The tip of Canada

We're home for one night after spending a week at Poplar Bluff, my parents' home on Lake Erie. I'm most pleased with the photos from Tuesday's day trip to Point Pelee National Park. The most southerly point on Canada's mainland, it stretches into Lake Erie, crossing the 42nd Parallel in line with the northern boundary of California and the city of Rome. A mere 15 square kilometres of wetland, beach, dunes, Carolinian forest and cedar savannah, it boasts many rare and endangered species like fox snake and red-headed woodpecker, even some found practically nowhere else in Canada, like prickly pear cactus. Close to heavily populated territory (only 35 miles from Detroit MI), its precious habitat was nearly overrun before it was appreciated and designated as a national park in the late 1960s. It has become a birdwatchers' mecca, one of the best sites in Eastern North America for observing spring migration, because it's the easiest place for songbirds to cross the Great Lakes. The only significant inhabited Canadian soil south of this is Pelee Island, a few miles offshore, which I have yet to visit.

Here's one shot of the tip itself. The waters there are perilous. After seeing numerous warning signs, Marian and I started joking about getting attacked in the water by "dangerous currants," a phrase which resurfaced randomly during the course of the week.

(I laugh harder with Marian than anybody. It more than makes up for the difficult teenager days. Note to djjo and trapezebear: at this moment she is reading Bellwether in the living room and laughing her head off. "Sheep are so stupid!" she squeaks.)





The rest are portraits of my daughters, who were particularly disposed towards my camera that day. The friendly fella in the black t-shirt shot our family photo at the top.





Following are two shots taken amongst some picturesque fallen trees along the beach. Three more from this series have been posted at iamthelorax and one in texture. The last two here were taken in the large interior marsh earlier that afternoon. It is recognized as an internationally significant wetland. I plan to write something about it for one of my August articles at Suite101. But the main subjects here are Marian and Brenna.

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If I have time, I'll post a few more shots from Poplar Bluff before we leave again tomorrow. The girls will go home and I'll spend the weekend in Toronto. Then we're off for a few days of camping in Bon Echo Provincial Park and back to the cottage for our last week together before Labour Day weekend.

I'm still feeling overwhelmed, but at least some plans have fallen into place to keep us occupied. Somehow, composing this post, I am reminded of the many good memories we have forged. Last year seemed like such a golden summer in hindsight, and this one has been better already. It puts my days of listlessness and frustration into perspective.

Many times this week I reminded myself, "Stay in the moment." Even walking through a variety store this afternoon, I remembered to stop fretting about my problems and stick with my perceptions. For a moment my eyes were dazzled by the colourful rows of products on the shelves. It's a simple thing, but it helps.