summer | YOUNG at heart

I hiked around on the trails for about 4 hours. It was great.

Although I didn’t see any new birds, I did add two butterflies to my list:

Common Wood Nymph

Cabbage White

Plus I came across Dr. Ernie Walker and Dr. Glenn Stuart from the University of Saskatchewan who were working on an archeological dig site.

Dr. Ernie Walker (left) and Dr. Glenn Stuart (right)

They showed me two fire pits they have uncovered.

The one in the foreground is approximately 4000 years old! No, that’s not a typo – 4000! The one in the background is newer because it’s not buried as deep. They’ve actually found 4 different fire pits at this site, at different levels, which means people continued to return to this site for thousands of years. Perhaps because it’s in a valley and therefore more sheltered, especially for winter. But we’ll never really know. I thought it was really interesting. Now I’ve added working at an archeology dig to my to do list!

Well, this is it. The last day of summer before heading back to work tomorrow.

Usually by this time of year I’m about ready to get back into the swing of things. This year – not so much. It just went by too fast. I just need a couple of more weeks, okay? Oh well, I tried.

Like many people I used to get my shorts in a knot at this time of year, thinking of all the things I had planned to do but never got around to. But last year I decided instead to look back at what I DID do during the summer – a much more pleasant way to look at things. So here goes:

I read. Lots. On the deck with my feet up and a cold drink beside me. I also decided to read all the books on a “100 Best Picture Books” list a saw on a blog. I’ve read 50 so far, and am waiting for more to come in at the library. Some I’d read before, some I’d never heard of before, some were old and some were new, and some I wondered who was smoking what when they made this list. But that’s okay. To each their own.

I swam. A little. Five times, to be exact. Lane swimming at the Martensville outdoor pool. Next year maybe I’ll do the noon hour ones instead of the early morning ones. Getting out of bed seemed to be a challenge this summer. 🙂

I wrote. And not just at my annual writing retreat at Bruno. I’ve been writing every day (Monday to Friday) since then (the second last week of July). I’m both amazed and proud. I credit the book Break Writer’s Block Now by Jerrold Mundis. Not that I was suffering from writer’s block, but he also presents how to set up a writing routine and stick to it. I highly recommend it.

I camped. At Kimball Lake. For four days. In my tent. Which I love. To my mind, nothing beats sleeping in a tent. And I made Kraft Dinner over a fire. Does it get any better than that? 🙂

I hiked. With my new orthotics (thank you Dr. Simon Davies!) I was finally able to go for long hikes again. While at Kimball I hiked around Little Raspberry Lake and Vivian Lake. I did all the trails at Beaver Creek. I also hiked the nature trails at Pike Lake and Redberry Lake.

I tried new things. I went to Shakespeare on the Saskatchewan for the first time, and I had lunch at the Berry Barn for the first time. Isn’t it funny how long it sometimes takes locals (aka ME) to get around to discovering what’s in their own back yard?
I fixed. Together with my husband, Bill, we took down the temporary snow fence on the one side of the garden and put up a proper fence.

I campaigned – to get The Friendly Giant (aka Bob Homme) on Canada’s Walk of Fame. Did you nominate him yet?
And last but not least, I birded. I added fifteen new birds to my list, and one butterfly. Although I still have pictures to go through and identify, I’m currently at 97 birds and 5 butterflies. As Maxwell Smart would say – “And loving it!” (Below you can see thumbnails of my summer additions.)

I hope your summer was just as fabulous as mine was!