Kam Lake

In honour of my new class "Blossoms and Butterflies" I went out on the rocks around Kam Lake today and took pictures of the vegetation. It was really quite lovely to be there, the sun warm and the leaves were rustling...I was laying on the rocks and thinking about everything, it is good for the spirit to be in nature...

My first class was last night, we are going to be learning about the wild flowers of Yellowknife and the NWT. There are seven other people in the class and they all know all about flowers and so I am the dumb one...no problem, it just means I have a lot to learn. We are going to go out on some field trips later in June, to see butterflies and take pictures of orchids and other beautiful flowers, that should be fun, I am looking forward to it.


Isn't this beautiful? A little growth in the cracks of a rock.


Here's another pretty one, I can't identify (yet), but next time I go out I will bring my aunt's plant book with me (Plants of the Western Boreal Forest & Aspen Parkland).


This is Kam Lake, it is beautiful! The rocks were kind of steep, made me think about my own mortality (what would happen if I fell and drowned no one ever found me?)...I lay on the rocks under the sun for a bit, it was so pleasant.


I think I may do a sketch of this tree, there is something special about it...I wish I had brought my sketch book with me today, but I didn't know how beautiful it would be and I didn't realize I would spend hours there (climbing rocks, taking pictures, looking around).

This log caught my eye, it was surrounded by moss and it made me think of when I was a kid and my dad used to get us kids to collect moss for him for his Bonsai trees. I was thinking he should come out here to get moss, there is so much of it! Of course, it is a 9 hour flight from Montreal so perhaps not...


This is a shot looking down towards the water. You'll notice the rock is pink, a lot of the rocks here are pink, and you can see that it was kind of steep in this area.

Overall, Kam Lake is beautiful and it is close by, only a 15 minute walk on the rocks and you are at the water. I don't know if it is more beautiful than the other lakes (Frame Lake, Range Lake, Great Slave)...they all are beautiful.

~~~

I was thinking about the earthquake victims and how horrid it must be to lose family members and loved ones, and all your earthy possessions, as well as the uncertaintly of it all...really makes you think about the innumerable blessing that we have. In Hamza Yusuf's book on Purification of the Heart, there is a prayer for gratefulness, that is good to recite:

"O God, I come to you this morning with blessings and well-being and shelter from You, so complete your grace upon me, and [grant me] well-being and shelter in this world and the Hereafter".

(The prophet Muhammad (s.a.w) said that whoever says this every morning three times has fulfilled his obligation of gratitude for that day, ref: pg 177).