As Time Goes By
Slowly but surely the days pass, one running into the other as the sand in our hourglass runs out on our time in Canada. As I look around I wonder about what I will miss about my life here. I have lived on the acreage here for 11 years now. The first time I came here it felt like home and it has never ceased to have that feeling. In a year when we have rain, which it seems is this year, we have a beautiful green vista (bella vista) of rolling hills covered with green grass, aspen and spruce trees, and a small lake in the distance that you can just barely see through the trees. Right in the yard it is also green and lush, shrubs and trees blooming, grass needing to be mowed, birds chirping, and all of the accompanying fresh, wet rain smells.
Am I in such a rush now to complete things here that I am missing out on enjoying the beauty surrounding me and will I regret this rush later? I don't think so; but who knows. I will miss the fresh smell of the rain, as it rarely rains in our new home, it is also much greener here (in a good year); but in the city where we will reside it is also green. In our new home will we have blossoming trees at all times of the year, not just for a couple of months, very few people there have actual grass lawns and in the ones that do the grass is different. It seems to be of a coarser variety with larger leaf blades than ours. This surprised me, as usually the larger the leaf the greater the evaporation, so to me it would follow that grass there would have really narrow blades. I am rambling.
A couple of days ago, we were getting cabin fever so decided to go and walk the beach at a nearby lake. We have been really missing the water. Less than a mile from home we encountered a black bear on the road, probably a 2 year old kicked out by mama. These are apparently the ones you have to keep an eye on, as they are mischievous and troublesome. We have never had any problems with them; but in springtime when the cows are calving a bear will sometimes take a calf. A short while later there were a couple of deer off to the side of the road. We regularly have about 5 deer that feed in our pasture right by the house, deer are a common sight here. We got to the lake and walked for a short time on the beach before another rain shower soaked us as we hurried back to the car. In the car again, the shower passed and the sun returned so we decided to head to the river (North Saskatchewan) to see how low/high it was. The mountain melt has not affected the level of the river yet and it is quite low. Which is not a surprise, the surprise is that it has any water in it at all, as all the towns/cities along it continue to use and abuse it. There seems to be no plan to conserve it (well, lots of plans and all in the planning stage), I guess they will wait until it goes dry before doing anything. The consumption of water by our neighborhood in Guaymas amazed me. There doesn't seem to be any thought of conserving it. Everyone waters their plants everyday with a little sprinkling, rather than a deep soaking every couple of days (perhaps this is how it needs to be done). They also wet down and wash their yards out every day. I had assumed that being in a dessert meant strict water conservation, I am much more careful with my water consumption here than they are there. I asked our landlord where the water for Guaymas comes from and was told that it is piped there from the city of Obregon 120 Kms. or so away. The average water bill there is around $6.00 a month. They do not seem to worry about the availability of it. Anyway, after checking the river level we returned to the car just in time to avoid getting drenched again. We did manage to get the lawns mowed yesterday in between little showers. Today I need to start dismantling parts of the yard, bundling up lights and other decorations. 37 days to go.
