The Squamidian Report – Aug. 15 / 09

 

Issue #377

 

Including:

The Ontarion

 

Hi All,

 

Sometime during the wee hours of last Monday morning we were awakened by a strange noise. It was not until we achieved full consciousness that the source and reason for the noise filtered into our heads. What we were hearing was RAIN. Hard steady rain beating on the roof and skylights. The sound of rain on the roof during the rainy season is a natural and normal part of living here but it had been so long since we last heard it that it simply did not register with our brains as to what it was. And for good reason too, this was the first meaningful precipitation on the west coast since last March. That’s right, it had not rained enough to matter since it was still officially winter here. That’s a long time to go without rain in a part of the world that has evolved under rainforest conditions. Out here it only takes a few days of sunshine to totally dry out the trees and grass and soil. So after 5 months or so of drought things had become very, very dry.

 

It will take many days of steady rain to soak in and properly hydrate forests of BC but every drop helps. The accompanying cooler temperatures help as well. Over a period of a few short days we dropped from the upper 30’s to the low 20’s and even just the mid teens as our daytime highs. The funny thing about that is that even though it is mid summer and everyone says they want it hot and sunny, absolutely no one is complaining about the abrupt turn in the local weather. Everyone understands just how badly the cool temps and cooling rains are needed.

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I stayed up way past my bedtime the other evening to watch some of the August meteor shower. There was supposed to be around 80 or so meteors per hour but I only saw about 50 over an hour and a half of watching. We were having partly cloudy skis so viewing was only OK, not great like I’d have preferred. Some of the ones I did manage to see were just quick streaks that winked out in no time at all. Others were bright balls that left a visible trail and ended in a flash of colour. Those ones are pretty neat.

 

 However, in that same period I think I saw at least as many satellites passing overhead. It sure must be crowded up there. They seem to be traveling in every direction and at many different altitudes. They are pretty neat as well.

 

I called it a night when the partly cloudy sky became a fully cloudy sky and blocked out any more sightings. Oh well, always next time.

 

doug

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THE ONTARION REPORT

 

Hello everyone!

 

Well, it looks as if summer is indeed here at last. We just got home from three days at a cottage on Long Point Beach and the weather couldn’t have been better. It was steaming hot and yet had a nice breeze to evaporate the sweat on your body to cool you somewhat. It helped a great deal to have Lake Erie at our front door too! Being it’s the shallowest of the Great Lakes it’s true to its reputation. Off Long Point Beach it’s possible to walk 200 yards out into the lake and only be up to your waist in warm enjoyable water. In fact, we were quite surprised that the water temp was as pleasant as it was considering the cold weather and cold rain we’ve been subjected to for the majority of our 2009 summer. We arose each morning around 7am and took a walk up the beach. The entire lake or at least as far as we could see was as smooth as glass for the first few hours of our morning. We were wishing we had taken our kayaks along so we could have taken advantage of this glass like surface for a morning paddle. We did see a few people in kayaks but they weren’t into it very much. It seemed that they just wanted to play around in front of their own cottage rather than take a paddle up the shore line a couple of kilometers like we would have done. Oh well, maybe next time we’re visiting the same place, we’ll take them along. I think we’re doing it again in September. As long as there’s no ice on the lake by then, LOL, we’ll do it and take some photos as well to mark the occasion.

 

The sand of this beach is very fine in grain and that makes it extremely soft to walk on. The only problem we had this past few days was the very hot temperature that the sand rose to from baking in the sun. I hate to complain but after a few hours of treading on such hot granules “I wished my tired feet were fire proof”! Long point is a beautiful beach and varies from 10’ wide at the beginning of the main strip to 250’ wide in spots as it winds it’s way along the length of the peninsula until it turns into a huge eco friendly wild life marsh approximately 25 miles out into the north portion of Lake Erie. They have developed a very large provincial park between the Long Point cottage portion of the peninsula and the wild life refuge at the tip. Many campers spend their vacation at this park. Yet, I think it’s one of Ontario’s best kept secrets when it comes to beaches and summer playgrounds. When you compare it to beaches like Grand Bend, South Hampton, Port Elgin, Sauble and Wasaga it’s a very tame and tranquil refuge to vacation in. Maybe it’s the fact that it is a peninsula and can only accommodate so many non residents and their cars and play toys. The other beaches are more or less on the mainland when compared to Long Point and can pack in a huge population of vacationers where as Long Point is limited as to its  space since it is an extremely narrow strip of sand reaching out into the lake. I think the younger generation feels isolated and possibly trapped on this “sand bar” so they’d rather frequent beaches that have several ways out should they feel the need to cheese it when the cops get heavy handed during the rowdy times of summer.

 

Anyway, as I believe I told you all last summer I’ve spent many of my childhood summers on Long Point Beach and when I return as an adult, it’s like stepping back into the 50’s. Many of the cottages on the side streets are original and bring back good memories just to take a walk past them and think of those years. Most of the cottages on the main beach have been replaced or renovated so as to look nothing like the original tiny wooden structures that lined the sands of Long Point 50 years ago. They actually look much better than the originals did even when they were new I’m sure. Today’s cottagers seem to have a lot more money to pour into their vacation homes, hence the changes and improvements along the beach. I’d love to purchase one of the few existing originals that remain on the beach and rework it. The people we spend our Long Point days with are thinking of selling their cottage next year but by then, the million Carole and I have set aside for such projects just might not be enough to do the trick! LOL! Just kidding! At this point in our lives, we really don’t have a hankerin’ to own a second residence but maybe by next year, well, ya never know do you! On the other hand, maybe they won’t sell and we’ll still have a place to visit on the beach for years to come!

 

That’s it for this week!

 

Bye for now… Greg.

 

PS: Something To Think About>

How easy would it be for someone to enter either Canada or the USA illegally by simply boating across one of the lakes and parking their boat?

 

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Have a good one..

the doug

http://www.thedougsite.net

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