"All rezzed out"

You're never going to believe what I did today. No, really, you're never going to believe it. OK, you're going to believe it; I spent another day at the beach at the Assiniwe cabin. And the day has been terrific. It's about time to hit the sack and put another day to rest, but I'm finding that doing so will take me a while since I'm so ramped up from such a fine day.

It was a good morning for sleeping in; I didn't realize that I had slept so late, but I finally got up around 11 this morning. I had a quick bowl of Special K cereal and Dolly fixed me some toast. Not long after I finished with my breakfast, Ross came home from work for lunch. And Sarah soon joined us as well. When Ross was at the house, we discussed our plans for heading to Sudbury tomorrow. Ross was hoping that he would be able to bring his girlfriend along, but it turns out that she can't make it. So it sounds as though Ross may bring along another friend instead.

Sarah left around 12:30, and Dolly and I then ran to the grocery store for a bit to pick up supplies like catfood for the house. We then left our goods at the house and then headed out to the cabin. We found Dolly's dad and Ashley already there. Other visitors included Dolly's cousin Steven and his son Chad. Chad, 17, lives near Toronto with his mother, and he's in the area for about 24 hours. He was out canoeing when we arrived, and we started throwing a few Frisbees around the water and enjoyed a lot of laughs. Our laughter coupled with the cool waters of the North Channel seemed to help quell the effects of the heat of the sun.

Lisa and some young girls showed up not much later, and we all remained together as a group at the cabin for the next several hours. Dolly cooked a few stakes over the fire that I made, and Sally G. made some burgers on the fire not long after she arrived around 5. Lisa left the cabin around 6:30, and Dolly and I took off around 20 after 7. Lisa invited us to visit her at her home and have some tea, but we didn't find her home when we stopped by around 20 after 8 this evening. Dolly visited with Lisa online not long ago; Lisa informed us that she had to run to Little Current. Since we weren't able to rendezvous with Lisa, we headed south on Highway 6 to South Baymouth. Our friends Leona, Jason, and Daniel were going to arrive at South Baymouth on the "Chi-Cheemaun" around 10 tonight. They pulled off the boat around 20 to 10. We hung out at South Baymouth for a few minutes before driving back to Wiky and Rabbit Island. We all visited at Dolly's dad's house and at Gail's house for a bit before Dolly and I returned to her house to crash for the night. Since we've gotten back into the house, we've spent our time cooling down from the warm evening and checking messages and checking out FaceBook.

It was really nice to be able to spend so much time at the beach today and enjoy the warmth of the summer sun. I've never spent so much time at beaches before in my life, and I hope that I'll have opportunities like this in future summer. With dear friends like Dolly and her family, I sense that I'll have little trouble spending similar summers at the beach in the future. In the meantime, I'm going to enjoy the beach time I'm having now.

Another "Sun" day

Dolly and I spent most of our day at the beach today. We spent what part of the day we didn't spend at the beach at Dolly's place relaxing and TV. The sun was quite hot today, and a gentle but hot breeze swept through Wiky today. Such a wind wasn't difficult to endure, especially when we could wade waist-deep in the North Channel while we were at the cabin.

I didn't receive all that many messages today, but I did receive a message from a friend I haven't heard from a while. That was nice to hear from my friend again.

Once we got everything together, Dolly and I headed for the cabin just after noon. We found that Julius and Ashley were already at the cabin. We also found that there were several beer bottles scattered around the cabin site. Dolly discovered that the hammock was broken, and Julius and I saw that the embers in the firepit were still warm. Whoever showed up and left the mess of beer bottles and broke the hammock must have been at the cabin all night. Dolly called Gail to report the news while Julius and I began picking up the mess left by the partyers. We don't yet have a clear idea of who may have left the mess, but there are some suspects. I don't know what new developments there have been thus far.

