Mr. Noah

Last summer there was a really high water level on the Port Hope Waterfront Trail and this tune came into my head. I learned it from the Dave Van Ronk - Folksinger LP in the mid-sixties, but had forgotten about it.

Dave van ronk folksinger.jpg

 
I remember Peter, Paul and Mary singing this. Great song.
 
For the past couple of decades, I have been walking down the Port Hope Waterfront Trail most days all year round. It's a lovely nature walk with lots of wildlife: mute swans, great blue herons, green herons, egrets, Canada geese, all kinds of ducks, rabbits, raccoons, chipmunks, turtles, snakes and I'm often attacked by red-wing blackbirds. The chickadees sit on my fingers and eat seed right out of my hand.
The trail goes much of the way between the A.K. Sculthope Marsh and Lake Ontario and ends at Gage's Creek. In 2017 and 2019, we had record high water levels in Lake Ontario and I was reminded of the Dave Van Ronk song Mr.Noah.
Here are two photos, taken from approximately the same spot.
The first shows the normal water level at the mouth of Gage's Creek.
LOW LOW Gage's.jpg

The second shows the water level at about its highest.
HIGH HIGH Gage's.jpg
 
Wow, that's a lot of water!
Ain't wildlife the best?
 
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