So it’s been two months since I last updated this thing.  How did that happen? Al?  Aren’t you supposed to be reminding me to write occasionally?

Ha!  Just kidding.  Sort of.  I need somebody to blame, and you seemed like a good candidate.

At any rate, I now have to sit here and try to figure out what exactly I’ve been doing for the last two months.  Oddly, there have been quite a few things going on.  Maybe my biggest problem will be addressing them without typing about 20,000 words.

Boo sits by the fire on a chilly December evening

I guess I could start with what I’m typing this on.  Several months ago, my renter let me borrow one of his Mac Powerbooks – specifically, the one that had neither a battery nor a power supply.  I took it with the idea of eventually trying to write some iPhone apps, and promptly forgot about it.  Then, about a month ago, I went out and got the necessary things to actually turn it on, tweaked the software a bit, and have been using it fairly regularly for various things since then.

Stone Mountain Cemetery

It’s an okay machine, but guess what: I still prefer using Windows.  For all those mac-heads out there who continue to insist that their computer is the superior one, I’m sorry.  You’re just wrong.  And yes, I am a trained professional.

The brass band’s album was finally shipped to us on December 1st and we’ve actually had a pretty good number of sales so far.  I think we need to sell about 600 of the things in order to break even on the project.  Not sure of the exact numbers at this point, but I’d estimate that we’ve unloaded about half of that number in the last three weeks.  If anybody who reads this wants a copy, go to GeorgiaBrassBand.com and you can buy one there for $15 (plus shipping).

In my next-to-last post (from October, I think), I mentioned that I played a gig at Perimeter Church with a quintet.  During a break between the services in that gig, I got an email from my father, who informed me that he’d be out of town visiting a woman in Cleveland, OH, who he’d met at his 50th high school reunion.

I got another email about a week ago from him.  He has now proposed to “the Cleveland chick,” she’s accepted, and I guess I’m going to become one of that sociological group known as “step children.”

I am so not riding in a pumpkin, Dad.  And I don’t sweep fireplaces, either.  Let’s get that straight right now.

This was one of the memorials in the infant section of Stone Mountain Cemetery.  I think it’s bizarre.

My football team, thanks largely to key injuries during the course of the season, had their first losing campaign since about 1994.  They finished with a 5-6 record and the head coach, who was a classmate of mine, was basically forced to resign.  Many of the visitors to my website were thrilled by this.

Many of the visitors to my website are dicks, say I.

Anyway, after about a two-week-long search, we have a new head coach.  Ironically, he came in second for the job when it was given to the coach who just resigned, yet all of the people who were calling for the head of the old coach are simply thrilled at the prospect of the new one.

I expect the team to do very well next year – were it not for the injuries this year, they would have done very well, and only about 7 guys are graduating.  After next year, however, we’ll find out what the new coach is all about.  I wish him well.

I mentioned recently that I’d be off of the band’s board of directors as soon as an election was held.  Well, we held the election about a month ago and I’m still not off of the board.  One of the last things I was to have done as a director was to rubber-stamp the election of the new board.  Unfortunately, major screw-ups were made with the election (some members were not aware that there was going to BE one, one of the listed candidates should not have been on the ballot, etc); and, as of now, the current board is still trying to determine whether or not to scrap the results and do it again.  

Creepy, huh?

I’ve voted against that idea, by the way.  The new board, as elected, will do just fine.  There’s no reason to screw around and vote again, particularly given that the guy who led me to resign has now seen the actual numbers and will be sure to tell all of his buddies exactly how to vote in order to seat the board that he wants.

I think that’s about enough for now.  I will once again attempt to make more regular entries into this thing going forward.  Call it a New Year’s resolution.

Or don’t.

TWD

Yeah, so it’s been a while since I updated this.  Football season’s on, work is work, the rest of life remains pretty much the same.  I recently had to drop $3,000 on car repairs, which wasn’t fun at all.  Chris is more than likely to move next year, which also isn’t fun.  My football team is not doing well – not fun #3.  I’ve decided to quit the band’s board as soon as new elections are held (hopefully within the next month or so), mainly because it has grown increasingly negative thanks to the efforts of one board member who is unlikely to quit.  I’ll devote an entire blog entry to that debacle in the near future.  The North American board, on the other hand, seems to be largely uninterested in doing much – but there’s not a lot of hostility. 

Just not a lot of pleasantness going on, huh?