About a half-hour after we arrived, Julius and Ashley left and Dolly and I had the water to ourselves. There were other campers in other areas of the cove, of course, but we had our own little area to ourselves. It felt good to swim in the North Channel under the hot sun, and it was nice to be able to fall asleep on the couch on the cabin's porch after exerting myself in the water. It was such a peaceful sleep that when I awoke it took me a minute to remember where I was. Dolly reported the same feelings and sensations. We finished picking up around the cabin and then headed back to Dolly's place for a bit. We relaxed and hung out there for a while and fixed supper before we headed back to the cabin. Thunder came from the sky throughout the evening and a few drops of rain fell. But not enough rain fell to deter us from going back to the cabin and swimming with the family for a bit. Dark blue and deep red clouds loomed overhead as the sun sank below the western horizon. Gail, Sarah, Aaron, and others left just after sunset, but Dolly and I stuck around for a while and took a quick dip. The water was still nice and warm as we swam and enjoyed the softness of the evening under the soft sky.

It's been another nice day today, as the past several days have been. Tomorrow should be another fairly quiet day at the beach, and it sounds as though we're going to Sudbury on Wednesday. It'll be good to head back to Sudbury again that day, and I'm hoping that I won't hit a raccoon again. Anything can happen, but I'm not too worried about wildlife.

Naughton and Sudbury

Our day officially began around 11 this morning. Dolly and I rose before that time, of course, but the time we actually needed to be someplace this morning was 11. That time is when we had to head up to the hill to Rabbit Island to pick up Dolly's dad so that he could go with us to the powwow near Naughton. We made our appointment on time, and we were on the road a few minutes later.

Rather than head directly for Highway 6, we took a short sidetrip through Buzwah. A woman from Six Nations had lost control of her car and went down into a ravine yesterday; we wanted to see where the accident occurred. It took a little time for us to find it, but we found the area where she went off the road with little trouble. The car had already been retrieved from the accident site, and neither the driver nor anyone else was hurt so far as we know.

There was little action on the road between Buzway and Little Current, but we were delayed about 15 minutes when we reached the swing bridge. We arrived around noon, and the swing bridge began to move just as we arrived. The swing bridge swings at the top of the hour from dawn until dusk. It moves so that sailboats can pass under the low bridge. The bridge was closed to motorists for about 10 minutes before it swung back into its usual position. Dolly and I took advantage of the delay by getting out, walking, and taking photos of the bridge in action. Once we were back on the road, our only stop was at Tim Horton's in Espanola; Dolly and her dad wanted some coffee, and he picked up a donut. I had an iced capp, as usual.

The drive between Espanola and the powwow grounds on the Whitefish Lake Reserve near Naughton took less than a half-hour. Our journey from Naughton to the reserve was mostly only hilly gravel roads, but the roads were far from impassable. They merely slowed us down. And rows upon rows of trees shielded us from the hot sun as we drove. We soon found the powwow going on along the shores of Whitefish Lake. I parked the car, we retrieved our chairs and cameras from under the 3's hatch, and we headed toward the arbor. The powwow was already in full swing for the day, and the area was bustling with activity by the time we took our seats. Dolly sat in one of the chairs while Julius sat on a bench in an area designated as elder seating.

I didn't spend all that much time watching the powwow itself, but I was able to take quite a few photos of the dancers and various goings-on. And when I wasn't taking photos, I was walking around the area searching for Sharlene, Angel, Jarvis, and MaryAg. They arrived around 3:45, which wasn't all that long before we left the area for Sudbury.

Another activity in which I became involved was the potato dance, which began not long after we arrived. We knew that a potato dance was coming up, but we hadn't made up our minds regarding whether we would participate. I was a bit hesitant at first to go out and have fun in such a way, but I soon changed my mind and Dolly and I headed out into the dance arena after we had been tossed a potato. When we were out in the dance arena, we were among probably six or seven other couples dancing to a round dance beat and trying to keep the potato between our foreheads. Dolly and I didn't last long; we weren't the first couple to drop its potato, but we were among the earliest. Both laughing, we picked up the potato from the ground and returned it to the man who had given it to us. And we then returned to our seats and watched the remainder of the dance. I believe the winning couple received his and hers t-shirts and about $40.

