201005 Monday in Potton County

Oct. 5 

Is it a bobcat? Hard to know. See the photo below of the domestic cat Pixiebob, [link cited at top of photo.] But what is such an unusual breed doing wandering around in Potton County? She was big, maybe bigger than Fig (who's 22 pounds). Bobcats are not uncommon in this area of Quebec and the US.   

            

Good morning! The rising sun created an ever-changing light-show of clouds over our circle of cedars on Chemin du Lac.

Sumac: Canada's vitamin C - the fruit is a good source of Vitamin C and was used by Indigenous People for many medicinal purposes. (See URL link*, how to prepare as tea.) It is very beautiful in fall and the furry berry clusters dark red.

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A glimpse of the Guardian on-line paper this morning: bad news about the pandemic. Why did the world drop the ball on covid safety and let the pandemic swing out of control again? Why does it seem as if everyone shrugged and said, well, there will be a second wave? It doesn't look like twenty-first century wisdom, or global cooperation. In the United States with its huge covid numbers, a stricken leader (and some of his closest political agents) feels like the last straw as that country faces a national election. Here comes a cold, dark winter. 

We are travelling home to Toronto on Thursday - when we left on September 8th, the numbers were starting to increase; now Montreal is in partial lockdown and Toronto is seeing over 200 new cases a day. Indre and Robin are doing virtual school at home so we should be able to return there safely, but we will have run a gauntlet of possible contaminations on the drive. Hm.

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Potton County: yesterday we explored farther east and found the Orford railway bridge in Eastman, Estrie. This is the second construction, the first was built of wood in the eighteen hundreds for the logging trade.

We stopped to see the river where it flowed under the highway. The bushes of asters were swarming with bees of several varieties, collecting nectar and pollen ahead of the coming winter. You can't really see the bees but I think the bush is quite pretty.

A skein of geese going southwest so high they are barely visible - such a perfect lopsided V.

 The leaves are falling in earnest. Many trees are bare today and along West Hill ridge the pine trees stick up out of the forest now - K says, "like chocolate chips".

Great dark clouds continue to roll across the sky, they dwarf the gentle swells of the hills.

Mumma Yaga likes the Estrie. Keep safe. Thank you for visiting.

* http://eattheplanet.org/staghorn-sumac-tea/