Hidden People

They weren't that well-hidden. And they certainly weren't as good as tiny doors.

In 2020, as a way to get some exercise and fresh air during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, DW and I went for a walk along the Rideau River, at the Chapman Mills Conservation Area. There's a lovely trail that takes you from Winding Way to the Vimy Memorial Bridge, where you can spot all kinds of birds.

On this walk, I spotted a miniature door attached to a tree stump and took a picture of it. It wasn't until I shared that photo on social media that someone told me that there were six tiny doors along this trail, and so I returned, with a video camera, to try to locate them all.

You can see that video, here.

On Sunday, DW and I drove out to Merrickville, further south along the Rideau River, to meet some friends for lunch. But before meeting up, DW and I decided to go for a hike in the area, as part of our training for an upcoming vacation, next year.

I'll talk more of that hike, which was a bust, on Friday.

To kill time before our lunch date, we wandered Merrickville and made our way to the public library, which sits along the Rideau, just upstream from the locks. DW and I wondered if this library loaned kayaks, as we had seen the library in St. Marys, in Southern Ontario, do.

Give it a thought, Merrickville Public Library.

Just beyond the library, a short trail follows the river through a forested area that is part of the Rideau Migratory Bird Sanctuary. It's very short, at less than a kilometre, but we decided to investigate it anyway.

At the trailhead, we encountered a sign that showed some illustrated red folks with pointed hats, and read Count the Hidden People Walk! Obviously aimed at young people, this walk encouraged you to find these illustrated people in the woods and count how many you saw. There are three trails in the area that contain these 'hidden people' and you were to submit how many people you saw to the library, who would then draw from a list of correct guesses to award a prize.

DW and I had no intention of submitting our guess to the library but we would keep an eye out for these figures along our stroll.

I thought about the miniature doors of the Chapman Mills trail and expected to be on the lookout for tiny carved figurines, hidden carefully along the trail. Almost immediately upon entering the woods, I was met by a bit of disappointment.

The hidden people were not miniature, were not figurines, and it's arguable whether they were even hidden. Instead, they were paper cutouts on wire stands, stuck into the ground to the sides of the trail. Because they are a bright red, they stood out against the still-green foliage.

The trail is about 500 metres long and takes you out to a loop road that leads from the library, around an open field, and out toward the town, proper. I stopped along the trail to snap a couple of photos of these red people, whereas DW kept going and waited for me at the end of the trail.

We exchanged numbers at the end and DW found one more than I had. "There was one person that was obvious as you rounded a turn," she said, "but there was another directly across, and if you didn't turn around, you could miss it."

Apparently, I didn't turn around.

"Did you count this red person?" I asked, showing a photo I shot.

"I didn't," DW said.

"Actually, neither did I, though this figure was more interesting than the cutouts."

I would have loved to find more of those action figures. Just add a pointed hat to it and hide it along the trail.

Happy Tuesday!