Row Cloud

This strange cloud formation in the shape of a roll, with little eddies forming off of it, was hanging over the end of the lake.

The Picnic Grounds

This beautiful log cabin is built on the site of "the picnic grounds." My mother used to take us here to remind us about our family history. We would walk under the massive pine trees, the wind whispering in the branches above, carpet of brown pine needles beneath our feet, and she would tell us stories. This was where they held the community picnic every summer; everyone brought their own basket filled with bread and jars of lemonade. This is where your grandfather and his brothers would swim, just off these rocks. This is the sheep dip, where they drove the herd into the lake to wash the wool before sheering.

We can't go there any more now that someone lives there, but I can paddle by and breath in history with the scent of the pines.

Lily

Perfection floats in the marsh,

large pure white lily 

'mongst shiny green lily pads.

Kayak

A

kayak,

same shape,

front to back.

A  palindrome

to take you there

then get you home.

It skims the surface

like a water-strider,

drifts through lilies;

gentle reed-rider.

Smooth and slow,

open and free,

water behind

forms a

V.

Otherworldly

Yellow flower

growing in the marsh,

alien growth

from a far off planet.

Islands

There are two small islands that sit in front of the family cottage. Close enough to swim to, if you are brave and in relatively good shape. I have painted these islands many times. They capture my imagination. On the larger, there used to be tiny cottage belonging to the wife of the farmstead beside us. A mysterious place whose windows we peeked into as though looking into the past. These islands are so small you could maybe fit one tennis court in the middle if you didn't mind the uneven ground. You could land a helicopter on them if the trees were gone. They are much closer to our side of the lake; from the other side they blend in with our shoreline; but from our side they stand out and give focus to the view of the lake and the loons as they swim by. The islands do not have names, just "the islands" or the big island and the little island. On the big island, there used to be a tall dead tree the Osprey loved to fish from, diving into the lake and surfacing with a fish in its talons, which it then shifts to a front to back, torpedo position, to make it more stream-lined for flying. The pines on the islands are shaped by the prevailing winds, a century of pressure influencing their branches. I have watched them for fifty years; a half-century of influence on me.

Thistle

Thistle

sounds like

it is;

soft

then pointy.

Beautiful

and painful.

Attracts

then repels.

Canadian Shield

These smooth rocks punctuate my childhood. They mean summer is here and we are close to the cottage. As we drove down the 401 the gray outcroppings let us know we were almost there. The turn off at Picadilly Road, then that one-lane cottage road with crazy curves and inclines so steep that you could not see over the hood of the car to the road below, and drivers would honk to warn oncoming vehicles.

From the cottage we would go through cow pastures, avoiding Nipper, the horse with a tendency to bite (who once bit our car and chipped the paint), cow pies, thistle plants, and Killdeer nests, and climb all over the huge smooth rocks that became castles or forts, boats or houses. Once, walking along the road with my parents, my aunt Irma and the local farm-dog named Bear, we thought we could hide below a cliff-like rock and trick the dog, who liked to run on ahead. We waited and waited, giggling at our clever hiding place, until we started wondering why the dog was not coming back to look for us. Finally we looked up and there sat Bear on the top of the rock, looking down at us wondering what we were doing.

Fish Out of Water

What happened?

I was swimming..

and then

suddenly

here I am!

Four Leaf Clover

I found my first four leaf clover when I was about nine. I was walking across a grassy green sheep pasture on my second-cousin's farm north of Kingston. I looked down and saw that lucky shape and I was hooked. My aunt taped it to a piece of paper and put it in an envelope with my name on it. I still have it somewhere, and over the years I kept adding to the collection. I have trouble resisting the urge to watch the ground. There are more four leaf clovers out there than you would think. Today this beauty was waving at me beside the cottage step!

Wild Srawberry

We have been wandering around the lawn at the cottage searching for these little guys. About the size of the end of your baby finger, wild strawberries pack and amazing punch of flavour. When they are in the sun they are warm and fragrant; when you find one in the shade they are cool and tangy!

Johnathan Livingston Seagull

“It was morning, and the new sun sparkled gold across the ripples of a gentle sea.” 

― Richard Bach, Jonathan Livingston Seagull

Stoneflower

What's this stoneflower 

blooming 

in the sand 

at low tide this morning? 

A sun-bleached 

sand dollar 

just showing 

it's decorated crest! 

