Family Time

This past week brought heavy rains and flooding that barely subsided in time to make way for Friday’s snowstorm. As I write this on Sunday, the sun is shining on our winter wonderland and we’re preparing for family time and Christmas.

The St. Mary’s River is always ready to remind us of nature’s awesome power, which it did last week. Thankfully we were generally spared the wind and flood damage that others in Atlantic Canada experienced. Our photos show Stillwater flooding on April 1, 2003, with the St. Mary’s River lapping at the Stillwater Community  Centre’s door.

Anglers are happiest to see the river in “normal” flow, generally making for good fishing. But we also appreciate the river’s other moods. Like an old friend, we’ve grown to love and understand it. Nonetheless, it does surprise us at times. In any friendship, we must be prepared to give as well as take. In the coming years the St. Mary’s is likely to require a lot of care and nurturing, if we are ever to see a return to the river’s glory days.

Speaking of better days, they were within the last two decades, not really very long ago. We did see a steady decline in salmon numbers until a few years ago, when numbers began to increase again. Has the river habitat been degraded in that time? Not much. Are DFO’s population estimates accurate? Let’s put it this way … the salmon don’t know they aren’t supposed to be there. Can COSEWIC justify its endangered status proposal for St Mary’s salmon? That’s a subject for the New Year, surely.

But this is Christmas, so let’s dwell on the positive. Let’s give thanks that the river’s still running and the salmon are still jumping. This Christmas, when loved ones gather to celebrate together, remember the St. Mary’s. Remember it as an old friend, always there for you, like family!

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Please stay on the line …