Not long after Sharlene and company arrived, Dolly and I sat down and had some food. Dolly had already had some scone, but I hadn't eaten yet. So I ordered a large Indian taco and sat down with her to enjoy it. Dolly soon moved to another table to visit with Sharlene, Angel, and Jarvis, while MaryAg remained with me and visited with me. By the time we finished eating, we realized that the time was approaching 4:30, and we wanted to make it to the Silver City theater in Sudbury for a 5:10 showing of the new Simpsons movie.

Previews for other movies had already begun by the time we arrived at the theater, but that didn't bother us. And we had no trouble finding good seats for the show. And once the show began, those in our party found that we were filled with laughter as we enjoyed the antics of the Simpson family and the other residents of Springfield. The movie's plot seemed to move pretty quickly, and I was surprised by how short and quick the movie seemed to be. When I looked at the clock in car, however, I could see that more than an hour and a half had elapsed since we entered the theater.

Sharlene and I washed our cars before she returned to her new apartment and Julius, Dolly, MaryAg, and I headed back to Wiky. The only stops we made along the way were to gas up the 3, to pick up some bread and milk at Mac's, and then to get some coffee and snacks at McDonald's. Julius bought Dolly and me some hamburgers which we both quickly devoured. I haven't had a McDonald's hamburger in quite some time.

Our drive back to Wiky was peaceful save for one shocking event. Between Espanola and Little Current, I hit a raccoon on the highway. Thankfully, the raccoon seems to have survived and scampered back onto the bush. When I was able to look at the car under lights, I could see that my front bumper was damaged and likely will need to be replace. But the car hasn't been damaged mechanically, so I should have no trouble driving in it until I'm able to get back to Brookings and get it repaired. I will need to call Skip Webster at State Farm, however.

I feel pretty good tonight in spite of the shock of hitting the raccoon, and I'm looking forward to a good sleep tonight. It's been another good day today in spite of the damage to my car, and I'm thankful that I've experienced a sequence of so many good days. Let the good times roll.

Cabin life

The lion's share of today was spent at the Assinewe family cabin. And part of that time was devoted to work while the other part was devoted to pure relaxation and fun. Our goal at the cabin today was to move the dock to deeper water. Dolly's dad had already disassembled the dock, so we needed only to relocate it and put it back together. I didn't really help rebuild the dock, but I did help move the floating dock crib and load rocks into it. I spent the remainder of our time at the beach snacking, swimming, and hanging out with everyone.

Dolly fixed me a great breakfast of bacon, scrambled eggs, and toast, so that was a wonderful way to start the day. We hung out at her place for a bit before we joined everyone else at the cabin. Gail called not long before we left and said that she and others would be at the cabin by about 11. Dolly and I left about an hour after the call.

When we pulled onto King's Bay Road, we found that Dolly's dad and Aaron had parked Julius' truck smack dab in the middle of the path to the cabin. The two of them were loading freshly-cut logs into the back of the truck. Dolly and I arrived just in time; we were able to help carry a few logs before the other two men decided that they had procured enough wood for the dock. With everyone satisfied, we proceeded to the cabin. Quite a few people were already there, and Gail's husband Joey was already hard at work on the dock.

Dolly, others, and I didn't jump into work right away; we relaxed and visited for a bit before we made our first forays into the water. When the time came to move the crib that supports the portion of the dock that juts out into the water, we all stepped into the water and helped move it to it's new location. The task wasn't all that difficult, but we were all wary of the slimy sand and mud that coated the floor of the beach at the dock's new location. And we needed to be careful of many sharp, jagged rocks. Most people wore their shoes during the operation, but I didn't put my shoes on until I'd already cut my foot. I didn't cut myself seriously, though, and I was able to work unimpeded once my shoes were soundly on my feet. We then started loading the crib with large rocks so that it would be weighted down enough that it wouldn't move. I have no idea how many rocks we threw into the crib, but the work didn't take long with all of us helping. Julius stood in the old crib and handed us rocks while Dolly, Gail, Sally G., Aaron, Sarah, and I threw rocks into the relocated crib. The only aspect of the rock moving that was treacherous was the presence of mussels on some of the rocks. And as Julius and the rest of us found out, mussels can be quite sharp. Julius and Dolly have some new cuts on their hands as a result, and I have a nice new scratch on my belly.

