Forever A Fangirl

Maple Lake Ontario - Fall 1969: Don't Peel The Birch Bark!

Where were you in the fall of 1969? Just a couple of months past "the summer of love," at Maple Lake in the Haliburton Highlands in Ontario pictorial evidence suggests that "everything (was) beautiful."*

As I've talked about before, my mom was not the best photographer in the world (nor am I) but she often had her camera at the ready and I'm so very thankful to her that she did. Again Mom, sorry I complained so much about having to stop playing for a few minutes so you could snap a shot that I now realize preserved moments that are ever-increasingly from long ago.

I'm so glad that we can savour these photos in the here and now.

I'm one of nine first cousins that spent our summers when growing up living on Maple Lake. However in the mid-1960's my father's work compelled us to move to the eastern United States, 500 miles from our former home in Toronto. In the early years we traveled home many times a year-- summertime of course, but Easter, Canadian Thanksgiving, and Christmas, too.

The photo here is of 7 of 9 of the cousins in what was called the "back field." What is striking to me now is just how few birch trees remain. I don't know if they simply aged or if a blight took them or a combination or neither. I love the pretty white birches but I'll never forget my grandfather admonishing us to never peel bark from their trunks. Funny thing is I don't recall anyone EVER doing so that we'd need to be warned but to this day my thought process goes like this: Oh, pretty birches -->image of my grandfather --> don't peel the bark off them!

***those who know the family dynamic know better--another story for another day.

This is cross-posted to Maple Lake Ontario.

Trading Detroit-Windsor For Port Huron-Sarnia

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Starting back in June when we drove to Maple Lake, Ontario to open up the cottage for the summer we endured what was the most dreaded part of the trip--crossing the border into Canada at Detroit.

Crossing into Canada at Detroit-Windsor is frustrating, time consuming, confusing and worst of all IMO, frightening if you are unfortunate enough to to do so when it's dark.

Due to various commitments here we often did it in the dark--and I did it alone--for the last time I might add. The second to last time that we came home I made up my mind: no Detroit crossing for me. It appeared that crossing the border by driving slightly north--via Flint, MI would be viable though possibly of a longer duration. Every other trip we'd made via Detroit--six of them previously this summer--resulted in a travel time of a minimum of 13 hours. We don't dawdle or make excessive stops, either. Short stops with some brisk walking (we have a dog) and back on the road. This trip we ventured out and decided to blow Detroit off completely. The crossing at Port Huron-Sarnia was painless and fast and on the way home we made the almost 700 mile trip in 12 hours flat!

We had a superb long Labour Day weekend. We took an extra day so had three full days at the cottage. The weather just got better each day with the last actually getting quite hot. It was hands-down the best weather of the 5 weeks total that I spent on Maple Lake this year* and it was a fantastic send off for summer.

*They broke a 70-year record for rainfall.

My very favourite Maple Lake photo from summer, 2008.

 

Two weeks later this groin (the rock thing above that spouse built) help form this much beach (below w/ red canoe). There was no beach initially due to rain all summer.

   

 

Spouse is a master beach-maker!

 

Labour Day Forecast : Awesome!

Spouse and I will be driving north tomorrow and will be at Lake on Saturday, Sunday and Monday. If I didn't have responsibilities you could not pry me away to come back home. However, from the perspective of being home my biggest responsibility--my family--is also the one that I get the most joy from.

I have a feeling that September at Maple Lake Ontario is going to rock!

At least spouse and I get to enjoy 3 days of it! Woot!

Wait 'till you see the Moocards I ordered today-almost all have Haliburton cottage country scenes that I photographed. They are beautiful and now are updated since my sample pack--which I don't want to give away the last of, is really outdated and the contact information is outdated as well (one of ways to customize Moocards is as mini-business cards).

NOT A PAID POST~

Overshare

Not quite finished steps to cottage

 

Aug 26, 2008 at 3:45 AM

Did you know I see a shrink once every 3 months? Now you do. I saw him today. I never stay longer than 5 minutes. He makes upwards of $100 for 5 minutes though I think he can only squeeze in maybe 6 patients per hour, leaving the rest for quickly-scrawled mandatory paperwork. Dx: Depression w/anxiety though I think I've had a handle on the depression for about 5 years now. Prior to that other long stretches as well. First time I've been diagnosed with anxiety but it practically ruled my life prior to the heart failure. (Yes, I've wondered if there was a connection as my heart failure was of unknown causes (kinda spooky, not knowing). Anyway Dr. P. is doing medication management--but forgot to ask about that today. ;)

New store with my name...where's the apostrophe?!

 

OK. Gotta go. Twitter updates and Photoshop just to give you something. I'll be back

*Smooches*

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

New store with my name...where's the apostrophe?!

I'm not sure if I over-shared this. The Lake had more rain this summer and spring past than it's had in 70 years. That's' before my dad--who is the patriarch--started going up there--before the cottages were built.

My week alone...before spouse groomed the bank ;)

Lake Bottom and my personal flotation device (raft)

Got a little yucky for a short while after storms

 

Twitterific: 8/25/08

Comment spamming my personal blog, catching up. I'm terribly behind.
Twitter is too much for me! Do not deserve the noble moniker "blogger." 10
minutes ago from web

Must finish the great dig--my email--before our trek north Fri to Maple Lake, Ontario, CA. Cottage closing, saying goodbye to the Lake :( (about 2 hours ago from web)

 

Also, I need to drop email from my life completely, forever. *sigh* A fond daydream.