Which leads me to a very vivid dream that I had last night – one that is rapidly fading from my mind.  It was one of those things that caused me to wake up feeling helpless, then experience a moment of incredible relief upon the realization that it wasn’t real life, then wonder what I was trying to work out in my mind that caused me to dream it in the first place.

The dream involved a debacle with three automobiles.  All of them mine.

One was a Toyota Camry.  One was a 1976 AMC Gremlin.  The third was a vintage Excalibur.  Why I had these three cars, I don’t know, but I apparently had managed to get all of them to the streets of downtown Atlanta in order that I might attend some sort of large festival.

From what I remember, all were damaged – one at a time – as I was trying to fight the traffic to leave the festival.  It was sort of a planning ahead situation, in that I knew that, once one car was involved in a wreck, I’d move to the next one.  In the end, both the Camry and the Gremlin had major front-end damage, and the Excalibur had to be towed with what I believe was a damaged battery. 

I’m not sure how I got home, but upon waking up the next morning, I knew only where the Excalibur was.  I had no idea where – indeed IF – the other two vehicles had been towed.  In telling people what had happened (I called my boss to tell her that I couldn’t get to work and would have to work from home, and for some reason I also told Larry about the situation), I discovered that I really couldn’t remember WHAT had happened to each of the cars.  Left to my own to think about things, I was in near-panic mode because I realized that I’d probably never find the two cheaper cars, and the Excalibur was slowly draining all of my finances. 

Other things that I remember are that the Camry was somehow related to Jenny (it might have been owned by her) and that, while I loved the Excalibur, I realized that it was completely impractical and expensive.  At the same time, I knew that I’d do whatever it took to keep it.  I also knew where it was, but had no clue about the other two.  I called the mechanic who had towed it (I had the number memorized), but the shop was closed – all of the folks there had taken the day off to attend a tire convention.  No kidding! 

I was very concerned about how to break the news to Jenny that I didn’t know where the Camry was, and was wondering what I could sell in order to have it fixed before she got home.   I know that that last sentence made absolutely no sense – this was a dream, people.

As I said, I woke up and was at first completely relieved that this was all a dream.  Then I started to wonder what it was all about.

The obvious choice would be that it had to do with thoughts about all of the repairs I recently had done to my car.  I like the Audi and it carries a certain amount of status – do I subconsciously think that it’s too expensive?  If so, what did the other two cars represent?

A close second would have to be that it has something to do with my love life.  I’ve only had four “loves” in my life, and one of them ended nearly 30 years ago.  The other three have all been fairly recent – Jenny, Audrey and Chris. 

I’m leaning towards this interpretation, but am having a terrible time figuring out which car represents which woman.  It seems fairly obvious that the Camry would be Jenny – which leaves the Gremlin and the Excalibur, and Audrey and Chris.  Which is which?  And what would it all mean anyway?  If I’m giving myself subliminal advice, I don’t know what it is.

For starters, the flashiest of the three cars –and the most expensive – was undoubtedly the Excalibur.  The flashiest (and most expensive) of the women is Audrey.  However, I knew where the Excalibur was (in other words, I hadn’t lost it), and I was willing to do what it took to keep it – that points to Chris.

As far as the Gremlin goes, I really liked my Gremlin (in real life – I drove a 1976 Gremlin for about 4 years).  It was easy to work with, dependable, inexpensive, etc.  And in the dream, I remember thinking, “I should have just taken the Gremlin.  I’d know where it was now and I could afford to fix it.”

Given that Audrey is now married, does that make the Gremlin her and I’m kicking myself for losing her?  Or is the Gremlin Chris and I’m warning myself NOT to lose her?  After all, I’ve never owned an Excalibur and never expect to.  A female equivalent would be, say, a head cheerleader.

So.  Is my subconscious mind trying to tell me something?  Should I get rid of the Audi and buy a car with no payments?  Should I redouble my efforts to keep Chris in Georgia?   Should I try to sabotage Audrey’s marriage (don’t worry if you’re reading this, Aud – it was a hypothetical)?  Should I borrow Jenny’s car from now on?

Or is the whole thing just a consequence of the fact that I had barbecued sausage for dinner last night?

TWD

Well, it’s only been a few weeks since my last entry, but it feels like three months have gone by since I put everything in the car and hit the road out of Magnetawan, headed for Grand Rapids, MI.

I got up fairly early on Thursday, September 16, though not early enough to have had to set the alarm or anything.  My plan was to be on the road by about 9AM, and I did that after taking a shower in the farmhouse and doing a last walk-through of the camp.

