I is for Images

I love visual images, whether they are in our imagination or just an image from a picture.  Either way, an image can evoke strong feelings and memories.  Perhaps it is that we just want to personify an image to give us some sense of belonging and make the image fit our headspace at that time.  Sometimes an image can be so strong that you almost physically feel like you are there.  Strange when you think of it. 

Some images look tranquil.

Some are pleasant and pensive.

Some look lonely and deserted.

Some are just are.

Some can feel scary.

Protecting our National Parks - Environmental Water Issues

The environment is something that I try, in my very small way, to protect. I recycle, I try very hard to re-use, and to cut back on purchasing things that are over-packaged. I also garden without using fertilizers and use compost to nourish my soil instead.

I have talked about our cabin in Riding Mountain National Park and how very special it is to us. It is a big deal to have the privilege of being in such a beautiful park. I believe we should do everything we can to protect it and that includes the water bodies that are in the park.

We do not have running water in our cabin, nor do any other of the 500 cabins that are in the Old Campground. There is a movement to have water installed which would eliminate the need to for communal washrooms, shared water taps and the communal shower building. The vocal minority (only 13%) have a desire for running water. We feel that they want to follow Waskasu's lead in Saskatchewan and where the price of the cabins jumped up to 150,000. when water was put in. The other 87% of us love our sense of community which would be long gone big-time if the water happens. Most of us just want our cabins to retain some of that sense of community that we have cherished over the years and part of what makes that is the having and sharing of washrooms, shower building and cookhouses, for us it is not about the money.

It also so much easier not to have water because there are a lot of other issues that will develop if this happens. Our little cabins are very close together and any odours from a bathroom fan will vent onto each others air space. I know I would prefer not to smell my neighbours bm's while sitting on my little patio. (Sorry for being so blunt but we are that close together!) Washers and dryers will come in as well as dishwashers. All of these appliances use an incredible amount of water and promote use of non environmentally friendly products. The dryers will vent to the outside as well and again, who wants to smell bounce or similiar products when we have such a great quality of air right now?

There is also the issue of locking up and preparing water systems in the fall. All the toilets and tanks, etc. will have to have an anti-freeze product poured into them to keep them from freezing and bursting in the winter. In the spring these products will be drained into the system and you can't tell me that this doesn't effect the watershed area. When you take that times 500 plus cabins that is a lot of anti-freeze and laundry/dishwasher products that will go into the watershed area that are currently not.

There are other issues as well, including the fact that in order to put in the water systems they will have to remove most of our spruce and other trees and that it will look like a new subdivision and become almost devoid of trees. Who wants that? Our trees are a major part of what makes this area so beautiful.

Another issue is the fact that the campground will be a construction zone for at least ten years, if not more. And so many families can't afford to pay for the the added construction of adding on an addition to accommodate bathroom facilities. It would cost a minimun of at least 15,000. dollars if not more by the time the dust settles. This is a large sum that most people would have a hard time coming up with, especially new families and retired folks.

This is an issue that is very contentious and ultimately will create a huge division in our campground. It is sad that this has to happen when summer is meant to be enjoyed and this could ultimately mar it for years to come.

Rain Rain go away...A rain rant

This was a rain rant that I wrote in the beginning of May and did not post - shame on me....lol
The sun has now been shining and it has been over 25 degrees Celsius for more than a week - so this does not apply weather-wise but I admit I still liked it and decided to post it apres rain:

It has now been raining steadily for three days too many. I know that it has been unusually dry here for a very long time but enough is just enough. If rain wasn't so life-giving I would truly hate it. As it is, it gives nourishment to many of the things that I enjoy in life; things that include kayaking, gardening, flowers, trees, reading books on rainy days, Clear Lake, and Tokaryk Lake. And I cannot argue with that wonderful smell after a rain!
I hate getting wet with my clothes on and as a result have a generous, all right - ridiculous, number of umbrellas. I have multiples of them at the cabin, at the house, and several in my vehicle. It wouldn't be so bad but I insist on carrying one with me the minute a cloud skims across the sky - never know, it might rain. It is a standing joke in our house about my addiction/dependence on umbrellas. My hubby has teased me over the years that I am like a cat in the rain and just as snarly. I can't see a way around it short of buying a rainsuit and that would be just ridiculous looking. Couldn't you just see short, plump me traipsing through the grocery store in a bright yellow slicker and rubber boots? In the middle of the prairies, where I live, it would be a somewhat odd thing to do. lol
I once had a boyfriend who thought that it was romantic walking in the rain holding hands - he didn't last long after that information surfaced! I have to give myself credit though - I did try it once, came down with a whopper of cold and decided that once was just too much and I would never do it again and haven't.