 

Time to make Earl Grey and watch Weeds! about 2 hours ago from web

 

Remembering that I forgot to celebrate 10 yr Anni of not dying from heart failure. Aug 19-a fun day spent at Gameworks for 16 y.o.son's b-day about 2 hours ago from web

Aug 2: Sunset--exactly as it was

 

Days gone bye

Four of them have and I've not got a lot to show for it.
Took son school supply shopping ostensibly for just his engineering class. Dropped $50 in the blink of a eye. Haven't gotten the supply lists for other classes but he thinks that we may not have to purchase 4 extra books for English again this year (we didn't have to but it was suggested so that when mid-term test time rolled around he'd have the books from which a chunk of it was based on).
Remember when all you needed to purchase for school supplies was a pencil and later, a pen? No? Then you are too young to relate. Modern parents buy a tons of stuff and then pay hundreds in book fees.

The second day home I took son and two of his long-times buddies to Gameworks from early afternoon through evening.

Son's 16th birthday and first day of school were yesterday and by then I felt like a wet dish-rag. The long drive home alone from the doesn't really hit me until a day or two later--and that's when (in my fantasies) I chill at home leisurely unpacking. There's been no chilling and nothing leisurely. Also no unpacking.

However I was reminded today of how much I missed the school-day "debriefings" son and I do immediately after school. I get to hear the news of the day whilst it is still fresh and he reinforces what is on his plate for each class. He really doesn't seem to mind it though it came about as a way for him to be better organized/us better informed.

So far, he's really digging his AP Physics and AP Trig and Calc classes. With the exception of one or two friends he's got a goodly amount in each class so the social aspect seems to be off to a good start, too.
Apologies to anyone who I've neglected online. It's just a pretty big deal to go away for a month but leave one person here--one person who does not really clean--yet didn't do anything strikingly bad either. I just have to wipe off everything before I touch it which was exactly as I did for the first week in the cottage after it was sealed up tightly for nine months.
Plus, no person of the male persuation in this house can "see" dust collecting EVERYWHERE.
Housework should be called house hard labour.

So OK, here I am about to attack the gmail. Stay tuned for some graphics of why my drive home took 1.5 hours longer than it should have (14 hours, total).

From Battle Creek to Climax to Kalamazoo, Michigan--one lane highway--many big trucks--top speed 20 mph. Usually 5 or 10 mph. The truckers, me, and other souls who had to shift gears were not really thrilled with this. Burned a quarter tank of gas.

Oh Detroit, what can one say that hasn't already been said? Who made the detour so I had to fear for my life to be able to get back in to the US? It's just a big circle! And my, what a lovely little tour of the city one gets! The construction mini-highway signs seemed to be directing me correctly but as I saw the last choice --94 East and no sign that said 94 West, I pulled into a well-lit Marathon station. The bullet-proof glass looked like it would be highly effective. The nice man inside quickly verified that I just needed to continue down the road and the on-ramp would be on my left. Then he added a grave-sounding "Be careful!" Holy moley. I was being careful--did not need confirmation that this was a scary place. I was sincerely trying get the heck out of there as quickly as my 5-speed would let me. So home is where I am, feeling sort of normal, finally. Still haven't unpacked my suitcase though I've been cheating and getting clothes to wear each day from it so I'll have less to drag out of there.

Think I smell dinner. Hasta.

Too soon to go

Getting ready to leave and I don't want to go. Even though everyone says this was the worst summer ever I've been happier than ever here in this little cottage. Life is very simple. Our water is unfiltered and comes from the lake about 100 feet from where I sit now. One cannot drink it, rather one must fill up big container of spring water which can be obtained for free near the tiny airport about 2 miles from here.The airport and a now-shuttered resort are what brought people from Toronto to this lake in the first place in the first half of the 20th Century.

We do a lot of our grocery shopping at a little market with one butcher and one bakery lady. All the dairy and meat products are fresh, obtained locally as is much of the produce.

For the first time ever there is a local radio station, "The Moose"--they play a lot of Rush-- and they'll show up to almost any little event. Today spouse went to buy grass seed and they were there broadcasting at the Not Home Depot, raising money for some lifts for the two hospitals in this massive county. They thanked my spouse as "Roger from Chicago" on the air which tickled him.

The counter lady at the brand new Rexall drugs recommended a local photographer for my son and I to get our Canadian passport photos taken. She'd had no trouble she said, last winter when she and her children had theirs done and sure enough, it went off without a hitch for us, too. Afterward, we got milkshakes, possibly the best anywhere, at a local ice cream stand that's been there at least 30 years, maybe more.

On that trip into town I ordered the rustic wooden sign I've wanted made--don't know where I'll put it but it'll be hand-carved and ready to pick up when I come back to close the cottage in September. It's says "Alice's Place" and will have two little hearts as embellishments, in remembrance of the woman to whom I can thank for the privilege of being here--my grandmother. My grandfather outlived her by 35 years and after he died at age 101 the county put a road sign at the end of our dirt and gravel road--"Frank's Lane" --which is nice but I want to make sure that we are reminded of her, too. I think of her often but many folks though they know of my grandfather don't have any reference to my grandmother.
There is a teevee but it only gets one channel so we never use it and don't miss it. We play Uno at night or watch movies. In the evening too one hears the nearby haunting call of the loons, which scares our little dog.

 

Spouse spent much of his time building a groin to better build the beach and when he finished that he secured the bank down to the lake with the many stones that had been buried in the sand--some almost the size of boulders. My grandfather had them hauled in many, many years ago. Spouse also fixed both sets of stone steps which take you down the 15 feet or so to the beach and the lake. It's peaceful through the week and because of the wet and cool weather even weekends have been  more quiet than normal.

 

We are in the woods on a lake. I've had this privilege all my life and I realize how very precious it is. After dinner tonight spouse and I took the canoe out further than he'd ever been and so got a view of the lake which was completely new for him. We saw the ever-present common loons and a beautiful blue heron that swooped by us.