It was an absolutely gorgeous sunny morning when I left, but that didn’t last long.  By the time I got to King, Ontario, it had begun to rain – and the rain continued more or less all day long.   One notable exception was, thankfully, at customs in Port Huron, MI.  For only the second time in the last 20 years, I was subjected to having my car searched.

More specifically, it was x-rayed.

Oh, it wasn’t just me.  I just happened to be the first one in a string of about 5 cars that was apparently selected for a random x-raying.  The guy at the customs booth asked me virtually nothing other than, “What nationality are you?” Once I told him (American, for those of you keeping track), he stared at his little computer screen for about 3 minutes without saying a word, then told me to pull forward “until that guy up there tells you to stop.”

Said guy had me stop 50 yards up the road and promptly ignored me for 10 minutes while this whole process was repeated with the 4 or 5 vehicles immediately behind me.  At that point, the aforementioned guy told me to leave everything in my car and walk back past all of the other cars until I was “behind the orange barrels.”

I did so, along with everyone else in the other cars.  A large truck then drove slowly down one side of our cars, turned around, drove slowly back up the other side of our cars, and parked. 

We were then told we could go.   And it immediately resumed raining.

I got to Grand Rapids at around 5:00, checked into a hotel, had a quick dinner, and went to bed early.

On Friday, I picked up Betsy Jones from the GR airport and we spent the next two days in board meetings.  More specifically, we spent the next two days wasting a great deal of time and accomplishing basically nothing that couldn’t have been accomplished in 15 minutes over the internet.  We did, however, get a tour of a very nice hotel (The Amway Grand Hotel), which is the site of the 2011 brass band championships.

On Saturday night, I caught parts of the Furman/USC game over the internet.  The good guys lost, 38-19, but played pretty well against the #13 Gamecocks.

Sunday, we left at about 11AM and headed for Atlanta by way of East Lansing, where Betsy had gone to grad school, and then Adrian, where her parents live.  In E. Lansing, we stopped at an interesting little brewpub “…and Tuba Museum,” which was filled with about 1000 tubas, baritones, euphoniums, helicons, serpents – and outside there was a silver Conn 20-J literally steamrolled into the pavement.  Interesting place.

In Adrian, we got some lemonade from her parents, a tour of the house next door (which, along with all that it contains) was given to her parents when the previous owner died, a similar tour of her mother’s various quilts (the woman is a prize-winning quilter), and a demonstration of how her father is able to make squirrels beg for peanuts.  The one what we saw beg was named “Buddy.” There’s another one, named “Lugnuts,” apparently because he has/had a fairly severe inflammation of his squirrely man-parts.

Forgive me.  The name made me laugh pretty loudly.

The rest of the drive home was pretty straightforward, and I dropped Betsy off in Marietta at around 2:30 in the morning; then made my way to Duluth, where I hit the bed by around 4:00 and was asleep instantly.

I had Monday off, waded through my email on Tuesday, and was back into the swing of things at work by Wednesday, 9/22. 

Wednesday night, I had a rehearsal with a quintet at Duluth Perimeter Church, where I’d played for the July 4th weekend.  Everything seemed to go pretty well.  Thursday and Friday were uneventful.

Saturday, September 25, I headed up to Greenville and shot my first football game of the year.  The good guys won, 31-14, but I wasn’t overly impressed with their play.  Neither was I overly impressed with my pictures (which you can see at theuffp.smugmug.com).

On Sunday, I lounged around for most of the day before heading to Perimeter Church to play for the first two services in their new chapel.  Because we’d learned, after the Wednesday rehearsal, that we needed some more music, I brought along Bach’s Alleluia, which is a fairly straightforward, pretty piece.  I’ve played it probably 50-100 times.  We had a short rehearsal before the first service and it went off quite well, as it did for the service itself.

After a dinner break, we went back to play the second service, starting again with Alleluia.  Something – I have no idea what – went horribly awry within the first 15 bars of the piece, and the song that I’ve played 50-100 times became completely unrecognizable to me.  I struggled for much of the rest of the tune to try to find a pedal note upon which to sit or to pick out anything in the other parts that I could mimic or harmonize or anything else, but in the end it was no use.  This very pretty quintet piece sounded like something out of a bad horror flick until everyone finally came together for the last two bars.  At least we ended it right.

The rest of the service went quite well. 

