lost in space

I did go for a swim after writing yesterday's Blathering, but only after a brain-sizzling sauna bake. Cottage weather has definitely careened off full-out summer and is hurtling down the blissfully bracing ramp that is autumn. I love autumn.

We dropped Harry and Jean and an unhappily tranquilized Mackerel off at the airport yesterday before heading home to downtown living and high speed access again. Yay for the access! I can read Allison's California report without having to wait ages for the graphics to download.

Sorely behind in e-mail, but nothing like my Inkspot days. I was on the Filkhaven IRC shortly after returning from California and moaned about having 500+ e-mails waiting in my Inbox. "500 e-mails after a week away? LUXURY!" scoffed one Filkhaven visitor. "I dream of having only 500 e-mails when I get back from a vacation!" said another. And it's true...how quickly I forget that I used to get 200-300 e-mails on a daily basis when I worked on Inkspot.

Even so, 800 e-mails (the total has crept up while I was at the cottage) is a lot for me.





Bryan Fullerton dropped by to chat and to give Jeff his much-anticipated copy of Jaguar, and then Jeff and I headed off to Parki's for dinner.

Holy toledo, is Parki's newly revamped kitchen amazing! Here's what it used to look like. And here's what it looks like now. You can find out more about Parki's renovation project here.

Parki cooked a wonderful dinner: barbecued marlin, curry potatoes, salad with homemade dressing. Chocolate and raspberry gelato with fruit for dessert. Yummm. We went to a nearby coffee shop to chat (I had banana cream hot chocolate), and then dropped by HMV.

Rand had told me that the new Aimee Mann CD, "Lost In Space", was out. Parki and I both picked up copies, and Parki and Jeff also bought the new Coldplay album. When I got home and opened the Aimee Mann CD, I was delighted to discover that the cover image and illustrations in the cover package had been done by Seth, a Toronto artist that Rand introduced me to a while back; I have Seth's first book, It's a Good Life, If You Don't Weaken.

Today is my father's 71st birthday! I'm going to Centre Island with Ruth, Sara, Annie and my father today, then to my sister's for the birthday party.





Links/news:

Barenaked Ladies lead singer Stephen Page is partnering with the cofounders of Shift magazine to relaunch an Ontario wine magazine. (Source: Masthead Online)

Universal Press Syndicate is launching a database which will allow you to search for comics and editorial cartoons. (Source: Yahoo News)

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Today's Blatherpics:

	Sign we passed in Huntsville, on the way back from the cottage. Interesting use of spacing.
	All the Canada Post trucks have Amazon.ca advertising now, must have cost a bundle.
	A rather silly sign in Kelsey's, where Allison, Jodi, Rand & I had dinner a few weeks ago.

cottage leaving

Going home today! Pretty cold on the lake this morning; I'm bundled up in a t-shirt, sweatshirt, thick fleece vest, long pants as I type this. If I go swimming this morning, it will only be after a very long frying-up in the sauna, I think. I've been swimming twice a day since arriving at the cottage last week. One very long one in the morning, somewhat shorter in the afternoon.





Jeff and JBR are a bit concerned that I might get hit by a motorboat since I tend to swim out a fair distance from the cottage shore. Since they do have a point, I've been trying to think of ways around this. I refuse to wear anything on my head, so count out fluorescent orange caps, sorry. Another solution would be to tie a piece of string around my waist, and have the other drag along a brightly-coloured float or lifejacket. This could also be handy if I run into trouble with no one around. If anyone has other suggestions, please feel free to let me know!





Yesterday, JBR got a call from Don Lloyd, an old-time cottager at the other end of the lake. Turns out he had a computer problem. JBR passed the info to Jeff, who volunteered to go visit Don. This prompted Ginny to ask to go as well, since she hadn't seen Don's revamped cottage interior yet. Then JBR wanted to go to say hi to Don. Harry wanted to go to check out Don's computer. In the end, we all ended up going except for Jean, who opted to stay behind at our cottage to work and nap. I suppose I could have done that too, except it was my last day at the cottage, and I hadn't visited with Don yet. I think Don was tickled at having such an enthusiastic tech support response (or maybe he was horrified, but he hid it well).