I have to leave this life, go back to suburbia as school is starting and my son is turning 16--both on August 20-- and I owe that to my son but I do not want to go--at all.The one concession to modern life has been what facilitated me being able to stay here for a month--the satellite internet. I've gotten a lot of work done--but on my own schedule. I did a conference call today which involved pulling up visuals on the Internet and it was totally awesome to do so in my swimsuit and shorts. Heaven if there is one, could not be any better than right here.

Zen and the Art of Canoe Paddling

We bought a canoe at the end of last season with the plan being to use it this season. As luck would have it, the weather has not cooperated, with lots of choppy not-canoe friendly waves on the Lake on most days.
Yesterday, however looked pretty calm so whilst spouse went to town I put the waterproof housing on the camera and headed out.

I did pretty well until I rounded a small point and paddled into a bigger cove and the lake current spun the canoe 90 degrees and then quickly another ninety degrees. At first, I corrected this situation but quickly found myself being spun about repeatedly. I didn't panic as I had all the gear I was supposed to--but this was perhaps the fourth time I've ever been in a canoe in my life. I just had no idea how strong the currents on the seemingly calm lake could be.

I should have realized though with the crazy weather--the 70-year record rainfall--that the lake which is quite deep this year, could behave unpredictably. Anyway it was a learning experience. Our canoe is a light one. Two people would have given it a bit more stability. Also, fighting it is dumb. As soon as I reverted to a more Zen approach which was, "OK it seems the current is taking me this way--I'll go with it until it doesn't and try another way when it stops being so strong," things got a lot better. I ended up coming in from being stuck in the middle of the lake on a diagonal then in more shallow water regaining control of exactly where I needed to go. Still, it took at least a half-dozen attempts to make it in to our beach. 

I noticed a number of beach-goers seemingly watching and I fervently hoped they would not ask me if I needed help. At one point when the current calmed but was still too rough in the direction I wished to go I just pulled out the camera and acted nonchalant. At worst I thought I'll just get in the water and swim, towing the canoe behind me. But it did not come to that and I got off a couple of good snaps with the best being after I landed back on our beach.

Cold, Colder, Coldest

It's another rainy day here at the cottage. It's very, very cold for this time of year as well--if we are lucky there will be a high of 60F today. I really doubt it though.
I'm glad I brought hoodies because I'm wearing them with the hoods up--indoors.
I've not ever had to use a space heater that I can recall but both of them are cranked up right now.
I've been blog-keeping, younger son is watching 80's and 90's cartoon openings on YouTube, and spouse drew the short straw has gone to West Guilford to do laundry. Supposedly, the weather is going to improve slightly as the weekend progresses so we figured we'd get the bigger chores out of the way whilst it is like this.
Anyway what better a way to feel cheery than to look at some photos of last night's trip into Haliburton to Win Yeung for some Canadian Chinese food, followed by some sightseeing around the village.

 

No one home: a home at the perimeter of Stanhope Airport

 

Head Lake, Haliburton

 

Moon over Grass Lake, West Guilford

Grass Lake, West Guilford

What The Hail?

It started off a pretty day. Comfortably warm with the lake fairly calm. The waves began picking up a bit, then a bit more and quite suddenly things became chaotic. The screen blew in on one of the front windows and I feared that the window which cranks out so that it forms a "t" when fully open would snap off, too. There are several other windows in the cottage like that--all were open and needed to be closed. Spouse and son were shielded by the hill going down to the lake and didn't seem to realize how serious things were getting so didn't respond to me yelling for help with battening down the hatches. By the time they came inside hail was raining down, the high winds were blowing the deck furniture about, leaves and branches were flying every which way--and then the power shut off. The storm continued for some time and since one never knows just how long the power will be out here on the Lake, spouse went to the town a couple of lakes away and bought ice and food to barbecue. It's good that he did as the power was off for 8.5 hours and the hydro company had told us that the couldn't find where the problem was and would have to quit for the night and come back in the morning. We were heating up water on the barbecue at 11 p.m. for clean-up having given up on having the juice on to power the water pump when it switched back on. It was a relief but the situation has been pretty disruptive. Our neighbor next door built a fire despite the lingering drizzle and as the light faded to black we did, too. Spouse got a pic of our neighbour who is nothing if not a good humoured guy.

Getting warmed up

Canoe, Canoe

We finally had a non-choppy enough lake upon which to take the canoe today. Spouse and Raven had gone out earlier and covered lots of territory and later he and I went.
It's quite a different perspective when one views the shore from the lake. I think I was struck most by how the depth varies and in turn the type of vegetation growing (reeds, lily pads, etc.) Our area is shallow water until pretty far out with sandy bottom, other areas have an immediate drop off at the lake's edge and are muddy-bottomed. This too was the first time I took the camera out with it's waterproof housing. It's kind of tricky to change settings say from telephoto to standard but it's a learning curve that I think we'll get through pretty quickly.
There are so many large luxurious homes on the lake now, too. Odd-looking sometimes like when a humble cottage is on either side of a higher-status home.
We ran into some very choppy waters when the winds that accompanied a big storm adjacent to our area blew through. That was a bit exciting though I had no worries and soon enough we paddled through. I am pretty tired from the sun, canoeing and swimming afterward so I'll probably come back to this later tonight or tomorrow with some photos. The temperature has taken severe plunge now and I'm about to flake out but can't until I compete a few more tasks.
Cheers!

