This is what it’s looked like a lot here at Maple Lake this week past~
I wasn’t unhappy to miss the weekend revelry in favour of getting things set up for spouse, son, and dog’s arrival. They got here around 11 p.m. last night. As always (lol) it took 13 hours out of a start about 25 miles northwest of Chicago. Accidents, construction, the usual–but an easy border crossing which is always appreciated!
The cottage is sinking noticeably this year. I don’t think the rains helped much.:( Filing down the doors just isn’t a long-term or permanent solution. It’s pretty worrying because it needs to be addressed, then the siding!
To the weather and bugs! /EDIT
Black flies are officially out of season here! I wonder if they know that? (See bug report below for the day before.)
…is what the forecast calls for all the way into next week here in the West Guilford/Maple Lake area. Must be kind of disappointing for anyone who has limited vacation time or has come to the end of their vacation.
My family and I usually hold off coming up to Maple Lake until August because whether it’s a cast iron fact or not a) virtually every time we arrive we are told by the regulars that we brought the good weather with us, that the weather had been not great for some time prior to our getting here. Always is nice to be perceived as a ray of sunshine. 
b) The weather here is near perfect most every August.
My perspective, having a whole month to chill out here is that I have plenty to do that doesn’t need great weather to be done–so though I’d welcome just a bit more sunshine, I’m willing to wait for the great weather on the way to Maple Lake on Tuesday and Wednesday and possibly beyond.
Spoke with spouse and both sons tonight–all sounds good on the home front. Spouse did tell me that the flowers that I posted were in fact
some wildflowers seeds he just sprinkled on the bank before we left last time.
i have anohter shot of them here, plus daisies.
Meaning after a kamikaze trip like the one I just made, I don’t realize how badly it throws me until the day after the day after. The day after or more accurately later on the day of my trip, I was just in a brain fog. I wandered from room to room making feeble attempts at organizing things but had no idea how badly I felt until today when I felt on top of the world (can’t wait for tomorrow!)
The weather which becomes a primary focus when one is here, has not followed the gloom and doomy forecasts. It hasn’t rained at all that I can tell–unless I was sleeping. I know they’ve had rain because the barbecue cover was on the ground filled with water <censored> and the foliage is a lush green. The bugs are a large hint, too.
No specifics as per request but this one more time as I get ready to stay here for longer than I have since age 13, I can and will talk about my feelings. I have a right after all, my legal last name is the same as my grandmother’s. Instead of extended family however, my focus is the lake and the surrounding area and that is what brings me great joy. That and having my spouse, son, and dog nearby.
I had an awesome swim tonight as the sun was setting. The clouds looked painted in the sky and the sun was barely visible behind the cloud cluster but enough orange and pink were peeking out that it was breathtaking.
I got a couple of one-off shots but honestly nothing spectacular. There are times when you have to immerse yourself in the moment, also there are times when the bugs are thick as thieves and you do not want to be standing around offering them lunch, so I stayed in the lake and watched the sunset. A person in a canoe was somewhat nearby and he too was just absorbing the exquisitness of it all. Though we did not speak I’m fairly certain that our thoughts were similar in being thankful for the natural beauty everywhere around us.
Nirvana a/k/a Maple Lake, Ontario, Canada
It’s not simply case of not feeling like getting prepared for “Cindy’s big adventure north.” It’s more a sense of feeling overwhelmed by leaving home ( here) for a month. I want to go–really, really want to go. And I’m quite sure once I get there and get settled in that I’ll be better than fine. It’s just that I’m finding it hard to find a stopping point for my day-to-day responsibilities and to be honest, distractions which are not productive.
I think I need a nudge but there’s no one to tell me to get it in gear because I’m pretty much the boss of me.
OK. That’s it. I’m signing off. I will see you on the other side (of the border), fingers crossed that the newly installed satellite Internet in the cottage is humming along. This girl does not have the luxury of taking a month break. Posting may slack a tad–though be prepared for a barrage of photographs of the beauty that is cottage country. Until then, stay safe and take good care.