Horizontal Rainbow

A few years ago we were crossing the Saguenay River on the ferry —this is the only way to get to our town, or, I guess you have a choice between this ferry that takes a few minutes and one from the other side of the Saint Lawrence River that takes a couple hours*— and my son was looking up the fiord at sunset and he said "Regard, un arc-en-ciel horizontal!"

I'm thinking, "A horizontal rainbow? What is he talking about?" But then I checked along the horizon and he was right, if you looked closely you could see red, orange, yellow, green, blue and purple stripes glowing in the evening light between the soaring cliffs.

Here on the beach we have horizontal rainbows fairly often as the sun sets behind the hills on the other side of the sky. We see the sun rise over the ocean, but we are not oriented to see the sun set over the water. That's okay, I appreciate our "arc-en-ciel horizontal." And the moon rising over the ocean like the one in the photo.


*You can also drive up the Sageunay and around Lac Saint Jean, but why would you unless the road is closed or the ferry is not operating due to bad weather. Or if you wanted to taste some giant blueberries, or visit some friendly "Blueberries" which is what they call people from that region!

Fragile Treasures

It is interesting that the frequency with which you find a kind of shell contributes to its interest. This one, an Atlantic Razor-Clam, is pretty rare on our beach. The delicate shell is so fragile that they are broken into little pieces before you can see them. Maybe there are less of them around here as well. Anyway, it seems as though you have discovered a treasure when you come upon a complete beauty like this one!

Knock on Woods

Adolescent humour. Driving along the forest-lined roads that skirt town, talking to my fifteen year-old daughter, I mention that I have only taken one migraine pill in the past month, a really good run for me, and then I say, "Of course now that I say that I will need to take one tomorrow; better knock on wood." And I rap on the dashboard, gear shift, my head. "No wood anywhere here!" I lament, correcting a slight swerve caused by my search for superstitious safety. "Well," says my daughter, "You almost drove us into the woods, so that should count."

I had to take a migraine pill today. Just saying.

Robin's Egg Blue

When you look down

 and see a piece of shell 

from a robin's egg, 

it seems as if a little bit of sky 

has fallen into the caribou moss. 

Argyle Sands

You've seen argyle socks and sweaters, well here is argyle patterned sand! 

Gnarly Roots

As I walked along the root strewn paths in the forest this afternoon I started thinking about the etymology of the word gnarly. Yes, I was thinking about the gnarly roots of gnarly roots. So gnarly started off meaning knotted and rugged, and then some Californian surfer girl or surfer boy had the cool idea to call a dangerous, exciting wave gnarly. Then gnarly just worked its way into teen slang; gnarly, dude.

Barnacles

Barnacles cling to rocks in the tidal zone, between high and low tide. Find a tide pool whose barnacles are still under water. If you sit very still and watch carefully, you will be rewarded by the sight of their feather-like "tongue" as it waves gracefully out of the opening and closing crack in the centre. This feather-like structure gathers plancton to eat, but if you move and your shadow crosses over the barnable, it closes up tight to protect itself.

C is for Clam

Arrived at the cottage this evening after supper, unloaded the car and went for a walk on the beach as the sun set. Checked my "Tides Near Me" app on my cellphone and it was exactly low tide; to the minute! Talk about timing. I love clam writing at low tide! Sometimes it looks like the Los Angeles freeway system, but tonight the sand was mostly smooth as far as the eye could see, and then there was this little guy, going back to where he started from.

Walking on Eggshells

Somebody built a really cool lean-to shelter in first bay. And they were good campers because they left their campsite cleaner than when they found it. Often after a group sleeps in the bay I find lots of wrappers, cans and even socks. Once I hauled out a couple sleeping bags, an ax, and a shovel (after they were left out in the open on the beach for a couple weeks, before the mega-tides of autumn took them out to sea). But this group made a shelter by arranging huge beached logs in a half circle, teepee shape against the rock cliff, and then they lined the cosy interior with a few spruce branches. And the only thing they left behind was a bright green piece of raw broccoli beside their very small, minimal ashes, fire.

And then I saw this, and I wondered if they had left their sponge. Or maybe they had found a natural sponge, although it was way bigger than any of the sponges I have found on our beach. Then I looked at it closely and saw that it was a cluster of eggs. If you look at the close-up of the eggs above, you can see that they have all hatched; these are just empty shells. It is really light, and surprisingly, not smelly at all!