Flooding in Our Part of Ontario

Ontario has lots of lakes and rivers, and this spring - as in 2017 - water is running high.

Melting snow - lots of it - and spring rains are causing rivers to overflow their banks.

Yesterday we saw the reality of it, as we drove near Carleton Place (half an hour - by car -southwest of Ottawa).

I wonder if those buildings that are partly submerged - or those only a few feet from rising water - are summer homes...

I hope so. I wouldn't want to be living this close to rising water!

Fun "Fact"?

Stay clear of the palm tree, a Maui tour guide told us... You don't want to be hit by a coconut!

Can they hurt you if they hit you on the head? my son asked, looking up...

Then down on the ground where a coconut lay.

More people are killed by coconuts than by sharks, the guide replied...

Hmmm. I wonder if that's true, ...It certainly does sound plausible... Or is it a local joke played on tourists?!

Chickens... and Other Birds in Maui

Thinking back on my recent Maui vacation... The early morning sound of chirping birds was one of the things I loved about Hawaii, which is home to many kinds of birds, most of which we don't see in Canada. Soon we'll be opening windows and hearing chirping birds here, too..

I enjoyed the birds... But I was surprised to see so many chickens!

On our first day on Maui - at the brewery tour - we saw a chicken hunting for scraps at the brewery's outdoor patio restaurant.

What is this barnyard chicken doing here in the brewery? I wondered. Is it their mascot?! 

No, I was told. Chickens wander about freely in many parts of Maui. If they come onto your property, you can kill them and eat them, but if they're on public property, they're protected.

Later, as we walked along a shady sidewalk, we noticed more chickens... (They are hard to see in the camouflaging shade...)

.

Would they attack if we approached them? I wondered...

But they ran quickly in and out of the bushes. We never did get very close.

Then we noticed this poster...

Was it a reminder that chickens in the wild are protected in Hawaii?!

I didn't notice any chickens in the area where we were staying - an area that had previously been farm land where sugar cane was grown.

But we did see other birds...

Like this striped bird on the beach walk...

And this egret (which reminds me of our local herons) exploring a hotel garden...

And this one - making himself at home on a hotel lounge chair.

Perched on the chair, he reminds me of egrets we saw sitting on the backs of large black cows on our tour around the island. I wonder if those cattle egrets are the same breed - just found in a different location.

Snow Mountain

One of the big chores of winter is clearing snow from parking lots.

It's expensive to haul away, so in some places, snow is simply pushed into a large pile, which eventually becomes a kind of snow mountain.

This one is next to the college parking lot in our neighborhood...

It's as tall as a two-story house, and a lot wider...

I wonder how long it will take to eventually melt away!

House on the Move...

I'm enjoying walking outdoors again, now that the snow is gone...

On a recent walk around our neighborhood, I noticed a house that had been lifted off its foundation. It looked ready to be moved away.

A few years ago, several houses on our street had been taken away and sold. It wasn't long before larger houses were built in their place.

There is a housing shortage in our region, so I guess it's still a viable thing to do.

Last Week: Snow

Last week we still had snow on our street...

It always surprises me to see snow in April!

I don't know why...

North-facing front yards, surrounded by trees - had a lot more than we did...

For some reason - in my mind - snow should end in March...

(Is that simply wishful thinking?!)

I don't know - but it is definitely embedded in my concept of seasons!

Fortunately, this week the snow is ALL GONE!! Hopefully spring has arrived at last!

First Flower of the Season!

A week ago, Terry and I were still preoccupied with melting snow in our yard....

Then, suddenly, the snow was gone... It must have melted in last week's rain...

And yesterday I happened to notice the first flower of spring in our yard... a hellebore.

One of my neighbors told me about these flowers a few years ago, so I bought some. According to my google search, they are found in European woods in late winter...

They're easy to miss amid the dead leaves of my unraked flower bed. I'm glad I saw it!

I'd like to plant a few more early spring flowers... This is the season I really appreciate outdoor blooms the most! They make me feel that winter is really over!