Lake Stuff, Computer Stuff, Weather, and a Shred Of Sanity

Still here at Maple Lake. Spouse and son went into Haliburton today in search of a replacement optical mouse that got damaged in the transport between home and here. To clarify we have a notebook, a media laptop and just the one desktop--a gaming computer which son partially purchased himself. There really is no one here son's age to hang out with so he helps with the slew of upkeep and does gaming, swimming, and reading. Anyway I find using laptop to be hard on my shoulders toI am glad to use his desktop when he's not to get the essentials done--though I must admit, I'm really not in the mood to blog. As timing would have it Google chose to raise my PageRank from a ZERO to a 4* which directly translates into more work and better pay and it's really tough to let it slip by. The weather has been not great at all but when it does turn nice, I'm taking a few days off from paid blogging. I just have to for the thin shred on sanity that remains.. Oh, one really good computer-related thing is that we are able to get lots of television shows so we --or I more accurately, caught up with the second to last episode of Dr. Who last night. Even though the guys had seen it they obliged me by watching it with me. The final episode has aired in the UK so is available too. I'm sure we'll hit that before the weekend. And this is without downloading anything. Younger son is very squeaky clean about such things--so the Feds arresting teenage girls for downloading Emo music must have made an impression. :p

A collage piece from The Art Hive on the other side of the lake.

Still much fixing up to do here in the cottage. My cousin is kind of a germaphobe and she won't even come in past the porch--which really is extreme--but I understand because I'm a clutterphobe. I need things organized to further reinforce my "control freak" label. I must say it's getting there-- indoors anyway. ;) * not this blog which had it's PageRank reduced from "4" to ZERO last November then raised to a "2" a few months ago.

Four Days

 

Above: the artist's community here in Haliburton County, Ontario is really blossoming. This is a lovely wood piece at The Art Hive, an Artist's Collective on the other side of Maple Lake from me. She is life-size! The lady who was working today is one of the artists and she couldn't have been nicer and more down to earth.They have a coffee bar there so I have an excuse to wander in whenever. Lovely stop.

Previous post on my Maple Lake Ontario blog with much more info about The Artist's Collective.

Well,it's five days actually that I've been here at the cottage but I slept the entire first day so that doesn't really count.
It was so quiet here all week--peaceful.
However that has changed as of this a.m. when my perpetually in motion weekend neighbour mowed his grass and woke me up. Bless him , he never starts really early but I'd stayed up late watching a terrible online copy of "Hancock" though it was good enough that I'd like to see it in our local (20 miles away) multiplex after the guys get here..

Just spoke with them and it looks like I'll have another two days on my own. Son has his monthly blood test in the morning tomorrow and spouse has shopping and bills to pay so no getaway until Sunday a.m. I think it's better to tie up all loose ends than rush out of there especially since it's a 3-week trip, It'll be different but nicer once my guys get here though.

Here I Am!

Proof below that I got in at 5 a.m. yesterday morning: But first may I note that I'm trying to navigate with a notebook computer which has NO photo editing software on it so I tried Windows whatever they call it and it's just dumb as a rock so I bought an upgrade to a popular shareware 'cos I do not like Photoshop's layout but the new one turned out to be from a different provider  as I unthinkingly used google.ca (Canada) to search ---not that there's anything wrong with that as long as I'm paying attention to photo-file endings I've never seen before. Bah! I had to go back and DL another photo program, meanwhile I figured the first one out which is good because i paid $10 for "freeware.' :p 

So did I mention that at this time last night/morning I was still driving in ...hence the pics are from the first morning Maple Lake light taken by an exhausted me..so that, and no real editing software. Um. enjoy?

Maple Lake, Ontario
July 21,2008  5 a.m. (Eastern time)

In front of St. Peter's Church
4:30 a.m. July 21, 2008

Overlooking lake in front of cottage. (steep hill next to steps down)
5 a.m.

Yes! My camera housing came!

 

Maple Lake: What lies beneath?

So excited.

I took the leap and instead of getting a ziplock cheapie "waterproofing" bag for my Powershot camera, after researching and finding again and again how the bags don't work I scoured the Internet for the underwater housing for my camera  and it arrived today.

To back track a tad, the dozen or so reviews of a bag enclosure for the Powershot didn't complain about leakage--which is great. What they were very disappointed in was the quality of the photos--there wasn't any. Obviously, this defeats the entire purpose of using an underwater housing in the first place.

So though I have no big plans to scuba on the Great Barrier Reef, I will be at the lake for a month and who knows what may lie beneath? Additionally, we now have a canoe which I'm excited about using along with the camera but was terribly paranoid about shifting around in to take a shot and plunging camera and all into the lake. No more. I'll put the camera in the housing when I'm on or in the lake!

Dad's Day recap

Today was a bit different.

My 15 y.o. took me out for his practice driving. It was only the second time he's ever driven a car and he did well.

We started in a parking lot and went to side streets. The downside to side streets is that they can be narrow and the downside to life is that some people cannot parallel park so we had a very near brush with an oversize parked SUV hogging a chunk of the road. I gasped involuntarily but otherwise did not get at all alarmed on the outside. :p

It's actually kind of cute 'cos Chris is saying stuff like, "I can't go out onto the main road because I've never driven behind a car." So innocent-sounding. Even though he's a teen there's still a wee bit of the stuff that I got all mushy about when I towered over him, not the reverse as it is now.

His dad works 7 days a week so we had a nice take away dinner from Sizzling Wok and then went and did our usual Sunday evening thing of mini-golf. "Al," the manager recognized us from last season and said the fees were "on him"! That's $25.75, ladies and gentlemen. My wallet thanks him--and I thought he was a cool dude before.

The rain held off until the 7th hole and by the time we got to the 13th it had stopped but we were soaked. We rode top down and got semi-dry on the way home where we did prezzies--just sensible stuff--clothes. Cool greeting cards though that we mocked up ourselves and printed so a nice ending to the weekend.

I hope everyone had some fun. Here we go--another week!

Take care and make it a good one!

xx

Cyn

From last weekend:

My Uncle Jim w/ a three-lb. pickerel (small pike) his 9-y.o. granddaughter caught in Maple Lake on our first day there.

