To this verdant country they came from all around

My trail camera captures two buck whitetails at a mineral lick here in Nolalu

Tomorrow is Canada Day and this year is particularly special since it is our 150th birthday as a nation. It's much longer for First Nations, of course. Their history began thousands of years ago. The scene above reminds me of Gordon Lightfoot's line in Canadian Railroad Trilogy about "this verdant country." Here are the lyrics to the beginning of his song:

"There was a time in this fair land when the railroad did not run
When the wild majestic mountains stood alone against the sun
Long before the white man and long before the wheel
When the green dark forest was too silent to be real

 

But time has no beginnings and hist'ry has no bounds
As to this verdant country they came from all around
They sailed upon her waterways and they walked the forests tall
Built the mines the mills and the factories for the good of us all

 

And when the young man's fancy was turnin' to the spring
The railroad men grew restless for to hear the hammers ring
Their minds were overflowing with the visions of their day
And many a fortune lost and won and many a debt to pay"

 

Not only did people come to this "verdant country" but so did animal immigrants. Even as recent as 150 years ago this area was mostly inhabited by caribou. Then came moose and now deer.

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