December 2007

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Down by the River

December 7, 2007 in Out & About by admin | 1 comment

Muskoka Chair

Hello again,

I’m sad to say that the river-watching season is coming to an end. As you can see in the above picture (taken on Tuesday) there was only the odd patch of open water on the Ottawa River, at least as far as I could tell from my vantage point at Maclarens Landing (which is little more than a bend in the road – albeit one with a wonderful view of the Ottawa River and the Gatineau hills beyond). Anyhow, I headed down there again this morning, and can report that it’s all frozen over now.

Ottawa River

And no, I didn’t test the thickness of the ice. Snow deadens sound, and of course the river’s constant rumble is sealed in at this point. It is pretty quiet here, almost strangely so — at least until the big Stinson truck cruises by, on its way to deliver heating oil somewhere or another.

On the way down, I noticed a good-sized gang (a dozen, or so) of turkeys hanging out in a nearby cornfield. By the time I was on my way back home, they had moved to a ditch by the road. They seem pretty road-savvy – when a truck approached, the group parted ways, some on either side of the road, so that the truck could make its way through.

Wild Turkeys

Afterwards, however, they all flew off in what appeared to be turkey-panic. I guess the whole ordeal is somewhat exciting to the birds.

More Wild Turkeys

But boy, those turkeys can actually fly pretty good once they get going. Speaking of which…

RT

Back on the Grid

December 3, 2007 in At home, Observed by admin | No comments

Hello again,

Well, November has come and gone, and with nary a sound from this corner of the ‘web… except that perhaps of gently falling snow. And that pleasant clatter of hail on a tin roof, and — hark! — the warm whine of tires spinning out in snow drifts. In other words, welcome to winter.

Snowy Road

But we’ve done our share of coming and going too, moving house from the banks of the much-beloved Kemptville Creek to a cozier, quieter location up near Fitzroy Harbour, by the Ottawa River. Pleasant country, to be sure.

I’m glad to say that we’re finally “connected” again, and by that I mean that our dial-up internet is up and running. Although — in what I took to be an indication of how few dial-up accounts they set up these days — there was a high number of administrative errors made by Bell during the process, from blatantly wrong billing addresses, and “set up” accounts that simply weren’t, to incorrect dial-up numbers. I don’t know, maybe this is standard fare when dealing with telecom people…

But all that is behind us now. And like the slow, slightly painful return of feeling to one’s extremities after having shovelled snow for an hour with no mits on, I’m feeling a little more human now that I can read the news again, news that I can’t imagine having gone without for the last little while. I now know that the local hockey team has lost six in a row, that somebody or another is pushing for more peace-talks in the middle-east, and that — according to this — yes, it is in fact snowing outside right now.

Could be that one of the more misunderstood joys of rural existence is being out of touch, at least globally speaking. Of course, other kinds of contact fill in the gaps, like getting to know nearby mechanics, postmasters, and antiques dealers. Neighbours with snowplows are handy too. Especially today: about 20 centimetres of the white stuff, and all that on top of a good layer of ice! So, by the time you get the driveway cleared, and the snowplows have trundled by, you then realize the car doors (all five of them) are frozen shut. So close…

Anyhow, keep warm out there.

Regards,
RT

Snowy Trees