C.
Torbay Cottage, North Bay~
Well folks, it’s t-minus about 64 hours and the clock is ticking down to my momentous leave of my entire family for a week at Maple Lake (they’ll join me for three more weeks at the end of week one).
It’s a bit unnerving and I can feel the anxiety starting to creep in–not about a week alone (are you kidding?–nirvana!) but of leaving the guys behind. With the youngest being almost 16 y.o. no one really needs me but I’m a control freak so I’m completely beside myself that they’ll forget to do all the things that I always do–and then what? Probably no big disaster–but tell my itchy brain that!
My main concern is the additional three weeks when spouse and younger son and our dog, Raven will join me at the lake. I’m afraid that eldest son, who does not have the vacation time to use so is staying here, will let my plants die. 
I should be getting anxious about the near-700 mile drive there–but I’m not as I’ve done it so often–either alone or with a kid or two.
Moving along.
I stopped by Maple Lake Ontario today to check on the weather and the bugs and before doing so I checked on the the sun setting in Ontario and what a beautiful sunset it was!
I have a number of really pretty sunset web shots to share, then long-range weather, then bug forecast.
*About the webcam shots. It’s quite hard to obtain a good webcam shot due to factors including that most webcams are outside so the lenses get dirty, the webcam gets skewed to a strange angle, and bug juice collects. What I do is grab the shot and most times or in the case of the Dorset and Haliburton webcams, always clean them up and try to bring out as natural a photo image as I can.
Kincardine Harbour~ from Lighthouse One
Kincardine Channel overlooking the Penetangore River which connects to Lake Huron.
Silver Lake Resort~
Dorset Sunset, July 15~
Haliburton Sunset (enhanced)~
Once again the goofy neon car image at the top right area is where the road turns sharply, avoiding a plunge into Head Lake. I used to love going around that as a kid. Still do. 
Extended Weather Prediction for West Guilford:
That looks really good to me!
Hrm. Don’t forget your DEET!
Skimming through the “What’s Happening this week in the Haliburton Highlands” newsletter I came across an event called “Wolf Howl.” I thought certainly they can’t mean what it sounds like…so I read on and yes, every Thursday evening through July and August, Haliburton Forest offers a public wolf howl.
Doesn’t that sound exciting, amazing, even?! I’ve never experienced such a thing so I cannot wait to do so. Here’s the scoop from the Newsletter:
“Starting at 8 pm and taking place at the Base Camp, visitors gather at our seminar building to hear a presentation on wolves, their ecology and relationship to humans. After this presentation, the group is taken for a short hike where an interpreter will attempt to “howl up” our resident pack. We can not guarantee a response, however, we do have a good track-record ! This event offers another great family outing at Haliburton Forest. Pre-registration is not required and payment is by donation.”
Visit Website: www.haliburtonforest.com
Haliburton Forest & Wildlife Reserve County Rd. 7 West Guilford
Tel: 705-754-2198
Email: info@haliburtonforest.com
I just love that payment is by donation and it’s not a big, expensive night out. In fact this is just one of many free or by donation activities that you can enjoy during your time in the Haliburton Highlands!
This Post is sponsored by the Letter “M” –that’s Me! ( It’s a freebie.)
(Above) Kincardine Harbour sunset
This is only funny if you are me but through a mixed-up spouse’s insistence that I had an appointment today and from my plan to leave the Friday after said appointment, we both extremely had crossed wires of communication–for the entire holiday weekend. It’s now all straightened out and I’m not stressing as I was because everything was off it’s timetable. Glad that’s fixed. <wipes brow>I’m excited to present the long-range forecast which includes the beginning of my month-long vacation at Maple Lake!
In addition, I’m very happy to note that it is no longer “no-see-um” season! Woo-hoo. I’ll-take the good news where I can get it.
