My Watermark is the South Saskatchewan River on the border of Alberta and Saskatchewan.

This waterbody was one of the few that existed near the community we lived in at the time during the late ‘60s, early ‘70s. It was fairly reachable for our family to take a drive over there and hike along the river or picnic on the grounds right there at the ferry crossing.

What was great about the river was that it was an absolute treasure trove of environmental diversity. Environmental diversity is not what people usually think when thinking of South Saskatchewan, but because of the importance of the river, I think of all the different birds and mammals and reptiles. The river was just chock full of diversity.

Because I was quite young at the time, I can remember the environmental diversity making an extremely big impression on me. At the time, that area was used, and I think is still used, by pronghorn antelope for their annual migration. It was near areas where the prairie chickens have their stomping grounds. It was a denning area for the diamondback rattlesnakes. It had really amazing vegetation that I had never known from Northern Ontario where we lived before that, which included things like cactus berries that you could carefully pluck out of a cactus and pluck in your mouth. It’s very sweet. And on the opposite side of the spectrum, choke cherries, which were extremely sour, indescribably sour on low bushes on the river gullies. If you were hiking up in the hills, you could see the river meandering in both directions as far as the eye could see, but set in this otherworldly landscape that had been cut through the prairies and the badlands over a millennium. So, when I think about a body of water that has made a lifetime impression on me, that’s the one I think of for different reasons than all of the other bodies of water that I enjoy today.

When I think of all of the memories I have of the South Saskatchewan River, one memory, in particular, comes to mind. It was the day when I stood at the top of the river with the Brownie troop that I had belonged to and looked out over the distance. We were on a day hike together that day and I can distinctly remember that view from the heights, from the height of land with my friends around me. I think this would be one of the most memorable times when the immensity of the planet really struck home for me.