Last week at work was nothing to write about.  I caught up on some projects and training while waiting for Saturday and my second football game of the year.  I did, however, find out that I’m finally setup to get U-Verse (ATT’s television offering), so I signed up for that, and it will be installed tomorrow.

Also took the car into the shop on Friday morning because the check light kept coming on.  Got an estimate for $800.  So, while U-Verse is being installed in my house, a few different parts will be getting installed in the car tomorrow.  Sigh.

Last Saturday was a beautiful day for a game, but Furman was absolutely crushed by tiny Wofford College, 38-17, and my pictures weren’t much better than the score.  I’ve spent the last couple of days policing my website and removing various variations of “we suck!” from the messageboards.

Here’s hoping the guys do a little better next Saturday.

TWD

9:10 AM

I meant to turn my alarm off yesterday morning, but what I actually did was move it from “Beep” to “iPod.”  At 6:30 this morning, Quiet Riot’s Cum On Feel the Noize began bellowing out of my docking station at about 150 decibels, rousing me and probably most other sentient beings on the lake; including, apparently, a loon and a beaver that I hadn’t seen previously.

Thus began my final day at Ulvik in 2010.

It was very cold when my feet hit the floor – around 34 degrees – and I (wisely, I think) opted not to bathe in the lake.  In fact, I have yet to bathe at all, though I did brush my teeth and I put on a hat just in case I’m overrun with visitors this morning.

For breakfast, I had a bagel from the Cornball Store that someone had thoughtfully left behind.  I considered using the leftover waffle mix from yesterday, but realized that I had no syrup – and who wants syrupless waffles?  Not me.  So I went into town and got some syrup.  Sounds like waffles for lunch.  I also got some Krazy Glue ™, as the nut that holds my camera on the tripod has come loose.  So there’s a project for today, along with sweeping out the main cabin, consolidating the trash, packing my car for the trip to Michigan tomorrow, and doing a final load of dishes.

Right now, however, I think I’ll go take a nap.

11:40

Okay, so no nap.  I way lying about that.

I’ve packed my suitcase, organized the car, swept and mopped the floor of the main cabin, put everything with a battery in it in the farmhouse cellar, glued my tripod back together (we’ll see how that works, dusted, polished the dinner table, and vacuumed the cowhide that’s lying in front of the fire.

If I keep this up, I’m not going have to do anything tomorrow except….LEAVE.   That’s just not right.

The sun has come out and is shining brightly, but I think Canada has turned the corner into autumn.  It’s 42 degrees outside – 55 inside, for those of you keeping track.

While doing my cleaning, I’ve been listening to the CBC and realizing just how much I miss it when I’m not up here.  I wonder if there’s an app for it on my iPhone.  Will have to check when I get back in the US.

Lunch is still a mystery.  Chicken or waffles.  Or a sandwich.  Or chicken AND waffles (that soul food nirvana) AND a sandwich.

Or June’s.

4:55 PM

So what I did was, I used the waffle batter to make some pancakes.  Four pancakes. 

I believe the southern expression is “I was too stuffed to jump.”  Man, I make good pancakes.  Or, more correctly, “T” makes good waffle mix.

I read for a bit this afternoon, but got bored with that and decided to watch a movie on Netflix.  Surprise, surprise – Netflix cannot stream movies to Canada.  So I tried Hulu.  Hulu cannot stream movies to Canada.  So I found some feature-length stuff on YouTube.

And that’s been my afternoon.

8:51 PM

Looks like this is going to be my last entry in Canada – once I finish it and publish it, I’ll be unplugging the modem and router and packing them in the desk for the winter.  After that, I’ll do the final load of dishes, put the clothes that I’m wearing in the washer, jump in the lake for the last time this year (there’s NO WAY I’m getting in it tomorrow morning), and do whatever else needs to be done before I go to bed (like moving the clothes from the washer to the dryer).

While I’ve tried to convey, through the last ten days of blog entries, how much I love it here, it’s really not possible to do with just words on a computer screen – or with photos of the place, for that matter.  To really understand the draw of Magnetawan, you need to have been born and raised in a small town, to have grown up and moved to a very large city, and to have been given the chance to “go home” for a couple of weeks every year.  I like having big-city “things” – the opportunity to play in a band; a job in the tech industry; world-class arts and sports close to my house.  All of those things are great and wonderful and I’m glad that I am able to experience them, but I’ll always be a small-town kid at heart.  I’ll always be able to enjoy myself most by just walking in the woods, thinking about nothing, and maybe catching sight of a deer or a hawk or a groundhog or a fox or a beautiful blue sky that seems to stretch to infinity.

