Peaceful Life at the Cabin

A few days at a rented cabin in the Whiteshell helped escape the hustle and bustle of city life. It's amazing how sitting on a lake shore and watching water and wildlife brings peace to the soul.

This was the same pet-friendly cabin we rented last year. One of the differences this year was the chipmunk activity around the cabin. Last year, we saw one or two chipmunks. This year, there were dozens of them. Watching them climb bur oak trees to clip off acorns was fascinating. After they clipped a dozen or acorns, they climbed down and gathered the acorns. First, they stripped off the shells. Then, they stuffed the green acorns in their cheeks. When their cheeks were full, they scurried away to store their acorns in underground burrows.

This is an image of one eastern chipmunk I photographed closeup, on the ground near my feet.

We saw all sorts of other wildlife over our 3 days at the lake, including otters, a beaver, Canada geese, gulls, ravens, Canada jays, brown creepers, and a hawk. Bear poop was seen on one of the nearby trails but, fortunately, no bears were encountered.

Happiness is ...