Greenwater Report for May 27, 2002

The Greenwater Report for May 27, 2002

Greenwater Provincial Park - Monday, May 13, 2002 - by: Jerry Crawford

whitecaps
May 26th, 2002: It looked pretty nice out this morning, bright and sunshiny and no wind, but it got down to +2° overnight, and was only +4° at 7 am. The northwest wind gradually increased until there were whitecaps on the lake, and it was good and chilly away from shelter.

later
than
normal
We noticed a clump of poplars south of the Park that were definitely beginning to form leaves. Up to now, what appeared to be green was just catkins. Can anyone remember when the leaves come out? Surely this is a lot later than normal.

toxic
water
I spoke to Rella Lavoie at the Cove this morning; she lives away over on the West side of the province, but has a cabin in the woods near here. She says conditions aren’t much different out West; desperately dry, and no leaves forming. Not many potholes with any water in them, either. We were wondering yesterday: when the potholes dry up, the last water must be pretty dense with minerals, etc. Is there a danger of those last drops of water being toxic to birds and animals?

soil
like
powder
Monday was hot and windy - sunburn weather, and there were lots of red faces around next day. Tuesday was the same, but by late afternoon the wind was very strong and the temperature dropped sharply. Doreen got most of her gardening done in those two days, but the soil she put the seeds and bulbs in was like powder. The only moisture was in the bag of cow manure we sprinkled around.

no
rain
Wednesday morning, the temperature was barely above freezing, with a very stiff northeast wind. We thought it was blowing up a rainstorm for sure, but nothing materialized. Saturday produced a very few drops of rain, and even a few tiny hailstones.

construction
Construction has started on Highway 23, between Bjorkdale and Crooked River. At present, they are working a couple of miles south of Crooked River. Since they are building on top of the existing highway instead of ripping it up, there should be a minimum of inconvenience to motorists.

natural
gas line
We notice a row of yellow SaskEnergy stakes between the Park and Chelan, so assume they set the path for digging in the new natural gas line. By the end of the summer we should be hooked up to natural gas!

Archerwill
fires
Forest fires are getting close to home! On Wednesday, some people living on the East side of the tracks in Archerwill were told to get out of their houses as fire was approaching from the northeast. We were in Tisdale on Thursday so we drove through Archerwill to see what the fire damage was. Apparently it started not too far North of the village, and the fire fighters got it stopped right at the fringe of trees on the north side of town. I understand the smoke in town was intense; some businesses shut down, and some people were evacuated. Next day, there was another fire just West of Archerwill. Local feeling is that the fires were set either deliberately or through careless disposal of a cigarette - they seemed to start right beside a road and there certainly hasn’t been any lightning. We saw several places that had been burnt along the McKague-Chelan road as well. I understand some old brush pile fires have been coming to life again, but that doesn’t seem to be the case in the ones we saw. Some of the fire fighters are staying at the Cove, and helicopters fly over regularly.

few
tables
We went to the Farmers’ Market in Porcupine on Friday; had a great lunch, but there were only three or four tables, and not many buyers, either. Anyone involved with agriculture is pretty busy these days.

cold
dock
process
Yesterday was dock-putting-out time so Lloyd and his friend, Lorne, came down to help. We managed it with a great deal of grimacing, because the water was not warm. At least we didn’t have to get wet above the waist. When we got all done, had warm showers, and changed clothes (and patched up Lloyd’s wounded toenail) it occurred to us that we had done everything exactly backwards. We put the far section out first, then attached the other sections back to shore. Why didn’t we do it the other way - start with the first section, use it as a platform to put out the second section, etc.? Mainly because the hardware was in the wrong places, and so were our brains. As soon as the water warms up, I will remedy that.

rabbits
Rabbits, rabbits, rabbits! Dozens of them, and getting pretty cocky! Where are the foxes and coyotes when we really need them?

