On the river's edge

I am currently participating in a summer music study program, called Domaine Forget, in Quebec. Domaine Forget is an estate on a hillside about three hours up the river from Quebec City.

Every morning we wake up and see the St. Lawrence River from our beds. The river can be seen from almost any spot here. It’s hard to believe we aren’t actually on the ocean, since the river is so wide at this point. At times it’s too hazy to see the land on the other side.

I went to the bottom of the hill this afternoon, and sat at the river’s edge. I sat and imagined the fleets of ships that would have accompanied John Cabot and Samuel Champlain and all the other early explorers. I am amazed every time I remember that four hundred years ago, they sailed here, and looked out at the very banks on which I am currently living. Wow.

 It reminded me of a song I know. In 1999, my hometown of Rocky Mountain House held bicentennial celebrations, and a local musician wrote a song to honour the explorers who came to that area by following the North Saskatchewan River. 

Do you ever sit at the river’s edge and listen
And wonder at the stories it could tell?
Though the days have gone, is the river’s song unspoken?
Holding deep within, the secrets of this land. 

Imagine the stories the St. Lawrence could tell: explorers, traders, settlers, soldiers. Oh, the things we could learn!