That is spouse behind him.

Loons on the Lake

It's interesting travelling outside the United States, even if it's just to Canada. We got back two day ago from a 3-day trip to Maple Lake to "open up" the cottage. This is a yearly ritual in which the water is "put in" and checking is done to assess the winter changes. The grass gets mowed, leaves raked. In general, it's a preparation to come back and stay longer. (stock photo)

I had not been at Maple Lake in early June in many years and the differences between now and the month or so later that we often go is noticeable. For one, the beauty is "fresher." All the greenery --and there is much-- is a lighter shade of green than later, in the summer.

Also, this trip was the first time I'd seen at least thirty loons swimming past about 200 feet out in front of our cottage. I was absolutely thrilled and ran to get the binoculars. I would have loved to have gotten some photos of these regal water fowl but it was late evening and  the moment was passing quickly. Perhaps I'll get lucky next time I go up--which cannot be soon enough.

Gone, Baby Gone!

After sitting alone for nine months our cottage will once again be inhabited by mid-day Saturday. Keeping in mind that we'll need to put in the water and of course, clean a place that sometimes becomes a haven for little creatures, I hope we travel at a fast clip and get there with enough time to get all the kinks worked out before sundown. We have reservations in Ann Arbor, Michigan to stop on the way there as younger son has school on Friday (his final, final exam). continued

That's about it. We are going, I need to pack. Currently I am not panicking as everything is going smoothly. I guess I shouldn't say that but I think I'm becoming more pragmatic in my old age. Relief!, the air just came on--the humidity is--well it's summer now in Chicago.

I'd hate if anyone started drooling with envy but this is where we are headed:

Early A.M. Our Lake~(with no effects added to photo)

If this were happening to somebody else...

…I might find it amusing. I would definitely empathize with their “plight.”

I just got a “Way to go, Sparky” from WordPress. Trouble is, I’m not sure which WordPress./EDIT  And it turns out that I only half-had it “to go, Sparky!” lol.

All the FTP-ing and domain transferring and getting a damn code from Hostgator (right now, I hope) to be able to hook my maplelakeontario.com blog (don’t try–it’s truly down) which it looks like I forgot to save before I killed it, dropped WordPress.com for the original WordPress and am having waking nightmares trying to get it under control. Argh. I’m done for tonight. Going to do some yoga.<exhale> Cheers!

New Maple Lake Ontario Blog

I noticed yesterday that my new Maple Lake Ontario blog came up on the 13th spot on a search as I was checking this blog's statistics for the oft-used search term "Maple Lake." I realized then that I'd best get hopping on putting up at least one post a week even though it's winter obviously, and I can't be up there to take photographs. I chose instead to add loads of weather and traffic links from "especially for" the Maple Lake area (Stanhope Airport) to the Haliburton Highlands to Ontario and so on.

I want to get as much local news on there and I know the next step should be to do more web searching for the little local newspaper and any news that could effect cottagers come summertime.

In the meantime, I have photos that I took a few months ago that until today I hadn't properly looked at. Here's one I like.

Razr Reconsidered

After thoroughly dissing my Motorola Razr phone I found that I still had some photos on there from July when my brother and sil moved and from the summer vacation trip to Maple Lake. I'm still not thrilled with the quality nor am I willing or able to plunk down whatever it takes to get a mega-pixel cameraphone but here's what I've got:

Bro and sil's former courtyard. That's Spanish tile but you cannot tell in b&w. This is an ancient building in Evanston, IL.

This pic gives an idea how ancient. I believe this is called a utility entrance.

My chair.

Sail-ing takes me away to where I  something something...

I'd love to have a sailboat, 'course I'd have to learn to sail.

One can see where spouse trimmed the lower branches on the tree in the foreground.
When we go to the Lake spouse stacks rocks to build up the beach wall and slashes a bunch overgrowth. Go spouse!

This is some not-great-for-you joint we stopped at for lunch. Don't know if it's Canada. The pic is illustrative of the fact that at 6'3" my son is dwarfing his father. They are at the counter. Son is in black tee.

I did it! (I flipped my video)

Explanation of post. :)

I finally got the "calm" part of this video clip turned on it's side so it viewable without getting a crick in your neck! The simple answer was:

On Windows, follow the instructions at http://www.microsoft.com/windows/windowsmedia/knowledgecenter/mediaadvice/0075.mspx#EPD. Then save the file to your computer, using any of the high quality movie presets, and upload this rotated file.

Thank goodness this worked as I usually shy away from seeking help from the Microsoft website...but all the alternatives to getting a video shot in portrait displayed horizontally had me changing the file type first after downloading software I've never heard of (not that I should have) and only then being able to flip it to  a non neck-impairing angle.

I can't imagine that I'm one of few people, given the proliferation of point and shoot cameras with a video feature, that has gotten bold enough to film 30 seconds in the non-standard (though very commonly used) photographic format.
The thing I keep reminding myself is that this is videography, however primitive my equipment, not photography which is where I plan to stay in the future, in deference to my own sanity. :)

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Pretty/Cool

These photos were taken at Maple Lake over Labour Day Weekend (Sept, 2007). My younger son tells me that Canadians initiated Labour Day before the United States. I do so admire Canada's ability to just say "no" to work by having "civic holidays." We took advantage of one in August. :)   

   

       

               

                        

                   

            

               

Misty Morning

            

            

   

   

       

               

                        

Went down to say hello to the Lake at about 4 a.m. It's a ritual/I couldn't sleep and whilst walking the shoreline, startled this little guy out of the water and onto the beach. He's about the size of a big bug.                  

                           

Leopard Frog

            

   

       

               

                        

                     

            

               

Sunset Fishing

This little row boat is weighted down by many kids!