Don Lloyd is one of my favourite people at the lake. He spends the whole summer here, writing and painting and doing wood-carvings. Crusty and down-to-earth, straightforward and generous. And incredibly motivated and creative, as you can tell from the photos on this page. I'll have to include some photos of Don's paintings and wood carvings in a future Blathering.





In the evening, we went to Bartlett Lodge with Dan and Helen Gibson. Jeff and I told Dan about seeing the "Dan Gibson shrine" in the Prince Hotel in Tokyo last summer, along with the Japanese bio. During the conversation, I also discovered that Dan Gibson had invented a type of parabolic microphone, something I hadn't realized. Here's some more info about this incredibly talented man.

Going home today!





Links/News:

Allison's finished her California trip report.

Chris Conway has launched his own Livejournal.

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Today's Blatherpics:

	JBR setting off early one morning to get the Globe & Mail newspaper at the Portage Store. Click on picture to see larger image. Note the coffee cup. :-)
	The mechanical elevator rig that Don Lloyd had set into the steep hill leading up to his cottage. Harry decided to try the elevator while the rest of us opted for the path.
	Sign beside Don's front door.
	Don Lloyd's book, highly recommended for anyone planning to do a canoe trip in the park.
	Embroidery that Don designed (adapting it from the cover of his book) and sewed himself, onto a sweatshirt he was wearing when we visited. I was pretty impressed.
	Don Lloyd.

lauren

(I've updated Waiting For Frodo).

Lauren came by to visit yesterday afternoon; her family cottage is down the shore, two cottages away.

Lauren first came to visit when she was six years old, paddling across the bay in a plastic kayak, curious about the Ridpaths. When I was six, I can't imagine going to visit a cottage full of strangers by myself, let alone in a kayak! We all admired her spunk and easygoing nature.





As the summers passed, the little girl continued to visit. Sometimes in a kayak, sometimes a canoe, and later a motorboat. She never overstayed her welcome, always seemed to sense when it was time to go back to her family cottage. Greetings became big bear-hugs. We kept sporadic touch by snailmail, and Lauren would write to us from camp.

But it was the cottage visits that we looked forward to the most.

Lauren's going to college next year. COLLEGE. Holy cow, I feel ancient. But I also get a real pleasure out this 10-year friendship that Jeff and I have had with the "little girl down the shore", now a young woman.





The Class A Canoe Lake Regatta took place yesterday; I went to the awards ceremony at the Gibsons' after the races. Our shore won the team race, and JBR won 2nd place in the Class A division.





Tonight, we're having dinner with the Gibsons at Bartlett Lodge, then it's back to the city tomorrow.

While I've enjoyed this cottage visit a great deal, i have to say that I'm really looking forward to getting back to my claustrophobic little office and a normal work schedule.

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Today's Blatherpics:

	Lauren and Jeff, yesterday afternoon.
	Lauren and Jeff ten years ago, when Lauren was six.
	Jeff sailing.
	Dan Gibson presenting his wife, Helen, with the Class A Division Ladies' Regatta Trophy. At age 75, Helen is more active than most friends I know my age.
	JBR, Gord Gibson (Dan's youngest son and now a producer at Solitudes), Willi Powell.

floating

Yesterday's Class A regatta race was postponed until today because of lack of wind, so Jeff and I went on a paddle to Adaskin's Bay in celebration of our 11th wedding anniversary. I've been informed, by the way, that the Canoe Lake Laser Regatta is apparently the longest running annually-held regatta in the world.

Paddling conditions were perfect: warm but not humid, breezy, calm waters. The lake was so calm, in fact, that it was a disconcerting experience to look too closely; it was like looking down at the sky, as if we were floating somewhere above the clouds.