So for the 50 or so weeks that I’m in Atlanta every year, you can bet that I’m thinking of the 2 that I’ll be “on the Magnetawan.”

Thank you again, Cy and “T”.  This place – and you two – are the highlights of my year.

TWD

9/14/10 – 10:32 AM

In a scene in the movie Beetlejuice, Winona Ryder writes, either in her journal or as the start of a piece of poetry, “I am alone.”  She then crosses it out and writes, “I am utterly alone.”

I could write that now.  The difference between the two situations would be that she was writing it in a very depressed, pre-suicidal-type manner, and I would be writing it as, “This is SO cool!”  I am, for the first time in probably two years, utterly alone.  On top of that fun fact, the morning weather on the lake is the most beautiful it has been since I arrived at camp 9 days ago.  The sun has been shining brightly since I rolled out of bed at around 6:30, the temperature is in the high 50s, the ever-present breeze is whispering just enough to let you know it’s there without freezing you.  In short, it’s a perfect morning.

“T” and Cy and I were joined by “T”’s cousin’s son Jimbo Norton for breakfast this morning.  We feasted on waffles and bacon while Jimbo told us a bit about a project he’s writing and producing for PBS’s Nature.  It’s due to air next spring and has to do with the salmon population on the west coast, I believe.  I think he said the title is Salmon: An Unnatural History.  He’s also writing some sort of a book on North America’s last rain forest (in British Columbia, I’m told). 

After Jimbo left, Cy and “T” completed their packing, left me a bit of food and a list of things that needed to be done before I left, and then they hit the road for Vermont, leaving me – as previously noted – alone at Ulvik for the next two days.

Being the industrious lad that I am, I’ve so far moved some of the outside furniture indoors (or at least into the screened porch area, as instructed), and have started cleaning a load of sheets and towels.  Expending that sort of energy so early in the morning has forced me to take a short break.

12:44 PM

Towels are finished, sheets are drying.

I spent a bit of time online after my previous entry, and then finished putting the rest of the outdoor furniture under cover – with the exception of the couch on the farmhouse porch.  I have no idea what to do with that, as it doesn’t look like it will fit through the door.  I’ll tackle it later this afternoon maybe.  Unless I decide to take a nap on it.

Also cleared off the dock, got the boats shipshape (ha! I kill me!), and am currently lounging on the porch of the main cabin wondering what to do about lunch.  Sammiches or June’s.  Sammiches or June’s….

5:33 PM

I went the sandwich route.  Cheese and cucumber, if you must know.  And potato chips. 

And a pickle.

Got all of the laundry done, then took a walk up Thompson Road, as the weather was beautiful and the sky offered some incredible photos.  Then I came back to the main cabin, answered some email, and started uploading vacation shots to SmugMug (I’ll give you the link to look at them later in this epistle.  Before I do, I need to get them all uploaded and do some other administrative stuff).

The temperature has continued to drop all afternoon, and I finally caved about 30 minutes ago and started a fire when I realized it was 45 degrees inside the cabin.  On cue, it began to hail outside and the temp dropped another 5 degrees.   I am now, however, quiet toasty next to the fireplace….and wondering what I can throw together for dinner.

A pork chop will be involved.

8:41 PM

Oh yeah.  A pork chop was most definitely involved.  Love you, Cy! 

My dinner, as you’ve probably deduced, was a reheated pork chop.  I garnished it with coffee and potato chips.  For dessert, I’m thinking of heating a brownie and topping it with ice cream, but I’m not there yet.

I did manage to get about 200 photographs uploaded to my SmugMug site, and – since we’re all friends here – I’m now going to give you to top-secret super-secured URL to view them.  Ready?

http://theuffp.smugmug.com/Vacation/Canada-2010/13771499_7VHMr/

Now please note that there are over 200 photos there.  The thinking part of you should now be saying to the rest of you, “My!  That’s a lot of pictures.  These certainly can’t constitute a “best of” type of thing, right?”  

Right.  I’ve posted basically everything I’ve taken over the last week that didn’t completely suck (and that isn’t related to cemeteries…for the most part).  There are  multiple shots of basically the same thing, with slightly different camera settings.  There are blurry shots that I thought deserved to be included.  There are really really really BORING shots that I figured maybe somebody might like.  At any rate, this gallery is NOT filtered down into what I’d consider to be the best shots I’ve ever taken – or even the best shots from the last 9 days.  It’s just … well … stuff.   So enjoy it or don’t.  It’s up to you.   And if you want prints, knock yourself out – you can get them at cost (which means I’m not making any money here, which is definitely not the way my football shots work).

