water under the bridge

every working day for seventeen years i have crossed the otonabee river twice - going and returning. a tamed river, the otonabee is a formerly wild river created by the glacier's passage through here tens of thousands of years ago during the last ice age. "The Otonabee River . . . flows through a valley, which was formed when the ice retreated from the Peterborough area about 10 000 years ago and water from glacial Lake Algonquin carved several glacial spillways as it drained south through Rice Lake into glacial Lake Iroquois (present day Lake Ontario). Once much larger, the Otonabee spillway may have carried more water than the St. Lawrence does today. One can see the spillway’s original banks at greater elevations than the present river banks in several areas." (text courtesy of http://www.trentu.ca/academic/trailstudies/rivroad.html)

now, the otonabee is a beautiful waterway, used by thousands through the summer months as a means of getting from one part of southern ontario to another, as a place to swim, boat, play, fish and to just sit beside. i have had the pleasure of cruises along portions of its length and have met people who have travelled from its beginnings in katchewanooka lake north of lakefield, through to rice lake south of peterborough. here is more about the otonabee river. depictions of the river in its early and wild state can be found in the writings of susannah moodie.

i have often thought about taking pictures of the river throughout the year as i walk, or bicycle across it so often. but it wasn't until this evening that i actually stopped and took some pictures of the river - it was about 4:30 - late december so the light was low and the effect of the images is like that you have when looking at pictures of the shrinking ice cap up in canada's arctic.

winter river one.


winter river two.



winter river three.