the coats came off.

A lot of the area was under water still.

While my boots are water proof they are NOT mud proof.

I thought this tree was missing a chunk of its trunk but it's just an optical illusion.

One method of not leaving mud from your boots in somebody's car! Her boots are bagged! I brought a big bag to put my boots in and another pair of shoes to change into.

The first leg is complete - only 140 more kms to go!

Unfortunately, while still mild, it is pouring down rain today. The house is dark as a tomb. So I took myself to an indoor track for some walking today - I listen to the band The Cars when I walk as the songs are just the right speed.  I was going to pack up Dougie the Dodge with stuff for the trailer today but not in the rain. I think I'll go on Wednesday to start cleaning the trailer and taking inventory of what I need to get. I like my zero gravity chairs so much I bought another one today - I'm going to leave one here and take two to the trailer.

I also want to pack out boots away in bins but I'm afraid I'll jinx it. So I'll leave them be for now - better to have them out and not need them than put them away and have it snow again!!

Has spring sprung for you??