We parked our canoe amidst some of the longer grasses, found comfortable positions in the canoe, read and talked until the sun went down. We talked about our tentative plans to move; we're thinking of buying a house in or near Toronto (hopefully in). It would be a major change for us. We're both so used to downtown condo living.





After an hour or two, we paddled to the Powells for the post-regatta party. When I went to my first cottagers' party on the lake, I hardly knew anyone; Jeff and his family had been on the lake for years, and I was the newcomer. Everyone made me feel welcome, however, and I feel like a part of the community now.

The party was fun. Louise Laurier had her guitar and harmonica, along with a binder of original and cover music. The barbecues were piled with hamburgers, hot dogs, sausages, corn on the cob. We caught up with cottager friends we haven't seen in a long while.

Ginny arrived today, and we found out that Jeff's brother Case and his wife Debbie are having another baby (due in April); Larkin's and Rick's baby is due in December. Looks like the Ridpath clan is going through a mini baby boom.





Jeff and I paddled home from the Powells' after the party. Very cool to paddle at night, especially with the lake so calm. We talked a bit but mostly paddled in contented silence, listening to the lake and to the cry of a loon somewhere in the darkness.

Not a bad way to end the evening, really.

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Today's Blatherpics:

	Yesterday evening, the water on the lake was so smooth that watching it was like looking down on the sky. I took this photo off the Powells' dock yesterday evening.
	Jeff took this photo of me in Adaskin's Bay yesterday.
	Willi Powell clowning around with Louise Laurier at the cottagers' party at the Powells.
	Party at the Powells' cottage last night.

sauna

I went to sleep ridiculously early yesterday (9 pm) so was up pretty early this morning, when the mist was still heavy on the lake, slowly burning off as the sun rose. I went for a short paddle by myself, just to see if I could remember how to do the J-stroke (I could); it was a wonderfully peaceful morning paddle, with the last of the mist swirling around the canoe as I paddled around Peary's Island. Think I'll go for a sauna and swim now.

I never used to like the sauna.

Maybe it's because I never considered sitting in the sauna by myself, and had always associated it with having to crowd into a sweltering closet-sized room with a lot of hot, sweaty people.

This past spring and summer, however, I'm discovering how much I like the sauna. For one thing, sitting in the sauna for a while helps work up my courage to jump into a colder-than-normal lake. There's also something enormously relaxing about sitting in the sauna by oneself, leaning against the hot wood and letting tensions and worries ease away, then jumping in the lake.





Unless it's just me, or me and Jeff, I generally wear a swimsuit in the sauna. I know traditional saunas are sans clothes, but I save those for unisex spas and health club saunas. The only time I ignore my self-imposed prudishness is on canoe or hiking trips with certain friends, when the desire to jump in a cool lake after a particularly gruelling paddle or hike without having to bother with changing into a swimsuit, overcomes my squeamishness about romping au naturel.

Speaking of skinnydipping: if you haven't ever done it, I highly advise trying it, even just once. Handy tip: Don't do too soon after ice-out.





Jean and I spent an hour playing through classical flute duets yesterday afternoon. I always look forward to sightreading through music with Jean; she and I are pretty equally matched in terms of sightreading and skill levels, and we both have the same easygoing attitude. It's a lot of fun, and half the time we'll end up in hysterics in the middle of a piece if we're doing particularly badly.

Today is Jeff's and my 11th wedding anniversary! We're postponing celebrating it because of the 30th anniversary Canoe Lake Sailing Regatta this weekend; Jeff will be participating in the races. I'll probably spend most of the day writing, but go over to the Gibsons' to catch the end of the races, and to the Powell's cottagers' party tonight.

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Today's Blatherpics:

	Thermometer inside the sauna.
	Sauna. There are two benches inside, with room for approximately three people on the top bench, three on the lower bench. Higher capacity if the occupants are close friends.
	Interesting cloud patterns yesterday afternoon.