Anyhow, for the last three hours, I’ve basically done nothing except sit on the couch in the main cabin and listen to the CBC.  Outside, the storm passed over and the sun came out and it resumed being a very nice day for the most part.  Said sun has now gone down and it’s pretty much pitch black outside, but that’s okay.  I like it.

My fire has nearly burned itself out, but it served its purpose admirably: outside, it is 44 degrees.  Inside, it is 70. 

And I think it’s about time to publish this entry, call Cy to make sure that she and the hubby made it safely back to Vermont, listen to the radio for another hour, and then lurch off to the boathouse for what I’m sure will be a fantastic night’s sleep.

For those of you who’ve spent time at Ahmic, you already know this; but for those of you who haven’t – this is the most relaxing, peaceful, mind-clearing, beautiful place on earth.   Night, all.

TWD

The day dawned overcast and chilly and gave no indication of what would happen weatherwise.  Because Don and Julie Peddy had announced that they’d be leaving early, I set the alarm for 6:30 and managed to win the race to the main cabin – but not by much.  I’d just gotten the coffee made and was settling down to write this tome when the two travelers burst in, apparently ready to leave without saying goodbye to anyone. 

They didn’t make it.  “T” and Cy arrived a few minutes later, and after hugs all around, the five of us became three.

Within a few minutes, the phone rang.  There was a house fire at the end of Thompson Road and the road to Magnetawan was closed.  Don wasn’t sure if his GPS was trustworthy enough to route his to Burke’s Falls via Midlothian, and “T” assured him that, yes, Garmin Gretta knew exactly what she was talking about.  Crisis averted.

Naturally, I had to go see what this fire was all about, so I drove to the end of the Thompson, parked the car, and walked about 100 feet north on the Nippissing Road (the main road through town – Route 520, I believe – before coming to the roadblock and seeing the house.  More specifically, what was left of the house.

A very young-looking fireman who was manning the roadblock told me that they guessed the fire had started at about 3 in the morning.  It was sort of weird, because the guy who lived in the house sold eggs, and I’d mentioned this fact to Cy on Sunday when she said she needed eggs (we didn’t buy them from the guy – maybe that’s what pushed him over the edge, causing him to burn his house down…).

“T” later heard rumors that the guy’s cat had woken him up, most likely saving his life.  Gotta love cats.

We’d planned to take the recyclables and garbage to the dump during the morning, but the road remained closed until mid-afternoon.  That being the case, most of the morning and early afternoon was devoted to reading, playing on the computers,  making a list of the things that I’d have to take care of after Cy and “T” have departed, and occasionally falling into the lake, as the weather was luching back and forth between beautifully sunny and warm to chilly, rainy and somewhat depressing.

Eventually, “T” and I did make it to the dump.  We stopped at the store on the way home and picked up some chicken for Cy, who turned them into “Dirty Bird,” a Day family favorite.  Basically, you pour salt, pepper, garlic, butter and brown sugar on the chicken and then bake it.  Good stuff.

After dinner, the Cy and “T” did some more reading while I took pictures of the sunset and stars over the lake.  A game of Hearts was suggested, but not acted upon, and I wandered off to bed at around 10:00.

TWD

Don’t know if I’ve mentioned it in this blog previously, but I’m a wind freak.  Have been since I was very small – and when I say that, I mean to say that some of my earliest memories involve windy days in Shoreham, when I’d play a sort of game by trying to simultaneously hide from the wind and being out in it.  One of my favorite places to attempt this was behind a bush that grew between the roots of a large elm tree in our front yard.

The rules of my game were never set in stone and I’ve never been able to adequately describe them to anyone, but I knew (and still knew) what they are; and I still play my game whenever I get the chance.  The briefest possible explanation of the rules is this: you must be able to fully experience the wind, yet you must attempt to shield yourself from it.  With very few exceptions, man-made structures cannot be used to accomplish the latter, although if the structure is more or less open to the wind, then it’s acceptable.

I write all this as a way of introducing the fact that a wind storm came across the lake last night just as I crawled into bed, and it was fantastic.  My boathouse was literally shaking, the dinner bell in the main cabin was ringing so violently that it sounded like a fire engine, and it was apparent that Old Man Winter wished it to be known that he was on the way back from his enforced vacation and was none too happy about it.

