Daniel posted this photo and prose on Annapolis Royal Environment and Ecology FB Page and gave me permission to post it also on NSFN (click on photo for larger version):
Enchanted Waters
Beyond the braided forest,
Lies a secret hidden creek,
It’s water clear as crystal,
With pools so pure and deep.
Silver winged dragonflies,
Swoop above the mist,
As a morning hatch of mayfly’s,
Tantalize the fish.
And as the current slowly churn’s,
Heading out to sea,
I am glad I found this place,
It’s where my soul feels free.
In discussion of the post, Daniel recounts that he and Randy Neily “have been fishing up there since we were in our early teens, it’s a beautiful canoe trip, this year it will be 50 years for me”.
He also told me, “My dad, myself, my son camped out in tents at the duck pond to the left of that picture they clear-cut a huge chunk of the forest and it ruined the fishing up there. Before they cut it, my father and I could stand in one spot and catch 10 trout as fast as we could bait our hooks after they cut it not a bite for over 10 years.”
It was Randy Neily who initially raised concerns about logging planned for Crown land block AP068499 Beals Meadow. It remains intact only through the steadfastness of Extinction Rebellion Mi’kma’ki / Nova Scotia folks and allies at the Last Hope Wildlife Corridor Encampment, now for 69 days.
Thank you, Daniel Baker, for your beautiful words about the meaning of this place and why it is so worth fighting for.
Update Feb 8, 2022, also view Time spent in Nature