Lake Superior Evening

I spent last night and a good part of the afternoon at Neys Provincial Park. My campsite was so close to the water that I could hear the waves rolling on to the beach, oh so restful. I could have stayed for the summer. I was also entertained by the sound of the frequent trains going through the campground and clinging to the side of the rocks over the beach. There is nothing like a train whistle cutting through the night. I could feel myself smiling in my sleep as the engines rolled on through the night.

lame grose

NOTES FROM 15th

When I pulled into my campsite at NeysProvincial Park on Lake Superior, near Marathon ON, there was a grouse dragging a broken wing trying to make her escape in the long grass at the perimeter. I stopped the van, opened the window and watched her. She stopped flapping and watched me. I opened the door withexaggerated calm. She didn’t move blending withthe grass and shadows. I eased out with my camera ready. I wondered if she was really hurt or trying to get me to chase her out of a hidden nests proximity. Why would a bird lay eggs so close to a busy campsite? Although I ask the mother killdeers that every time I watch the hay mower make short work of all of the nests in the field, the mothers flopping uselessly in front of the tractors, trying to distract them from their deadly mission. I snapped a couple of pictures as she watched me and then she disappeared.

I pulled on my bathing suit and headed to the sandy beach knowing that I wouldn’t swim, the water would be too cold. It was cold, but not that bad. I didn’t swim but I did walk a couple of miles on the firm sand, letting the waves pull at my feet and legs. It wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be but the air was cold and I didn’t feel the need to plunge in to cool off. I hoped that as the evening fell, so would the water but as I am writing this, the waves are bigger than ever.

This afternoon I walked away from the sandy beaches and to the rocky outcroppings. They are rugged and beautiful. Exactly what I was expecting from Superior’s shores. There is something about rocks that make my blood pound. A child of the Canadian Shield, I have been adopted by the fertile and pastoral south lands but when I am reunited with the rocks, I know my heart is here.

Today

AND NOW TODAY

When you are driving the steep roads along Superior you see bicyclists riding. These men and women are loaded with all their gear and seriously moving. Today I met two young fella’s from Kitchener who were riding from BC to Halifax for mental health. I don’t need to tell you that I thought they might be lacking in a bit of that…but I didn’t tell them that.  It made me think of the interview I heard today on Q with Stompin’ Tom Connors. He talked about criss crossing the country as a hitch hiker and rail rider in his youth and later as a performer. He is unabashedly Canadian, maybe because of all of those crossings. He said that he knew every blade of grass int the country. I realize that my mode of transport is not conducive to meeting every blade of grass and I started to fantasize about walking across the country. What would I need, h0w would I manage? My knees would never agree to biking, but they might think about walking…maybe. Just after that I arrived at the Terry Fox Memorial in Thunder Bay. Who knows, maybe it is possible.

Where bikers fear to tread

I have been reading the book “Three Cups of Tea: One Man’s Mission to Promote Peace … One School at a Time.” I am taken by the changes a dream can make, even when it takes unexpected turns. It is a great book. If you haven’t read it yet, try it.

Dreamer - do-er

Time to go and find that campsite for the night. I am meeting Shawn, a couchsurfing girlfriend from last year for the evening.  I am having trouble finding internet these days but hopefully that will settle down. Talk soon.