I immediately opened all of the windows in the boathouse (the resultant paper storm was impressive), crawled back under my down comforter and spent my time wondering (in a most pleasant way) exactly what things I’d need to grab first should I determine that the boathouse was indeed going to collapse (answers: tuba, pants, iPod, phone).  During extra large gusts, I’d attempt to make myself as small as possible under the comforter and when things died down a bit, I’d let the top half of my body come out and challenge the elements. 

Just playing the same game in my doddering old age.  And feeling like a little kid.

After 20 minutes of so, the wind died down, replaced by a soaking ran that lasted, I’m told, for a few hours.  By the time it was over, at any rate, I was fast asleep.

What a great end to the day.

TWD

Today was another one of those “grab bag” days.  It started out rather drearily, with low temps, overcast skies, and an occasional drizzly rain that made everything seem 10 degrees colder than it actually was.

On the plus side, however, this type of weather is great for sleeping.  It stormed a bit last night, which woke me up briefly, but other than that, I slept like a dead man until just about 9 this morning.  Then trudged up to the main cabin, had some coffee, read a bit of my book, and waved goodbye to the 4 elder statesmen, who took off on a road trip to Burke’s Falls and Dwight sometime between 10 and 11.

Left to my own devices, I caught up on email, figured out how Google’s new phone-dialer thingy works (quite well, thanks.  It could save me a lot of money on future Canada trips.

I also got to watch as the sun struggled to cut through and ultimately did so, transforming the day into a perfect late summer afternoon.  I jumped in the lake for a short while, then practiced my horn, then read some more – and the others returned somewhere around 4.

Because the day was now gorgeous, Cy and I hit the tennis court, where, I’m somewhat proud to say, I took the first set with her and was tied with her (4-4) in the second when we mutually agreed to quit for the day before one of us (me) had a stroke.  Immediately after tennis, I again fell in the lake – ahhhhhh.  Nothing quite like it.

Dinner tonight was prepared by Cy, and was so unbelievably good that I’m salivating as I type this.  Pork chops, beet salad, and potato salad (made by Julie).  The chops were unreal.  I will get the recipe.

Had a brief chat with Cy before dinner and it’s been decided that she and “T” are probably leaving on Tuesday, rather than Wednesday as had been planned.  Since I don’t need to be in Grand Rapids until Friday morning, we decided that I’ll just stay here by myself until Thursday.  Kinda cool – I’ll get to be the last guy in the camp this year.

On step closer to my hope of coming up for a week in the winter sometime….

Don and Julie are set to leave early tomorrow morning, and Don’s feeling – and sounding – rather sick, so he’s gone to be already.  Julie and “T” and Cy just completed the jigsaw puzzle that they started a few days ago and they’re now settled in on the couches, each with a book.   In between chats with Betsy (instant messenger is a cool little toy), I’m updating this blog at the dinner table.  The sound on my computer is off. It is a wonderfully quiet evening.

TWD

What a glorious day.

Betsy called at a little after 6 this morning – on her way to take pictures in Macon before sunrise.  I wasn’t exactly in the mood to be awake – it was dark and foggy and the temperature was in the mid-30s – but her photographic dedication inspired me to roust myself and see what I could find to shoot.

It was a good idea.  Many of the shots I got in the foggy half-light came out of the camera looking almost monochromatic and were quite striking.  Best captures of the trip so far.  If I wake early again tomorrow, I’ll try it again.

The fog burned off by about 9:00, by which time Dianne and Dad had hit the road for home.  They had planned to make it to Pittsburgh before stopping.  We haven’t heard from them at this point, so I guess no news is good news.

Shortly after they left, I drove into town to see if there was anything else to take pictures of before the fog was entirely gone and the sun was too high.  Got some stuff from under the bridge and along the main road, then made my way back to camp, where I learned that a plan had been hatched to go to Parry Sound to have lunch and to explore the used book store.

We hit the road at about 10:30 and took the long way to the sound by driving around Ahmic Lake, which I’ve never done before.  Saw some very pretty land and realized that there are a lot of nice lots for sale along the lake.  Tempting.

Got some needed items at the Canadian Tire in Parry Sound, then had lunch at the Bay Street Cafe (a yearly ritual), looked around some of the shops, and got back to camp somewhere around 4:15.  I checked online and found that my football team had won their first game of the season, 45-15, which was nice.  Maybe they’ll be good this year.

