Blueberries, Bumblebees and Me
August 13, 2018 4:39 pm Leave your thoughts
Welcome back to my blog! It’s hard to believe that I’ve been writing these blogs for almost three months now. Summer is coming to an end and my co-op term is also wrapping up. As much as I love living in Nova Scotia, I think it would be nice to live somewhere where its summer all year round. That way if you miss winter weather, you could simply fly back to Canada for a week, instead of the other way around. In a few short weeks, I will be returning to University for my final year, and when I graduate in April I plan to do a little bit of travelling. I haven’t figured out where I would like to go yet, but I am already excited to experience the unfamiliar cultures and see all the beautiful views. For now though, I will be thankful that I have been able to grow up in Nova Scotia and experience all it has to offer – even if it does mean summer doesn’t last forever.
Amongst all the dry weather in the last month, we’ve had a few days of very heavy rain. On one of these days there was so much rain that the Quarry pond at work rose 2 feet and begun to overflow. The Quarry pond is approximately 125 meters around so a rise of 2 feet is quite a large quantity of water. The pond collects runoff from a portion of the site, therefore when it overflows, we are required to do water sampling to ensure there is nothing harmful in the water. Usually the pond level is low enough in the summer months and doesn’t start overflowing until late fall. This summer was the first summer in a while that the pond overflowed and water sampling was required.
It was nice to be able to do the water sampling with my supervisor one last time before my term is finished and enjoy the additional time outdoors. Below you can see a few pictures of the trip. We found a patch of blueberries along the way so we stopped to harvest a quick snack between sampling destinations. There were a lot of thistle plants in full bloom so the bumblebees were hard at work. I was able to get close enough to one and defy my low level of photography skills. I also got a nice picture of the small river we sample. Although the heat and humidity were definitely not on our side, I can’t complain about being able to come to this beautiful spot during work hours.
When not at work, I have also been trying to make the most out of the remaining summer days. I will be moving in to Halifax while I attend school so I’m trying to enjoy the country side and outdoor activities as much as possible. I’m going to miss seeing my dog Max, everyday, who also doubles as my adventure pal. He has tagged along on most of my adventures this summer, but has not made an appearance in my blog thus far – mainly because he is still only a pup and finds it difficult to stay still for pictures.
That’s all for blog #5! Check in soon for the next one.
-Mandy