Off to Clear Lake for May Long Weekend

Well, the mattress fit - hallelujah! And we had three wonderful sleeps on it. Almost hated to leave it behind...lol

I had heard that it had snowed at the lake (Clear Lake aka Wasagaming - pictures right - gorgeous isn't it?) but had not expected more than a skiff of snow around the bushes and stuff. It was everywhere! And deep! And...Bruno made it up there before we did - thankfully - and had to use the rake to "shovel" off the patio to get into the cabin. He is such a trooper! I was sure glad I brought my rubber boots... there was almost a foot of snow up there! What a beautiful sight - it was almost like stepping into a magical fairy postcard. There were icicles dripping in the sun, snowmen with solar light arms and sandals, trees laden with snow, a decorated Christmas tree with led lights - it was truly the most remarkable May long weekend I have ever seen.

Talking to various other brave souls and some of the older cabin owners who have been coming up since they were kids (at least 30 plus years) said they had never, ever seen this much snow on a May long before. The temperatures were great - I was out with just a turtleneck and quilted vest and was more than comfortable, until Monday that is - then we had a nasty, brutal wind that made being out quite unpleasant.

Got a lot of hand-quilting done this weekend. We even burned out (literally) one of our heaters. The smoke in the corner wasn't something that was supposed to happen - what a smell! Yuk. Glad it happened when we were in the cabin not down the street taking a shower - I wouldn't want to be the one responsible for a fire up there.

Bruno even took the kayak for a quick trip along the shore and checked out the ice floes on the lake. He asked if I wanted to join him but I am not that brave or (my usual excuse) experienced enough to brave the frigid waters yet - he said it was pretty exciting. lol

The cookhouse stoves were all stoked to the max this weekend. We have communal cookhouses (below right) in the "Old Campground" at Clear Lake. Although we have cabins and stoves or hotplates in them, the old camping cookhouses are still available for our use. It is such a unique setup here at the lake - our cookhouses, showers and bathrooms are all communal. Although it can be quite an adventure to head up the street to the washroom at the wee hours of the morning - it sure makes for more neighbourly type of co-existence - most of the time. I think there are a couple bonuses to having the communal facilities - among them - I never have to clean a bathroom up there, heat up the cabin when it gets brutally hot and you can't beat watching the northern lights and all those wonderful stars on your way down the street and back when you need to take that midnight call. Besides - how often have you had to run to the washroom at midnight, through the snow? Definitely a first for me this year! lol

Well, not much else new. Take care - hopefully the rest of May will be wonderful for all of us.

I woke up this morning and just felt happy -nothing else just happy. With all the changes in my life, the happy part of me has been more than subdued lately. I tell you, it felt wonderful! I even caught myself laughing a lot today - what a great feeling it was to have that back! I somehow think it is connected to the May long weekend and the fact that we are going to the cabin at Clear Lake for a couple days. This has always been my happy spot and when times get rotten I think about how wonderful it is up there and all the bad stuff just disappears. We even splurged and bought a new mattress for the lake! It is going to be pure bliss pretty soon if we make any more improvements. I don't know how I will ever get Bruno out of bed though - the only place he ever sleeps in is at the lake - the new mattress will never let him go. Now, all we have to do is figure out how to get it up there... If it doesn't fit in the back of the van, well, I guess it is definitely going to be a lo-o-ong weekend especially since Bruno already threw out our old mattress and the floor is going to be hard and more than a little cold.

I have been trying to figure out how to blend the remnants of two quilts and the large star block I made from my Dad's shirts into a special memory quilt for one of my uncles. I had an aha! moment when my daughter, Heather, came along and said "Why not just applique this cabin picture on top of the middle of the star? That'll tie it in." and voila it worked! I have all the pieces cut and ready to go - it is just a matter of sewing it together now. This quilt is for my Uncle Jim because he helped my parents so much while they were in The Pas and I really wanted to thank him and this is going to be a big cozy hug for him. I had taken some of my Dad's shirts and made a really nice Poinsettia Star from them - in blues, white and greens - not Christmas colours at all - it turned out really nice but I was finding it hard to incorporate the remnants from my Dad's quilt and his twin brother Frank's quilt into it as they had off-white/brown backgrounds and the shirt block was in the white/blue spectrum. I'll post pictures as I work on it.