            

            

   

 

       

               

                        

                 Sunset Fishing                     

        Same as above photo with histogram adjusted to better see cabin/woods detail   

 

            

   

Maple Lake September 1, 2007, 7:30 a.m.

All true artists, whether they know it or not, create from
              a place of no-mind, from inner stillness.~ Eckhart Tolle
            
It's been about 36 hours since we got home and I'm just opening my Gmail email and that's only on the urging of my eldest son who transferred money to me from an eBay sale in order to pay part of his "rent."
Yay.

I like the quote above as the idea of a "a place of no-mind" is really appealing to me, atm.
I dunno--could be the state of the house, the pile of laundry, or the dog vomit on the duvet but I wouldn't mind being in that place right now...

Okay enough about me, how 'bout some pretty scenery?

September 1, 2007, 7:30 a.m. Apologies for the initial stomach churning qualities of this.

I know this is going to sound shocking but I have never made a video with my camera and in fact have not shot video of any kind in about twelve years. Not shocking? Huh. ;)

I've purposely stayed with still pictures because I wanted to 'get good' at taking them and the format appeals to me more--usually. But to get a little slice of the Lake for my parents, who were not able to go this year, I broke down and took a couple of short videos. "Not that bad," you say? ('Cept the audio--holy mackerel what's with that?) You should see the outtakes. lol.

The best video that I shot is of course messed up because in order to "crop" some extraneous um, stuff, I flipped the camera so it shot in "portrait" rather than "horizon."

Quelle horror!

Hey, why not just flip it like a picture...?

I'm jaded enough that once I saw that there was not quick and dirty explanation for doing this...I knew that I'd be in for hours of trying to figure it out. So I spent hours yesterday (in truth, after pulling an all-nighter coming home, I wasn't up for much else) searching for the answer. And in the end...I found that there exists no easy answer. Right now I have stashed away a rather mealy-mouthed suggestion of tip-toeing over to the dreaded Windows "help" area on their official site and following a long-winded step-by-step. OK. Maybe tomorrow. It is a very nice video though so I will get it "straightened out." Har.

I did it! I did it! I did it!

Gone To Maple Lake

Heading out in the morning to spend Labour Day weekend at Maple Lake and to close the cottage up for the winter.
Despite the fact that we'll be driving as much as vacationing  we had such a great time there last month that we couldn't bear to have it be our only visit of the year.

If my Dad reads this he should rest assured that Uncle Jim will check the cottage after we've closed it up to make sure we've winter-proofed correctly--so no worries.

Forecast is for stellar weather so we should be able to get out on the Lake and for sure I'll be in the Lake as well.

Until later, y'all take care!

Maple Lake Sunset, Casa Loma Flowers

More vacation photos-- first Casa Loma's Gardens:

I need my spouse to tell me what is what if he can. He took these flower shots. Above, I believe, is a rose, lol.

The three on the far right are Maple Lake at sunset.      

For the Folks

My folks usually spend several months at Maple Lake each year but they cannot this year. Here's a few shots of the Lake for them, plus a bonus shot or two taken from the CN Tower of their hometown, Toronto.

(Photoshopped the boats out)                                                                                                

                                                                        

                                                                                                                     

Toronto at sunset from the CN Tower. Some interesting architecture going on, especially with some "smaller" buildings (keep in mind, all is being viewed from one of the tallest buildings um, on the planet). I'd have to study up to name anything here, though.                                                                                                               
                                                                                                                                                                                                                         Part of the harbor, a bit of Lake Ontario
(Toronto)                                                                                     

"Bonus" shot of my son at Casa Loma in Toronto.
I have a ton of Casa Loma shots to sort through as both spouse and son had cameras.                                                                                                                   

Maple Lake, Ontario~ 2007

Surprise! I have scads of photographs.

But first...
We bought our first boat,  a 15.5 foot red canoe. I had grand plans for quality family time in it but it seems that though he easily navigated the choppy waters of the Pacific in a kayak last summer, canoing on Maple Lake is not my son's "thing."

He swamped us...in the black water...with Raven along for the ride.
It wasn't so bad because we were not far from our beach and he was very shaky from the get-go
so we were more or less waiting for it to happen (though I murmured reassuringly any time he seemed to relax a bit).

So over we went and boy, was it a lesson in every living thing for him or herself.  Our 12-pound dog immediately took off, dog paddling her way towards the wrong beach (any beach in a swamping, I suppose). We are all strong swimmers so I swam after Raven and collared her, steering her towards our beach. Also in our favour was the very low water level this year so we did not have far to go before we were in the shallows. We reached shore to find Raven awaiting us on our beach looking none-too-pleased about the situation.
I love the canoe though and can't wait to go again. Spouse likes it as well so perhaps we'll have Chris and Raven travel this way---->


next time.

For ages now, I've wanted a safer way to have a campfire in the evening so I was happy to find a portable copper fire pit. It's on legs and has a screen cover to cover it once the fire dies down a bit. Of course, one always has a bucket of water handy just the same.

                                                                                                         

This pic was taken prior to my spouse trimming the bank, bushes, and taking  down a tree damaged in last year's tornadoes. I spent a lovely afternoon sitting here listening to the soft lapping of the waves on the beach, relaxing and reading. :)

Ducks~

                       

   

       

                

                                            

            

               

Maplelake.08.07

            

           

   

The water level was very low for the first few days of our time at the Lake. The beach was much wider than normal, though the water gradually rose to almost-normal levels over the time we vacationed there.

   

       

                

                                            

            

               

Maplelakeducks.08.07

            

           

   

As I was just getting out of the water and on to the beach, a whole flock of ducks swam up within a few feet of me. Though I was quite surprised,  I managed to get off a few snaps.
                       

