I have been hiking the Oldman River many times and the rock formations keep amazing and fascinating me. The shapes, the sizes, the way they seem to hang there by an invisible thread and yet they have been there for a few years. Polished and formed by the wind, the rain, the rapid change in temperature. I named this one the monster rock because it looks like the head of a monster with an open mouth chewing on something. Perhaps a dinosaur bone.

(Stay tuned for more photos from Cottonwood Park.)

Do you get excited when you see wild life? Does your heart beat a little or a lot faster? Feel a tingle in your body? Butterflies in your stomach? All this makes hiking in nature exciting and fun in addition to relaxing. You don't know what you will see next. A dear, a bird, a bear, a beaver? Sometimes the animals are close to you but by the time you notice them they get away from you and you only see them from a distance.

That's what happened to me when I hiked at Cottonwood Park. The dear were very close to me but by the time I noticed them they went up the cliffs and far from me. They stayed in the valley hiding from me. (At least they thought they did.) They stopped for a few minutes pretending to hide behind these old fence posts. They looked adorable as they stared at me. If they could talk human they would probably say: Look out! There is a photographer there. Lets all hide so she can't see us. The young one in the middle would say: if I look away she can't see me for sure.

(Come back to see next week's photo from the park.)

Spending time in nature is a blessing and an immense joy to me. I have recently been to Cottonwood Park South West of Lethbridge. The park is a designated preservation area with 292 acres of grasslands, coulees and riparian forests.
This first photo shows the splendid beauty of the Oldman River and the surrounding land from the top of the park entrance. The trees are budding and fill the air with a bitter-sweet scent. The grasses are still dry and starting to show patches of green. Birds and deer can be seen. Flowers are blooming and the water is warming up. The wind sweeps trough the dry grass making a relaxing sound. The birds are singing and the sun is warm. What more can you ask for? It is a piece of heaven on earth.

(See coming pictures of the park for the next 5 weeks.)

Someone was in a creative mood on the Oldman River across from Paradise Canyon Golf Resort and built an arch and some small inukshuks. They are fascinating by them selves but looking at the scenery trough them is even more interesting. The rocks around Lethbridge are colorful and beautiful. No wonder they inspire people to explore their artistic side.