Doreen & Jerry Crawford
Box 100, Chelan, SK S0E 0N0 (306) 278-3423 http://www3.sk.sympatico.ca/crawg


The Greenwater Report for May 27, 2002

Greenwater Provincial Park - Monday, May 13, 2002 - by: Jerry Crawford
whitecaps	May 26th, 2002: It looked pretty nice out this morning, bright and sunshiny and no wind, but it got down to +2° overnight, and was only +4° at 7 am. The northwest wind gradually increased until there were whitecaps on the lake, and it was good and chilly away from shelter.

later than normal	We noticed a clump of poplars south of the Park that were definitely beginning to form leaves. Up to now, what appeared to be green was just catkins. Can anyone remember when the leaves come out? Surely this is a lot later than normal.

toxic water	I spoke to Rella Lavoie at the Cove this morning; she lives away over on the West side of the province, but has a cabin in the woods near here. She says conditions aren’t much different out West; desperately dry, and no leaves forming. Not many potholes with any water in them, either. We were wondering yesterday: when the potholes dry up, the last water must be pretty dense with minerals, etc. Is there a danger of those last drops of water being toxic to birds and animals?

soil like powder	Monday was hot and windy - sunburn weather, and there were lots of red faces around next day. Tuesday was the same, but by late afternoon the wind was very strong and the temperature dropped sharply. Doreen got most of her gardening done in those two days, but the soil she put the seeds and bulbs in was like powder. The only moisture was in the bag of cow manure we sprinkled around.

no rain	Wednesday morning, the temperature was barely above freezing, with a very stiff northeast wind. We thought it was blowing up a rainstorm for sure, but nothing materialized. Saturday produced a very few drops of rain, and even a few tiny hailstones.

construction	Construction has started on Highway 23, between Bjorkdale and Crooked River. At present, they are working a couple of miles south of Crooked River. Since they are building on top of the existing highway instead of ripping it up, there should be a minimum of inconvenience to motorists.

natural gas line	We notice a row of yellow SaskEnergy stakes between the Park and Chelan, so assume they set the path for digging in the new natural gas line. By the end of the summer we should be hooked up to natural gas!

Archerwill fires	Forest fires are getting close to home! On Wednesday, some people living on the East side of the tracks in Archerwill were told to get out of their houses as fire was approaching from the northeast. We were in Tisdale on Thursday so we drove through Archerwill to see what the fire damage was. Apparently it started not too far North of the village, and the fire fighters got it stopped right at the fringe of trees on the north side of town. I understand the smoke in town was intense; some businesses shut down, and some people were evacuated. Next day, there was another fire just West of Archerwill. Local feeling is that the fires were set either deliberately or through careless disposal of a cigarette - they seemed to start right beside a road and there certainly hasn’t been any lightning. We saw several places that had been burnt along the McKague-Chelan road as well. I understand some old brush pile fires have been coming to life again, but that doesn’t seem to be the case in the ones we saw. Some of the fire fighters are staying at the Cove, and helicopters fly over regularly.

few tables	We went to the Farmers’ Market in Porcupine on Friday; had a great lunch, but there were only three or four tables, and not many buyers, either. Anyone involved with agriculture is pretty busy these days.

cold dock process	Yesterday was dock-putting-out time so Lloyd and his friend, Lorne, came down to help. We managed it with a great deal of grimacing, because the water was not warm. At least we didn’t have to get wet above the waist. When we got all done, had warm showers, and changed clothes (and patched up Lloyd’s wounded toenail) it occurred to us that we had done everything exactly backwards. We put the far section out first, then attached the other sections back to shore. Why didn’t we do it the other way - start with the first section, use it as a platform to put out the second section, etc.? Mainly because the hardware was in the wrong places, and so were our brains. As soon as the water warms up, I will remedy that.

rabbits	Rabbits, rabbits, rabbits! Dozens of them, and getting pretty cocky! Where are the foxes and coyotes when we really need them?

	Doreen & Jerry Crawford Box 100, Chelan, SK S0E 0N0 (306) 278-3423 http://www3.sk.sympatico.ca/crawg