September 2007

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Living in a Bus

September 30, 2007 in Lost & Found by admin | No comments

I noticed this rig while on the way into town today.

School Bus

Naturally, it seemed fit to take a closer look:

Front Seat

Now, don’t be fooled — this is not just a dilapidated school bus. Take a look inside, and you’ll see that it was once used as a residence. Of course, I wouldn’t characterize it as a “mobile home” judging from the lack of wheels and demolished engine…

Living Quarters

And as usual, the crazy stuff happens at the back of the bus. But despite the disarray, the domesticity of the place is clear enough; there’s a makeshift couch, a bed, as well as a work bench. There was also a large furnace (wood stove) right behind the driver’s seat that had a chimney pipe running up through the roof.

Back End

Radically off-grid, but — all in all — not a bad pad. In its day, anyhow; at this point it’s what you might call a “fixer upper.”

Farther along the way into town (on McCordick Road) we noticed a newer-looking school bus that had also been domesticated. Perhaps this older model was the resident’s previous home.

Birds, Boats, and Baths

September 24, 2007 in Observed, Out & About by admin | No comments

We woke this morning to the sound of gunfire.

This happened to coincide with the uproarious sound of geese calling; I think we can figure out what was going on here. We saw a big group of turkeys the other day too — it’s the time of year when any sensible fellow is doing what he can to stock up his freezer for the coming winter.

Now, I recently had an interesting encounter with what I believe was an Eastern Towhee. I happened upon the thing during the morning stroll out back; I was playing fetch with the dog, and it was happily chirping away, perched about 4 metres up in a tree. As I approached it, hoping to get a closer look, it quickly flitted to a nearby branch — which happened to place the trunk of the tree in between it and me, thereby obfuscating my view. And so I continued ’round the tree, looking up at the bird again. And again, it immediately chose another perch, conveniently hidden to my eyes by the tree trunk. This game continued for a few minutes, the both of us circumnavigating this tree, basically playing hide and seek. Eventually one of us lost interest, though I can’t quite remember which one of us it was now.

But in view if this article here from the Boston Globe, I’ve been thinking a little differently about avian intelligence. Crows, apparently, are just as adept as chimps when it comes to making and using tools.

Speaking of birds, have you ever been buzzed by a biplane? Probably not since World War One, right?

Biplane

There’s a bustling marina in Collins Bay (near the aforementioned Amherst Island), and an equally bustlesome airfield too, by the looks of it. During our brief visit, several pilots appeared to be seeing who could fly low enough to scare the fish.

Another leftover from the Amherst pictures:

Lake Ontario

After relying on Lake Ontario for a week’s worth of washings, one begins to suffer from what might be called “the Itch.” Needless to say, I was glad to have a real shower back at home. But on the plus side, there were sailboats everywhere:

Sailing

So, Lake Ontario: good for boats, bad for baths.

Amherst Island

September 11, 2007 in Out & About by admin | 1 comment

Do you believe in ferries?

Frontenac II

That’s the Frontenac II, which operates between Amherst Island and the mainland. And yes, it has its own webcam.

The Island

So, we spent a single, beatific week on the island at the end of August. Our rustic accomodations were on the northern shore… and so from our hammocks we could look over the channel, and on to the busyness of the mainland — all while comfortably insulated by distance and our extensive supply of hot-dogs and marshmallows.

The View

One thing we noticed was that there’s a real sense of community on the island. The women’s institute is active, there’s an equivalent group for the men (though not, I’m sure, called “the men’s institute”), and even an island newsletter (the Beacon) that’s published on a monthly basis. Amherst is home to many an artist, and has its own radio station to boot (93.7).

Of course, there are a few exceptions to the idyll. And while the Island Life certainly isn’t in jeopardy, there are some islanders about who aren’t really Islanders, if you know what I mean. Nowadays, you’ll more often than not find the ice cooler outside the general store locked, on account of folks who weren’t paying up. But mavericks (I’ve seen a few) aside, it seems that the island mentality is slightly contagious. Since our stay there, I find myself waving at passing motorists, wearing shorts and those “croc” things out to the grocery store, and wishing there were more distances I could stare off into.

The island is also well known for its owls. The large vole population draws Long-Eared owls, Great Horned owls, and Screech owls — which all in turn draw great flocks of bird watchers. We didn’t happen to see any owls when we were there, though we did hear a couple.