Julius, Joey, and Aaron continued working on the dock throughout the day. They finished with the new dock not long before most of us left the area around sunset. In the meantime, those of us not involved in constructing the new dock spent the next several hours swimming, sunning ourselves, and generally enjoying the time outdoors. The day wasn't expecially hot, but the water was warm. And being in the water for much of the day was a great way to beat the heat. And the food was really good, too. We barbecued and were able to take our picks from foods such as hamburgers, moose burgers, spare ribs, and various types of soda and potato chips. I had hoped to have a moose burger, but found myself full after eating a Texas-sized hamburger. There were a few times when I questioned whether I would be able to finish such a large chunk of meat, but I did. That one piece of meat is all it took to fill me up.

Once we finished eating, there was little to do but get back into the water and swim some more or sit around the fire, make and eat smores, and visit. I was surprised how tired I began to feel when many of us settled down to visiting for a bit before the sun sunk below the western horizon. But I had enough energy to visit and make smores, and I had no trouble driving back into Wiky around 9:30. When Dolly and I arrived home, I snacked on a couple of Cosmo Pops, checked messages, and am now watching Saturday Night Live.

Today has certainly been another good day; all the days on this trip have been good days, come to think of it. And I expect that the trend will continue. Tomorrow probably won't be quite as busy; Dolly, Julius, and I are going to a powwow near Sudbury and will then head into the city itself. While in Sudbury, we're going to visit Dolly's daughters Sharlene and Angel and then check out the new Simpsons movie. It should be a good, nice, relaxing day.

"Auntie Louis"

Today turned out to be another active day, and it was a very nice active day. Most of our activity today centered around babysitting Sarah's daughter Ashley and shopping for groceries for the barbeque that took place at the cabin a little while ago. Apart from what I've just mentioned, it was a good day to rest and relax.

Not long after I awoke this morning, Dolly informed me that we were going to babysit Ashley for a while today while Sarah and Aaron worked and Ashley's grandfather Julius had a doctor appointment in Little Current. I rose from sleep a little before 10, and Ashley arrived a little after 11. In the meantime, I checked messages on the Web and checked the overall state of the American stock market. Today was another down day, and it was down in a big day. Still, the market being down could do little to put a damper on my spirits or impact my enjoyment of the day. I've invested in the market for the long haul, and significantly down days like the past three days have been aren't all that important.

Dolly, Ashley, and I hung out at the house for a bit before we headed to Little Current to get ingredients for the chili I fixed this evening. While we were at the house, I continued to update my Web site while Dolly did some housework. And Ashley busied herself with play with Batman and Robin, Dolly's daughter Angel's two kittens. Ashley visited with me some while she was playing with the kittens, and it was during that play that Ashley happened to call me "Auntie Louis." So it looks as though I've picked up another nickname, "Auntie Louis." Only Ashley calls me that now, but who knows? Maybe it'll catch on with some of the other young kids as well. It makes me laugh when the I hear the name, and I'm sure it will for some time to come.

The drive to Little Current took about 25 minutes. Rather than head directly for the grocery store, we stopped at Farquhar's to have some ice cream. Each of us had only a single-scoop of ice cream in small cones. As we enjoyed our ice cream outside the store and near the swing bridge, Dolly and I both bristled at the cost of our treat; all three small ice creams cost about $8 total.

