Chinook Salmon, Nottawasaga River at Hockley Valley Conservation Area

In the fall, for the last three years I've been visiting this quiet section of the Nottawasaga River at Hockley Valley. I think it will be a tradition long into the future.

There is some ineffable magic about watching the Salmon swim against the currents in their last struggles of life, to breed in the quiet deep Eastern White Cedar forest. As you approach the river you must be quiet and be cautious as to where you step. You want to be sure that you aren't too loud, as the river might tell the fish you are coming and they will swim away.

When you approach, come with quiet heart and sole, like a leaf falling from a tree, gently letting your feet settle to the soft soil below, and at the rivers edge gaze into the shimmering ripple skin of an old river to see two wise Salmon bend, sway and curl into each other, dancing in flow. Watch instinctual ancestral magic ancient and beautiful, with no english remembered to describe it, but just keep watch, and let that deep memory swim your bloodstream for a while. Hold that vision close and just bear witness to the old dance. Watch.