After the long-range weather and bug report for West Guilford/Maple Lake I’ll share a couple of Ontario webcam shots from July 9, 2008. Guaranteed pretty.
*NEW~ Updated on July 11, 2008 for July 12-26 dates. It seems to be looking a little better.
“Powerboaters and sailboaters are a different breed. Powerboats are turn-the-key, turn-the-wheel. As a sailor you’re working the entire time…” Alan Veenstra, owner of Chicago Sailing
This a quote from today’s Today’s Chicago Tribune newspaper about how motorboat users are feeling the pinch in gasoline costs.
The article goes on to talk about how many people have difficulty conjuring up sympathy for those well-heeled enough to be able to pay for a slip at the Chicago Yacht Club or the like, never mind burn up fuel on the Lake Michigan–the source of our drinking water.
I’m not going to present this as a non-biased viewpoint–the powerboat people certainly are not.
Quote: “I’m more conscious of gas prices this year, but it hasn’t spoiled my fun,” Blackwell said.
“I’ll drive 2 miles, shut the engine off, and turn on the radio. It’s like I’m in a different world.”
This powerboat owner is in a different world alright, the world of denial.
The owners of motorboats should be looked at more sympathetically because “studies say” (what studies–the “American Motorboat Association”?) that “most motorboat owners come from the middle class.” A-ha! The middle class likes motorboating so us non-motor-boating middle class folks should endorse motorboaters as we are all just ya know, middle class.
Sorry. Here is the deal locally, in the Chicago area. The “middle, middle class” scrimp and save and get a previously-owned small-by-any-yacht-standard, motorboat, which they keep in their own garages in the winter and their driveways in-the summer.
They can’t afford to rent a frelling slip on Lake Michigan! OK? Got that?
They take off to the Chain O’ Lakes on the weekend to fish, come back, and park their boats in their driveway until the next time they are able to take the boat out.
On the other hand, the so-called “middle class” whose boats are docked at the Chicago Yacht Club or Waukegan Harbor are upper middle-class and beyond and though they may cut back on engine running time whilst out polluting the great Lake Michigan (as well at adding more noise to the cacaphony that many boats in one general area make). The well-heeled who don’t have to care where the money goes have very little in common with the true middle class. After all, we have a have a short summer season, right?
The Tribune story goes on to report that boaters, in addition to taking shorter trips, are practicing “buddy-boating,” where people take turns whose boat they take when fishing, spending more time at the slip, and using it like “their summer resort.”
All I can add is, what took you so long? (And, you are fooling no one–we all know that you have at least one summer resort north of here). And why won’t you cozy up to the non-fuel using, previously mentioned sail-boating? Or, on a big lake like Michigan or Ontario for that matter, kayaking? On smaller lakes canoing, paddle-boating or how ’bout row-boating? I know it’s quaint but if you put a bit of back into it you can get far enough out on a typical smaller lake to get a good catch. As for those folks whose livelihood is tied to the water? You need to adapt. Carry less motorboat-related items and start catering to the non-fuel using alternatives. There are many. Just let it sink in that we are never going back to the petroleum hogging excesses of our immediate past and embrace the future in which you can still make a living off of water-related activities–they just don’t have to take such a toll on-the environment. It’s my predication that motorboat people will alter their lifestyles significantly in the next 5 years to go beyond using their big gasoline-ingesting boats to smaller, alternate ways of water transport. Hopefully, this blog will still be around then and I can check back to see if I was correct.
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Red, White and Blue~
Canada Day Cake from http://yogi.vox.com/
There’s no way I could have gotten that giant maple leaf to look like The Maple Leaf. Maple-leaf shapes are notoriously difficult to render. Believe me, I’ve tried!
I commend the cake decorator–same as the cake maker, perhaps?
Looks very yummy!
Vox Hunt: Red, White and Blue
Yogi has taken some really awesome photos.
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