Since the sun had been shining all day (after the fog lifted), the other 4 folks read on the dock for an hour or so while I went for a walk.  Didn’t see a lot, but reveled in the beautiful late summer weather and made it back to the main cabin in time for the evening cocktail/conversation/puzzle time.

Dinner was hamburgers and roasted onions, prepared by Don and “T”.  Burgers were excellent, if a bit large (yes, Don – 2.5 pounds of beef is enough for 5 burgers); and the onions were fantastic.  Note to self: Take Vidalia onions, cut a hole in the top, insert 1 beef bouillon cube and a pat of butter, roast at 350 for about an hour. Fantastic.

Everyone was tired after the late dinner and conversation, so we all tottered off to our cabins at about 9:00.  I took a few plunges in the lake to wash my hair – and just because it felt so damned good.  The  water temperature is holding near 70 and the night is completely calm.  It was like swimming in the world’s biggest, darkest, quietest bath tub.

TWD

Today was the first “typical” Ahmic day that we’ve had since I arrived.  By that, I mean that we had absolutely stunning weather.  Blue skies, temperatures in the low 70’s, bright sun, a perfect breeze, etc.

This morning’s outlook was not quite that rosy.  When I rolled out of bed at around 7:30, it was overcast and quite cool – cool enough, in fact, that I don’t believe anyone here took a standard morning dip.  I looked out the window and went back to sleep for 30 minutes.

Got to the main cabin at about 8:15 – just in time for blueberry pancakes and scrapple.  “T” was responsible for the former, and his sister Kathy had left the latter.  Both were excellent.  After breakfast, I decided to head down to Huntsville to do some gift shopping.  Note that I said “down” to Huntsville, as it is south of Magnetawan.  That’s an important fact to remember, as I generally do not.

Huntsville is a town of about 19,000 people and is generally a pretty good place to spend a few hours window shopping or getting lunch or – if one needs something out of the ordinary for dinner – grocery shopping.  It was really boring today, however.  A lot of the shops that I’ve gotten used to visiting seem to have closed.   So I got on route 60 East and headed towards Algonquin Park, which is one of Canada’s largest parks and an all-around beautiful place.  I camped there for a week a few years ago.

I got as far as Dwight, which is a small town on the outskirts of the park, and stopped at a trading post for souvenirs.  Spent 30 or 40 minutes there and decided to head back to the lake because it had become apparent that I was missing a rather gorgeous sunny day on the dock.

Some people don’t believe in mental blocks.  I have one.  I’ve had it for as long as I’ve been coming to Canada, and I mentioned it earlier in this post.  I have somehow become firmly convinced that Huntsville is NORTH of Magnetawan.  That being the case, I came back (on 60 West) from Dwight to Huntsville and then got on Canada 11 SOUTH, thinking I was headed back to the camp.  After driving just about 40 miles, it dawned on me that I was going in the wrong direction.

One thing about Canada 11 – there are very few places to turn around.  So I drove ANOTHER 10 miles in the wrong direction before finally getting turned around and driving NORTH back to Ulvik. 

As I said, I almost always get turned around when I go to Huntsville, but it’s never taken me 100 miles out of my way before today.

Back at the camp, I found everyone sitting on the dock enjoying the weather.  I grabbed one of the kayaks and paddled around to the other side of Indian Point, where I visited Opal Island, a small nearly circular island that I’ve coveted since the first time I vacationed here.  It is owned by the Coolidges (incorrectly identified as the Kellys in an earlier post – Dexter and Carol), and I have yet to convince them to sell it to me.

After visiting Opal, I poked around on Indian Point itself, marveling at the construction of the cottages on the lake’s oldest camp, and then made my way back across the lake to Ulvik.  Spent an additional hour lying on a float attached to the dock (and somehow avoiding a sunburn), then took some pictures until dinner.

Said dinner was made up of Chop Suey and Blueberry Bread Pudding, both cooked by Dad and Cy, and both excellent.

After dinner, Don took off in the putt-putt to do some fishing, Dad and Cy started and new crossword puzzle (their third in two days), and “T”, Dianne and Julie settled in to work on a jigsaw puzzle.

Not being interested in doing any of that, I excused myself to my boathouse, where I’m currently typing this and getting ready to read a bit before retiring early.

It is beautiful and relaxing here, and each year I spend here makes me want to live here year round just a little bit more.

TWD