June 24, 2005

June 24, 2005

West Hawk Lake day 38 of 113

YEAR 2 DAY 7

 

Today was sunny and warm. The humidity is gone. While I was having my morning cup of coffee, CBC Radio news announced that last night's thunderstorm brought baseball sized hail and winds of 125 km. / hr. in the Kenora area. WOW ... West Hawk dodged a bullet ! The power is out from Sioux Lookout to Kenora to Fort Frances. The evening was quite cool.

This morning I did some chores, then went to the campground office to retrieve e-mail and update my blog. I was very sad to receive an e-mail from Barry Sparks, our former employee who is still working at PET VALU Westgate. Our store budgie, Bobby Sue, died on Tuesday. She was a well trained, very special little bird. She was allowed to be free in the store, and was a constant source of amusement and delight for us, our staff, and our regular customers. Barry had advised us by e-mail recently that Bobby Sue had a tumour. It's not unusual for old budgies to die of cancer. Have a safe final flight, Bobby Sue. You were a great little pet. She came into our Orleans store about 8 or 9 years or so ago, brought in by an elderly customer who was going into a nursing home that would not allow her to bring Bobby Sue. We took Bobby Sue, and promised to take good care of her and give her a good home in the store. The elderly lady used to come into our Orleans store on a weekly basis for a year or so afterwards to visit Bobby Sue. When we sold the Orleans store a few years ago, we moved Bobby Sue to the Westgate store.

Walking back to the trailer from the campground office, I chatted with Elvira, the Maintenance Supervisor. She invited me and Bo over for dinner at her house / cottage at Ingolf. I accepted, then went over to the West Hawk Inn to buy a bottle of wine to bring.

I cooked last night's pickerel for my lunch. MMMMM ! ! ! After lunch, I spray painted the under sides of the sink covers / cutting boards. This is something Joanne wanted done, and she bought a can of spray paint the other day in Winnipeg. It didn't work very well. The under sides of the sink covers are press board. They just sucked up the paint like a sponge. We'll have to come up with a "plan B". Then I waxed another section of the trailer with the new wax. While I was working outside, a helicopter flew over and landed just outside the campground. It took off again after about 10 minutes. I wonder what that wasabout ? I cleaned up, then went inside to wash dishes before leaving for Elvira's.

At the end of her shift at 4:30 Elvira came by to lead us to her cottage at Ingolf, Ontario, about a 15 or 20 minute drive from here. Well ... about 20 minutes driving at my speed, about 15 driving at Elvira's speed. What a bone jarring ride to drive Dee-Dee at that speed over these very rough roads. At Ingolf we drove across the CP main tracks, then followed a single lane trail through the woods for a minute or two, then we drove over granite rock outcrops through the forest for another minute or two. What a remote cabin ! She lives on an acre of forest and granite rock outcrop overlooking Macara Lake. It's very nice. While Elvira ( a 50 year old Italian mom ) prepared spaghetti and meat sauce, and a salad, Bo romped off leash all over the land with Boomer, her big Black Lab. Just before dinner was ready, Debbie and her 2 huge Leon Berger dogs showed up. Debbie also works for West Hawk Lake Maintenance, and lives 1/8 of a mile away from Elvira. She was coming over to talk shop with Elvira. Her power had just come back on after being out for 24 hours because of yesterday’s storm. Bo, Boomer, Harry, and Dick romped all over, including running into the lake. The other 3 dogs are large, so to keep up, Bo had to actually swim out into the lake. This is the first time he's gone further into the water than wading distance, which with his short legs isn't very far from shore. Hey ... you know what they say in the world of business, and dogs. "If you can't run with the big dogs, stay on the porch." Debbie stayed to eat dinner, then left as soon as she was finished eating, with her 2 dogs. Elvira and I chatted for awhile after dinner, while Bo and Boomer romped around outside. I was apprehensive about leaving Bo out unattended, but we were out in the middle of nowhere ! Every time I went outside to check on him, I would give a whistle and he'd come running at top speed out of the forest, or up from the lake. He had an absolutely great time running all around with Boomer, exploring wherever he wanted, unrestrained.

At 8:30 I headed back to West Hawk, because I feel obliged on Friday nights to walk around the campground and promote the Interpretive Program at the Amphitheatre. The three young Naturalists / Park Interpreters work so hard to prepare their weekly programs, and their presentations are so poorly attended. As soon as we were back at the trailer, I grabbed a bundle of brochures on tonight's Amphitheatre program, and set off with Bo. We walked quickly around the entire campground, handing out brochures, then headed for the Amphitheatre. As usual, the attendance was abysmal. As usual, the presentation was well prepared, but corny and boring. Maybe there's a relationship there. Beth, Ashley, and Dana try so hard, and put so much work into their programs, but Gawd, they're so awful ! Tonight's program was entitled Endangered Species. Ashley was dressed up as a Woodland Caribou. It was the same costume she wore a few weeks ago as a bear, but tonight it had velour antlers stuck on with Velcro. Beth was a Whooping Crane. Her portrayal of a Whooping Crane mating dance was quite something to see !

DSK