   

       

                

                                            

            

               

Maplelakeducks2-08.07

            

           

   

                       

   

       

                

                                            

            

               

Duckmania.08.07

            

           

   

Holy cow! Cool bill! And I love her markings. Her feathers almost match the colour of the sand-bottom lake perfectly!

                                                                

                       
                    

 

 

What do you enjoy most about summer?

Two Words: The Lake

which is a beautiful, familiar place with great sentimental meaning that no matter how small my vacation budget is I can go to and stay as long as I like.

Some pictures from Maple Lake:

                                  Me,  my bro                                        

Me, my bro~ He is patting down the sand not flinging it.

Me, my bro~                                                                               In the back field...me, my bro, some cousins.                                                            

 

                                                                

  (below)                                                                                                        Middle 1950's~  Excluding the baby and the woman at extreme left, we have my beloved grandmother who taught me to swim, my late uncle George, and my mom.

                                                                                                     My son and a friendly local dog. It helps like or at least not mind kids and dogs* at the Lake.

*and some non-domesticated critters.

Below: My Aunt and my dad.   

Right: My Dad and my eldest son.  It was my son's first visit to Maple Lake.

 

Show us your favorite photo from last summer.

Just one? Impossible! I'll show restraint and show two three several.

Roger's 47th~6.25.06~

Tower of Terror, Disney, Chris's 14th ~2006. This was just a really fun day. :) I snapped this of the monitor instead of paying $7 for it. I wasn't the only one. :p

Johnny Depp in a box!------------------------------>

Disneyland 2006~Father and Son~

Our Lake At Dawn~ 2006

St. Peter's Anglican Church, Maple Lake, after tornadoes~

My son had stayed on at the cottage with my folks after our visit. Just before I was due to drive the 700 miles to the Lake in Ontario, several tornadoes struck the area. Quite a bit of damage to wooded areas--many trees were in front of St. Peter's Church (above--it's on the lake)) when I'd left my son two weeks earlier--they are gone now. Thankfully, few cottages took any serious damage.

Maple Lake; Carnarvon post-tornado(es)

The formerly tree-dotted St. Peter's Anglican Church on Maple Lake

Lost a lot of mature trees in the recent tornado. Completely changed the look of the place.
Mad at myself because I don't think I took any pictures of it "before."
Over the years, it never seemed to change--always the last landmark on our way to Maple Lake.

Must say though the building doesn't  look like it took much of a hit, thank goodness.
One can see the wrought iron gate is twisted and hanging oddly but the rest of it looks good.

Lots more in the photo album:

http://cyncity.typepad.com/photos/fourth_of_july_parade_200/dsc_0042stpetesfinal.html

Talked to my dad today. Their power came back on late Tuesday (yesterday). From August 2 when the tornado(es) struck until late-afternoon on August 8,  my folks, who are in their late seventies were without any electric or running water. I was there for three days of it and I have no idea how they stayed sane.
I do however commend them. I come from some hardy stock (folks on either side of us had generators :/--sounded like power saws going almost constantly).

From the Toronto Star confirmation of  what was hit the hardest:

The biggest problem is still removing trees from downed power lines — some of them huge 50- to 100-year-old maple and pine trees that were either snapped in half or pulled out of the ground by their roots.

Everyone's still talking about the storm in Minden, Reeve Jim McMahon said.

"We were sitting having dinner when what sounded like a freight train went by the front door," said McMahon. "As the old-timers say, if you hear a train whistle and there's no train, you know there's a tornado coming through."

There were trees bigger than this ripped from the ground.
This was one of the few still waiting for final clean-up. Power was off for the third day of what turned out to be seven without water or electric.

Tornadoes in Cottage Country

From an on-line news story:

Farther west in the Haliburton and Kawartha Lakes area, 23,000 people remain without power. Crews have been brought in from neighbouring areas to help cut trees and re-string power lines.

This is Maple Lake country and it is a mess. Power out for almost a week. I got home from there  about 3:30 this a.m. and I tried to contact my folks tonight to see if they've gotten power back but they don't appear to be there. I hope that's so.

My aunt graciously offered to house my folks at her cottage-- which does have power.
I hope they took her up on it. Toughing it out was okay for a couple of days but it  ends up being really difficult when one is not prepared for extended no power or water. Generators are good to a point--if you can find one to buy.

The worst I saw in my less than two days there was that St Peter's Church on Maple Lake has had it's trees ripped right out in front of the church. It's just shocking. It looks as if they were just swept right away. Really old trees that  were part of the loveliness of  the church...it's very sad.

The positive, from what I could see is that most of the cottages look okay--undamaged. But the landscape has most certainly changed.

I'll add pictures tomorrow. I wish I'd taken more "before."

Gone Again

Driving up north to retrieve this guy (the one on the left). He reported tonight that a "small" tornado blew through the Maple Lake area (and I'm sure, other regions in Southern Ontario) and the cottage has been without power since Wednesday. I feel badly for my dad having to cope with it all. At least their phone is functional again.

From One Extreme to the Other

Chris, Raven, & Roger being rowdy.

Morning break our first day there.

Ontario Canada or, Maple Lake Redux II

Fall Waters (ok, not technically Maple Lake  but still Haliburton Highlands)

Maple Lake, 5 a.m. July 16, 2006 (Sepia toned)

Same time and place as above, different space (histogram adj.)

I'm home

5 a.m. Eastern, July 16, 2006 Arrival...

I'm home and this is the first chance I've had to drop by here. I haven't even checked my two email accounts (I'm afraid to. But I'll start tomorrow) though I took a quick peek at the gmail account once while at the Lake.

