Home Again, Home Again, Jiggidy Jig

Well, it's that time of year again when the buds of Spring become the falling leaves of Autumn. I have been blessed to be able to have had the time and resources to see both seasons and all the time in between. This was my first camping season fully retired, when I could camp to my hearts content.

We started in May with our maiden voyage to Charleston Lake, where we got to see spring in its full splendour, from the forest blanketed with trilliums to the stirring call of the arriving orioles, the flowers and trees awakening from their winter slumber. Spring mating calls filled the air both during the day and with the dusk, the call of the bullfrogs, whippoorwills and owls. The raccoons were busy establishing their territories, and Finn, my dog and I had one nasty run in with one when Finn decided to corner one in a swamp. It ended with a big stick and a lot of mud and both of us ending up in the campground shower. We spent a fabulous month there and I had my first swim of the season on May 27th, rather late as we experienced a long cold winter and a cool spring.

We next decided to spent the summer months at our favorite place, Grundy Lake, and although the summer did not produce the best weather, I was still able to enjoy lots of swimming, canoeing and kayaking. I also got to try out a new sport, standup paddle boarding and found I enjoyed it very much.

We had the pleasure of a weeks visit by my daughter April and grandson Jack, filled with fun and excitement. Jack brings out the child in me. We fished together and jumped off the rocks on the island, kayaked and swam, got to soap stone sculpture and along with my sister, our own version of Art in the Park. The time flew by too quickly till they we're gone and we got back to our normal days and nights, enjoying time with the rest of our Grundy Gang. I got to participate in some of the Park's activities like the Amazing Race, which I completed and won prizes for. But as the summer flies by, we all start to pack up and go, to our different corners of the province. I enjoy the constant interaction and look forward to seeing our old friends each year. Grundy is our special place for doing the summer activities I enjoy the most and the beauty of Northern Ontario never fails to amaze me.

We finished up our season as we began, at Charleston Lake, to our favorite spot on the water. The summer being almost over brings a different type of life to the water, namely tons of ducks and geese, amusing us with their noises and antics. The hummingbirds came for their last drinks before the journey south, and most of the songbirds long gone. I got my last swim in, on September 8th, before the days started turning cool and the rains and wind chased us home on September 16th.

All in all a great season, 93 days of camping pleasure in our beautiful rolling apartment, my second home. Can't wait to do it all again next year!!!

Back to Where it Started

We now have returned to our favorite spot at  Charleston Lake Provincial Park near Gananoque, Ontario. This is our favorite site at this park, right on the water, our little slice of Heaven. This is the same spot we started camping on May 9th. We got here a week ago.

I chose this spot because it seems when you are camped near water, you are camped near life, most animals need water to survive, they build their homes and nests here. In spring this spot is filled with the newly arrived migrants, orioles, cardinals, yellow warblers, all singing their little hearts out. The night air is filled with sounds of bullfrogs and whippoorwills, owls and loons. At this time, now that mating is done, the bullfrogs are quiet, the sounds of the loons and birds much less intense, but still the odd hoot of an owl can be heard and the blue jays and woodpeckers are much more active. In the spring, we had many raccoons here, I have yet to see one this time and we have been here for a week. The hummingbirds, which are so busy in the spring, have mostly departed, now only the odd one trying to drink it's fill comes to the feeder.

I also chose this spot because we can launch our canoe and kayaks right from the site, very handy for a quick paddle. We have been out on the water once this week, and have been lucky enough to swim for 4 out the 7 days, the water is still beautiful, cool and clear. I like to try and see how late in the season I can still be swimming outdoors, the latest is the 25th of September, some years back, and have already broken my record of September 2nd for last year as I swam yesterday on the 8th. So far we have been entertained by the birds, the ducks and geese are constantly playing and fighting right at the little bay where our site is, tons of woodpeckers, the big Pilated ones, we have had grouse and jays, chickadees and nuthatches and hummers. I am truly enjoying my quiet mornings and evenings, living the life I envisioned retirement would be. Although there are not a lot of campers up, there are more than I expected, with the nicer weather this year.

We hope to stay up here for another 10 days, then go home for a bit and see what the weather is like and if feasible, head out for one last trip. It is sure nice to have that choice.

For now, I am enjoying being back to where it started, my personal slice of Heaven!

The Launch to Mexico

One of the most enjoyable and fascinating things to do at Presqu'ile is to participate in the annual Labour Day launch of the Monarch butterfly. It has been held here for many years, but I have not done so for about four years, so I figured it was high time I did it again. 

The same man runs the program, Mr. Don Davis, an expert in Monarch migration, and he was here again with his envelopes of cooled butterflies taken from the fields of Presqu'ile Park and areas around it. This year he proudly displayed his certificate from the Guinness Book of records for a butterfly that holds the record for the longest flight of a butterfly ever, tracked from its launch at Presqu'ile to the state of Texas, an almost 5400 km journey. The Monarch's aim is to get to a small obscure town in Mexico where they over-winter, mate and die.

My objective was to get the monarch on it's way to Mexico. I waited in line with all the kiddies to get my tagged butterfly, the tag number being recorded in a log by Don. If someone happens to see a tagged Monarch anywhere, the can go onto a specific website and report the location of where they spotted it. It is fascinating to see all the different places in the US where they have been spotted, an amazing feat of endurance and willpower as these butterflies follow an unexplained path to complete this journey and begin the cycle of life anew.

I have been in awe of these beautiful butterflies most of my life. I have always thought that when I saw a Monarch, it was the spirit of my father, Richard James Sullivan, who died in 1966 at age 41. So when I heard about this program to launch the butterflies, I was anxious to participate. When you are in lineup to get your butterfly, you do not know whether or not you will get a male or female. The only way you can tell is by a small dot in the rear right hand side of the wings, only the males have it. When Don handed me the butterfly, I could see the dots on the wing and knew right away I would christen him Richard, after my dad. As the butterfly is in a state of shock from the cooler, you have to throw it up in the air in order to get it to fly away. 

So with a kiss and a wish, I sent Richard off to the sky, in the hopes he will make his incredible journey successfully. A truly spiritual and joyful experience.