Shopping for groceries didn't take all that long considering we didn't need all that much. All I needed to make my chili was ingredients like the hamburger, mushrooms, green pepppers, and low-sodium V8 juice. The market was packed, but we were able to navigate through the narrow aisles fairly easily. With groceries securely under the 3's hatch, we drove back to Wiky. The three of us hung out at Dolly's house for a little over an hour before we headed to Rabbit Island. I cooked the chili and Dolly made her scone (frybread) at her Dad's house before we carted everything to the cabin. In the meantime, the day's sunny skies began to give way to grey clouds. There was no thunderstorm as was predicted, but there were a few sprinkles here and there during our time at the cabin.

Several of us enjoyed the swimming, splashing, and food at the cabin. I have no specific count of how many of us were in attendance, but there was easily close to 20. Some of us swam and frolicked in the warm North Channel waters before we ate while others sat around the fire and visited. Most of the food that we were to eat was already prepared, but there was a pot of corn being cooked over the open fire. When the time came to feast, everyone readily took part and sampled what had been prepared for the feast. Dolly's scone was a hit, and I was pleased with how much everyone seemed to like the chili I made. Some, such as Dolly's friend Sharlene, remarked that they had multiple bowls; Sharlene said she had four bowls. I had only two bowls, but I ended up eating more than I had planned.

When we finished eating, some of the kids went back to their swimming while the rest of us sat around the fire and visited. We're going to spend most of the day at the cabin tomorrow, mainly to help rebuild the dock and get it ready for powwow weekend next week.

Another day is nearly at an end, and I'm surprised by how tired I feel tonight. But it's a good kind of tired, the kind of tired born from play and having lots of fun. I'm sure I'll experienced that same kind of "good kind of tired" tomorrow, and it should be just as satisfying tomorrow as it is today.

Work at the house

More stuff was packed into today than I had originally expected. I was able to get a lot of work done in terms of getting my blog up and running. Most of the work entailed adding photos to yesterday's blog entry, and I also made a few important changes to my existing travel Web site/blog hosted on Apple's .Mac servers. The biggest change was the addition of a few pages containing photos taken during my trip to the Black Hills a few weeks back and from this most recent trip to Ontario.

All of what I did took only about an hour; I had expected that all that I did would have taken longer. What I did didn't take all that long, but I was sure tired by the time I finished. The tiredness is probably the result of a combination of all of the driving from yesterday and all the Web site work I did this afternoon.

In the meantime, Dolly kept herself busy with housework. She did most of the work herself, but her sons helped out some, too. And when it came time to cook some supper for us and others at the house, I helped Dolly make some homemade cheeseburger macaroni. I had never made cheeseburger macaroni the way we did today. All it took was some macaroni and hamburger prepared separately and then mixed together. I'll have to fix that for Dad, Clark, and me when I get back to Brookings in a few weeks.

We finished with supper and then headed to the cabin for a bit. On the way to the cabin, we stopped by Gail's place and visited. Gail was tired from her busy day at work, and the three of us lazed on her couches for a bit before Dolly and I headed on to the cabin. Dolly and I were alone at the cabin for a bit before Sally G. and the kids and then Gail showed up. And it was during that alone time that Dolly and I crashed out on the couches on the porch for about an hour. I felt pretty groggy for a bit when I first awoke, but I'm glad I had the chance to sleep a bit. And I felt fully awake and good by the time we went to Karen Manitowabi's place shortly after we left the cabin. Dolly and I had planned to do some swimming, but we ran out of time before we had to get ready to go to Karen's. Maybe we'll go swimming tomorrow afternoon or sometime tomorrow evening after we make some chili and scone for everyone.

It was good to see Karen and Dolly's cousin Rubina again, and it's always good to make some new friends. The new friends made today were some other women who visited Karen's house this evening. We were able to sit around, eat, and tell stories of our travels and learn about each other. We didn't get to spend all that much time together, but we shared a lot of laughs and a good meal. And I'm sure I'll see many if not all of those women again in the future.

