Making It Up As I Go Along #332

MONDAY...
— Holiday Monday. Largely a movie day. I watch Gone With the Wind in the morning... first time I’ve ever seen it... so long, but good. Iron Man with Karl at the Mayfair... quite good. After that, Karl goes home but I stick around for the Incredible Hulk. Good... a little below Iron Man though.

TUESDAY...
— Work is alright. Go to the mall for supper with Jon and Annick... get some Thai food there. And It’s kind of nice having Annick around to chat with... been alone for most shifts lately, so the odd time with someone else there is a welcome change.
— An abbreviated walk tonight. The feet are a little sore and the rain starts while I’m out, so diverting back to home and making it a 40 minute rather than hour and ten minute walk sounds good.

WEDNESDAY...
— Two trips to the grocery store today. One before work, at Farm Boy for some healthy snacks, and one after work, to Loeb, for some milk and cereal.
— A boring evening at work. Just me alone and my knee is killing me for half the night... I think it’s the weather.

THURSDAY...
— Heavy rain with thunder and lightning while I’m at work today.
— Clears up by the 8:00 break and Melissa, Annick and I go walking.
— Snooze for a bit after work then wake to see the Green Mile on the movie network. I’m stupid and watch it, not going to bed until after 4:00 because of it.

FRIDAY...
— Go to Play it Again Sports before work and buy some dumb bells and weights for the house.
— Work is alright, with Greek food for supper, a walk with Melissa at break, and some chatting with Annick as we work.
— Watch a little Olympic coverage... just to get the feel for it... and walk away with a lack of interest.

SATURDAY...
— Home bound day. Work out much of the day with the dumb bells. Watch a ball game on TV and do some reading as well.
— Go for a walk of the pond in the evening. Three laps take close to 45 minutes. And on lap two... I swear I see a beaver going into the woods on the far side of the pond. It was either that or a muskrat. More likely to be a muskrat but it was much bigger... beaver sized. I was within thirty feet of it but decided there was no need to follow a beaver into the trees. I’ll have to walk out there again in the coming days to see if there’s any downed trees.


Monsters of Avalon
Bodies of water bring mystic with them. Look out at the ocean and you can imagine all the creatures of the deep being separated from view by only a few waves. Giant squid, Great White Shark, Humpback Whale, Mermaid... all is possible.

Scotland has the Loch Ness Monster. This great beast dwelling in a large, inland body of water. Sightings take place every year with people trying to piece together personal accounts with grainy pictures and mutilated dead fish which wash ashore.

British Columbia has it’s own monster. Ogopogo resides in the Okanagan Lake of interior BC. Last year, while visiting Kelowna, I stood on the lakeshore and peered out... wondering if I could be made a believer with a simple blink of the eye.

And now Avalon... my subdivision within Orleans... has it’s water monster.

The lake that sits a half block from my home, and can be seen from my front windows, doesn’t appear to fall in with Loch Ness or the Okanagan. It’s a small pond really. Man made and used for drainage at times of excessive rain. Over the years, I’ve seen Lake Avalon mature from a lawn surrounded, empty body of water to a microcosm of animals. Wild flowers, trees and bushes have grown up around the pond.

Birds of all types have moved in as well. Small singing birds perched in the trees and on the waterside reeds. Ducks have taken over the water. Hanging near the shoreline during the day, and meeting out in the middle of the pond each evening, paddling around and socializing with those duck families who spend the rest of the day on the far side.

Loons appear in the late Spring while geese show up in the Fall. It’s a bird watcher’s paradise.

This year, muskrat have appeared. Hanging close to shore, diving for water insects, and bringing sticks back to unseen lodges deep within the vegetation. And fish are beginning to inhabit the pond. I saw a dead one on the path one day this summer... I assume it was plucked from the water by a gull or duck and dropped in mid flight... left to bake on the pavement.

Yesterday, I saw the monster.

Walking the pond as normal, I am enjoying a late evening time. Dimming towards dark and with only a few other people out... I plan for two laps, which will give me a good half hour walking.

On lap two, while rounding a corner, I look up ahead on the path. There I see a dark creature looking towards a stand of trees. I slow immediately, sure I’m seeing an early evening skunk and not wanting to disturb it.

But looking closer, I see it’s back, and there’s no white stripe to be seen. The creature stands on it’s hind legs, looking into the trees. It starts to waddle into the stand as I get to within thirty feet of it.

It should be a muskrat. They’re everywhere around this pond now. But it looks too big. Checking the internet afterwards, it says muskrat can get up to four pounds. I’m sure what I’m seeing is bigger than that. It looks like a fat terrier in size. Maybe some thirty pounds or so. I look up the beaver... and sure enough, the size seems more in keeping with what I saw.

But how could this be? A beaver in the pond just beyond my house? There’s no lodge, no damn, no signs of downed trees. Am I seeing a beaver on his first day in the neighbourhood? Is he just scouting the place, thinking about moving in? Avalon has been growing in leaps and bounds with houses being built all over... maybe there’ll be a new home soon built in the pond.

Or maybe this is a monster muskrat I’ve seen. Built up to super muskrat sizes on a diet of suburban runoff. Perhaps the fish and insects in this pond are bigger than I originally thought and they’ve gone to feeding this beast.

Or perhaps it really is a beaver. The symbol of Canada looking to become my neighbour.

Or it could be the Monster of Avalon. Avalon Al... and I’ve become it’s first eye witness, to be scoffed at by the serious minded... a kook who wanders late at night... looking to gain fame by concocting such far fetched tales. And championed by monster and UFO believers everywhere.