It was a nice visit w/my immediate and extended family. And it ain't over yet. My younger son asked the day before we left if he could stay on. He doesn't ask for much so I figured he must really want to. But then this year one of the families that we are friendly with and who reside less than an hour from Maple Lake so are at the Lake frequently--got a big motorboat so they and their younger sons are there a lot and other relatives and neighbours are there too, esp. Fri-through-Sun. I guess tubing is fun--I've only done the lazy river thing (on a real river). The owners of the luxury liner also have a smaller fishing boat and are devout fishermen but so far, my son has taken a pass on that. The cousins play a lot of hide and seek just like I did when a kid. It's lake, open spaces, cottages, and woods so lots of places to hide. (But not from the mosquitoes.) 
My favourite cousin was there with her 4-person family unit. It was really nice to catch up with her a bit.
I'll motor up there to retrieve Chris but since it'll just be him and me I'll take the 'stang this time. 

Weather at the lake got HOT so I know Toronto must have been and here (Chicago burbs) was--IS!!!--too. I am not big on super hot heat. It's just too much for more than a day. Our air conditioning is running all the time. My mother kept talking of thinking she would "die of the heat before we had air-conditioning" (and she never lived further south than Toronto!). She forgets that I too remember the pre-air condtioning days, though at age 18 I finally moved to more civilized environs--Huntington Beach, California and finally in my home felt the wonderful thing that is AC.

There's no AC in the cottage. One must be in the lake all day to stay cool--and with a hat and/or shades that works. Someday I'd love to host a meet-up there or even just invite whomever who wants to come up but a few things need taking care of first--and though my Dad says it is my cottage, in truth it is as good as mine/ my brother's as it is willed to us--so I consider it my parents and before I do anything, I have to consider them--and fix up the one room that is terrible--the kitchen and freshen the what-could-be gorgeous, large, screened-in porch with a primo view of the lake. Here though in Chicagoland my home is open to friends at all times.
So I'm meandering here.

5 a.m. Eastern, July 16, 2006

 _________________
If the world were perfect, it wouldn't be. ~ Yogi Berra

I'm here, where are you?

I'm here, where are you?
Current mood: hopeful
Category: Life

Hi from Maple Lake, Ontario!

My week here is near an end and the phone, hence dial-up Internet has been down the whole time. :/
We are at my parents summer place and they only arrived hours before we did.
So there is is quite a lot to do besides bask in the weather in/by the lake. Our first day and my spouse & dad were in the lake trying to determine where the water line was losing pressure. They rigged something but the problem is not atypical due to the cottage sitting unused for most of the year.

So Day One was a day with no running water--very much like camping--which thankfully, I've done. But
overall, we've had fun--lots of relatives are in surrounding cottages atm, but no one else was here for several days. They all live varying easy distances from here--as I probably would if my father had not been transferred to the states when I was 6 y.o. Oh well, that's really neither here nor there. :shrug:
I'd hoped to spend some time helping my dad with some computer/ Internet stuff but I guess since I need to leave for home in the next 36 hrs. there won't be much of that.
My younger son Chris is staying on for a bit though, so perhaps he can help Grandpa with a thing or two. Regardless, I bought 3 mos. of service so my dad may as well haul the little Dell PC that we gave him this Christmas past up here so he can get his fix of world news.

Anyway, wanted to say hello and send my .

Cheers!

--Cyn

Currently reading: The Center of Everything: A Novel By Laura Moriarty Release date: By 14 July, 2004

Maple Lake: Revisited

Summer 1983~
My son and his great grandfather, Frank McCrackan.

I've written about Maple Lake, Ontario a number of times. Photographs almost always accompany the posts as it's hard to put into words how I feel about the place, partly because of the many years my family has owned lakefront property there. Photos seem to convey so more than mere words.
Some family history~
Sometime around 1940, my paternal grandmother, who grew up in Housey's Rapids, Ontario--lake country itself, and my grandfather (more the farming type recreationally--real life job was as a Sgt. on the Toronto Police force) started searching in earnest for some lake-land on which they could build a cottage. About this time my grandfather's sister Eva, was managing Maple Sands Resort on Maple Lake. I'm not sure of the exact circumstances but my grandparents ended up buying property about a half mile down the lakefront from the resort. It reached from the road, about 1/3 of a mile away, all the way down to the lakefront. It's a beautiful piece of property. I'm told that it was my grandmother's desire to eventually build three cottages on it--one for each of her three children.

The cottage building began in 1942. My dad was age 12 then and he was very much a part of the building process--following the lead of his father.

My grandmother's dream came to fruition as the years passed and the final cottage was built about a decade after the first went up. Their children grew up and went on to marry and have children themselves. The cottages were/are well-populated.

Even though my father's work transferred us to the United States when I was six years old I continued to spend virtually the entire summer at Maple Lake right through my early teens (I, like my cousins, went through a phase where going up there was "boring." It lasted 'till young adulthood when *magically* we again loved it there).

I have a lifetime's worth of memories associated with Maple Lake, far too many to cram into a blog post. I am pleased though that occasionally someone stumbles across the blog after typing in "Maple Lake, Ontario" and leaves a nice comment.  I'm very happy to connect with a fellow Maple Lake resident and enthusiast. One must spend time up there to truly appreciate all it has to offer--and it offers much.
In re: my photographs: I'm always trying to capture my "mind's eye view" of the lake and I haven't quite done it yet. I intend to keep trying, however.

Greatgrandfather and Baby Jim

This photo is loaded with meaning for me. Firstly, the subjects are my grandfather (now 10 years deceased) and my first son, age 5 months. They are meeting for the first time. Then the setting. It's a cottage that my grandfather built, one of three on Maple Lake in Ontario. He also made almost all the furniture in the house, including the table and chair in this pic. Finally, since I spent 2 months of every summer here for many years, I have clear memories of many people, events, and feelings.

My grandfather is about 91 years old in this pic, my son 5 months.
Frank (which he preferred to be called) lived to age 101.