Dolly and I are both pretty wiped out from another good day, so it looks like we're going to crash here in a bit. In the meantime, I guess I'm still thinking about how awesome everything I've seen and done over the past several days has been. I've done and experienced so much, and those experiences will have impacted my life in some way. I'm sure the way will be positive, but the nature of the way remains to be seen. Until I figure that out, I'll continue to enjoy and learn from what life has to offer.

Chi-cheemaun

Today began in Hamilton, Ontario, and is drawing to a close at Dolly's house in Wiky. It's been fun to be on the road away from Wiky for the past few days, but it's nice to be back on the rez, too. In fact, this journey from Wiky to Toronto to Hamilton and back to Wiky has been like a vacation within a vacation.

After showering and packing my gear, I hauled everything downstairs so I could load up the car. I loaded my suitcase and laptop bag into the 3's hatch before I noticed the parking ticket perched under my passenger-side windshield wiper. Some local cop gave me the ticket around 4:30 this morning because I was parked somewhere I shouldn't have been parked. When Jason learned of the ticket, he was as surprised as I was. There were other cars parked near mine that had been parked for as long as my car had been parked that weren't ticketed. Jason suggested that I was chosen for "special" treatment because I have out-of-town plates. The ticket was only $20 and I've already paid it, but I am thinking about writing a letter about the matter to the City of Hamilton.

Dolly and I picked up a quick breakfast at McDonald's and some coffee from Tim Horton's before we turned north on Highway 6. We expected the drive between Hamilton and Tobermory would take about four hours. With all the stops we made and road construction, the trip took longer than that. But both Dolly and I are glad that we made the stops we did and that we were able to see the sunset from the deck of the "Chi-cheemaun," the ferry that four times daily runs between Tobermory on the Bruce Peninsula and South Baymouth on Manitoulin Island.

Apart from pausing the eat lunch at Subway in Owen Sound and to make a few Tim Horton's stops, our only stop of any length was at Ningwakwe Learning Press near Owen Sound. The operation is one with which Dolly has worked before on various projects, and I've submitted a short story to Ningwakwe for inclusion in an anthology. We visited with Maria Morrison, one of Ningwakwe's driving forces. It was good to meet Maria, and we talked about various publishing ventures. She also suggested to me that she's looking for photographs for various books and expressed interest in using some of my work in the future. I hope that there will be opportunities for me to do additional work for the publisher in the near future. I'm always looking for new outlets for my work.

We arrived at Tobermory around 5 in the evening; the last "Chi-cheemaun" ("big canoe" in Ojibwe) ferry to Wiky didn't leave until around 8. So Dolly and I had plenty of time to hang out and explore the area. Since one of the buildings near the port had wireless Internet access, I took advantage of the Wi-Fi and checked e-mail and updated my Web site. I didn't mean to spend as much time inside the stuffy, sweltering building as I did, but it took a long time for me to update my Web site, specifically my blog. In the meantime, I also set up this new Blogger account, which I plan to use for my North American Tour blog from here on out.

Dolly and I were among the first to arrive at the dock, so our car was among the first to be loaded onto the ferry. I have no knowledge of the specific dimensions of the vessel, but I do know that it can carry more than 150 cars. And I also know that the boat's featured amenities include a bar that operates until a half-hour before docking and a full-service cafeteria. Dolly and I didn't peruse the bar, but we did enjoy dinner during the two-hour voyage. I think it had been about 12 years since I've been on a boat the size of the "Chi-cheemaun." In fact, I think that last boat was a ferry as well; it was a boat that transported my bandmates and me between Dover, England and Calais, France. In any case, the boat ride was smooth and quiet, and it took us no more than a half-hour to drive from the darkness of South Baymouth back to Wiky.

With our hearts full of good memories from the past few days, Dolly and I are relaxing and are getting ready to crash for the night. We're still reeling, but in a good way, from all that we've seen and done in the past few days. Each day we've spent together on this journey has been a joy, and it's hard to believe that this particular journey is already more than half over. It doesn't really matter how much time is left on this journey, however; I plan to focus on the good and fun that's forthcoming. And I'm sure Dolly will, too.