@levisan you shoulda seen the little kids rafting down the nooks on inflated pool toys, jumping in everywhere, etc. i couldn’t believe no one was getting hurt!

@sabbatical Considering it's a >30º week here and there's very little good natural waterplay options nearby, you're making me very jealous

@levisan soon as i migrated south after the weekend i rejoined these conditions myself. head north?

@levisan but i legit didn’t know there were places in rural canada with no water play options. do they not have swim holes in your area? just too polluted?

@levisan polluted or otherwise foul, i mean

@sabbatical All but one of the lakes within an hour drive from the outskirts of Edmonton are fairly shallow and end up getting "don't swim" advisories by August each year.

The other is much deeper, has a cryptid (said to make strange noises when the lake is frozen over in winter), and we're about to head there to camp for the weekend.

Further north-north-east is "lake country" and there are a lot more lakes so you have a better chance but the same problem does occur. Nothing is safe unless you head to the rockies or 3+ hours north.

I did just learn of a secret sandbank on a small river that I'll have to take the family to sometime

@levisan yeah that sucks. guess it depends how gross the rivers get here too — a lot of them are much better than they were decades ago but depends on water flow and sources. maitland river in particular is kinda low flow i guess but has had a long history of environmental/conservation groups working to keep it clean, or so i read while i was there. so maybe worth trying to find out if any rivers in your area are like that.