Serenity Sunday: Gregoire Provincial Park, Alberta, Canada

These photos were taken at Gregoire Lake, a provincial park not far from the city that offers beautiful trails through the woods and an opportunity to swim in the lake or simply sit on the beach on a warm summer’s day. Many use it to fish either from the shore or in boats. It was a haven I feared may be lost when wildfires swept through the area in 2016. In these times of great uncertainty, I am often reminded of the fear, stress, and worry of those days. The city was evacuated and we spent a month not knowing what the future held. Of course, we never really did know what the future held in store, not then not now, but have to have faith despite the cries that tell us the sky is falling. When all is said and done and we one day look back on these pandemic days it is my hope that we too, though perhaps somewhat scorched, will stand as tall and as fully alive as the pines and birch trees in Gregoire Park that survived the fire.

Gregoire Lake in Gregoire Provincial Park, Alberta, Canada

One of many ponds alongside the highway, this one is not far from the community of Anzac

Paved road way through Gregoire Park

I aimed my camera to the left at the edge of the lake, to the right trees were burnt and the vista hurt my heart, I am so grateful for all that was saved

A mix of dead and burned trees along with those that were miraculously untouched by the flames

A beautiful autumn day in the park

Blackened trees still standing alongside their more fortunate neighbors

“There’s got to be a morning after” a song by Maureen McGovern that played in my head often during those days, and is playing there once again. There will be a morning after, even if we cannot envision what it may look like.

Is there anything more perfect than a walk through the woods or along a lake shore in autumn?

Docks on the lake in Gregoire Provincial Park, AB, Canada I am so grateful that though the park was not untouched, the fire fighters managed to save the vast majority of it.

I leave you with a few quotes on autumn and nature as we move into winter, with its own brand of beauty.

“Delicious autumn! My very soul is wedded to it, and if I were a bird, I would fly about the earth seeking the successive autumns.” –  George Eliot

“Everybody needs beauty as well as bread, places to play in and pray in, where nature may heal and give strength to body and soul.” –  John Muir

“What the caterpillar calls the end of the world the master calls a butterfly.” –  Richard Bach