in Nature - Post Comment
Today we decided to try out canoeing down the river that our town is built next to. We put our canoe in the water about 2 miles away and spent the next 45 min. canoeing and floating through incredible, gorgeous riverway surrounded by woods. The trees were gorgeous and often hung over the river. Most of the way the river was smooth and you could see the reflection of the trees that hung out over the water.
As this was our first time doing this, we were a bit nervous about not knowing exactly what the river was like - just knowing that people canoed there. When you get to our town, you have to make sure you get out at the right spot because if you go a little bit too far, you go down what used to be a dam but is now some rapids and very small waterfalls. The water level drops quite a bit there, so you definitely don't want to take a ride down it in your canoe! Thankfully, all went very well and we were able to take 2 trips with a couple of our kids each time.
One new nature item I noticed while canoeing was bank swallow homes. Here's a pic of a bank swallow.
They dig out holes in soft cliff-like banks of rivers and lakes etc. We were traveling down and there are a number of places where there are fairly steep sandy cliffs on the side of the river. As I looked at them, I noticed a number of holes in the cliffs. I remembered reading in a children's nature book about bank swallows making nests there and sure enough as I was looking at the holes, I saw one fly out of the hole.
It was also interesting seeing affects of erosion on these cliffs. There would be these trees that were still alive or mostly alive hanging mostly upside-down from these cliffs with still quite a bit of green on them, but they were eroding away and were soon to be falling off the cliff! It was really amazing to see! A number of trees along the banks had also eroded away quite a bit but were leaning way across the water but still alive as well!
Anyways, it was a really cool trip on the river and it's so cool that we only need to drive a couple of minutes away in our van, drop our canoe in the water, and set off on this trip through amazing beauty that the Lord has created!
funny you should mention that.... I love canoeing - only done it twice, down the snake river - oh, my! What a blast! we were driving to town yesterday and there is a flat, swampy area on the way there and people were canoeing! only a 5 min drive from home! I want a canoe! yes I do! do you? can you canoe? oh, sorry - the excitement and the rhyme got me.
anyway, how fun for you!
Our Journey Into The Country - A Faith Walk