Across Lake Erie

You can't see Canada across lake Erie, but you know it's there. It's the same with spring. You have to have faith, especially in Cleveland.

~ Paul Fleischman

A couple of posts back, I brought you with me to Port Dover, Ontario where we celebrated Friday the 13th - biker style. True, those weren't photos from this November 13th which filled my blog page, but rather Friday the 13th of March. At the end of that post, I promised to share some different Port Dover images from that same visit, and these are them - with nary a biker to be seen in any of them.


I was in Port Dover to visit my lovely sister, Andrea (hi, Andi!) who who has lived in this picturesque town for close to forty years now. Being March, we still had a fair bit of ice and snow to contend with on the northern shores of Lake Erie.






Yet, the melt had indeed begun as evidenced by the free-flowing creek.






It was a cold day for just sitting but this pooch and his person were enjoying the icy view.






I don't think we often consider the dangers that commercial fishing entails but this community has had its share of sad losses. This monument is for them.






The lighthouse is a well-known landmark in Port Dover and it looks especially pretty when the setting sun creates such a colourful backdrop.






The sign says "No Swimming - No Diving - No Jumping." With all that ice... no problem!






The next evening, Andrea and I went out to dinner at Callahan's Beach House. Old posters and photographs of performers decorate the walls of their lobby.






The rest of these images were taken through glass where reflections distract somewhat but the view was still enjoyable.






This pair navigated their way over the bumpy lake ice.






As we enjoyed a delicious meal, we were treated to another warming sunset.






Always beautiful - Port Dover.

In the Presence of Oddity

This is a scheduled post. Photos were taken over the past couple of months. I'm busy packing up a trailer and planning my move in a few days. I'll meet you over at the new place soon! 

I feel comfortable in the presence of oddity. Probably because I'm a little bit odd.

~ Martha Plimpton

This post is all about oddities - things that are out of place or our of their proper timeline.


My sister lives in Port Dover, Ontario and although it's pretty southern as far as the province goes, it's still significantly northern as far as palm trees go. And yet here's one of several which beautifies the beach view every year. We have very cold and snowy winters so they can't grow there naturally. This restaurant, Callahan's Beach House has borrowed and planted them every May and then dug them up again in late autumn so that they can continue their lives in greenhouses. In recent years, they have simply left them growing on the beach until icy weather does them in. Then they plant new ones the following spring.  Just imagine walking through the snow and seeing palm trees.





The Ridgetown is a 1905 Chicago-built freighter with an interesting history. She serves as a breakwater off the shore of Port Credit in Lake Ontario. You can read about how she got there, here.






I apologize for the extremely poor quality of this and the next image. It was taken through the windshield, while my son was driving, with nothing zoomier than a portrait lens. I thought my eyes deceived me and I'm still not sure how or why this "flying machine" was soaring across the highway, high in the sky.






This is the best I could do by enlarging and cropping. It still has me scratching my head.







This pirate ship is docked pretty close to our new place, on the opposite shore. If you look closely, you'll see that it's actually a boathouse and probably a bunkie or playhouse for the kids.







In fact, there's a little cutie peeking out from beside one of the pirates. The folks who designed and built this have no shortage of creativity.







This boot was climbing a ladder outside my office window, just beyond my computer monitor. Was I worried? Nah. It belonged to one of the roofers who was laying new shingles, in the hopes of making my house ready for sale. It's not every day you see a man on a ladder outside your window, so how could I not snap a quick shot?


 





Last but not least, we have this little out of place cutie. My neighbour, Caroline and I were walking along the park path when we saw some teenaged girls mildly distressed by something following them. We looked down to see this very young squirrel who was quite determined to chase after someone. I remembered the orphaned raccoon kits, Sugar and Spike, under my deck, and how they sought out human help when they were cold and hungry. We stopped, and the squirrel immediately turned its attention to us, first climbing Caroline's leg and then mine.

I picked it up and held it in the palm of one hand and rubbed her back and belly with the other. It was cold and desperate for food. She tried sucking the end of my finger. Another neighbour of ours, Nicky (who orchestrated the raccoon rescue along with her daughter, Sarah), would know how to care for her. When we got to Nicky's place, she readied a small carrier for her and headed off to the pet store to get her some squirrel specific formula. She estimated her age to be about five weeks.

Although Nicky wasn't entirely certain of the diagnosis, she believes this little thing was ill with squirrel pox - which developed over the next few days. She is a member of the Grey squirrel family (despite her black fur, she's still an Eastern Grey) and therefore has built up something of an immunity to the disease. She will likely survive it. But she will also always be a carrier and can never be released since it is quite deadly for our red squirrel population. I should learn more the next time I see Nicky and I'll be sure to fill you in.*


Despite her illness, this little cutie is very affectionate, energetic and bright. Thankfully she's in good hands. The hands in the picture belong to Caroline's husband Lloyd.

*And now, I do know more. We learned that what this sweetie had was a nasty but now-cured abscess and nothing more sinister than that. She's healthy, energetic, growing and full of mischief. She's also extremely affectionate according to Nicky. We went to visit her semi-recently and she was understandably a bit wary of us but in fine shape - she jumped up toward the ceiling to watch us.  



See for yourself.

More photos coming up soon.