THE COLOURS OF THANKSGIVING

A pink sky at sunset, red leaves twisting in air, water sparkling blues as the sun hits it, ancient rock rippled with colour from ages of transition; this is autumn on the Georgian Bay.

For our annual Thanksgiving sojourn to Nares Inlet, Collette and I were able to squeeze in an extra day for the visit. That meant more time for the family and more time for me to explore the bush with my intrepid explorer and amateur (very amateur) animal tracker Miss Terra. They say dogs have a limited perceived colour spectrum, well so do I but we were still able to enjoy the fall colours

There are many critters in the bush around Springhaven Lodge and if you are patient and quiet you may be able to entice one of them to come right up to you ... or just have her daddy bring her into your cabin.

We had excellent weather over all. At one point Terra and I got caught in a brief rain and sleet storm; I'm not sure she even noticed. With the inlet right outside our door and many bogs and culverts along on the road, she spent very little of the weekend actually dry. All worth it of course when you can wake up, step out onto your porch and see the inlet, still as dark glass and wreathed with early morning mist.

A big part of this weekend is always gathering together as many people as possible (this year it was over 50) loading them into boats and going out to a rock island in the Georgian Bay to nosh, have a few beers, explore and play a silly game just for the fun of it. So many people and so many boats, one wonders if it showed up and was flagged on certain NSA satellite feeds. One wonders what the analysts made of this floating shoe box .. what we all like to call the house boat

Once we moored on the island I demonstrated my enthusiasm for the upcoming Aquaman movie by doing an impression of the aquatic superhero ... well, something similar. No need to dwell on that, let's move on

Ahem

It was a cool yet sunny day and the infamous north offshore wind was fairly sedate, making it a perfect idea to crack a few beers, share some food, tell some tales and explore this island that is like the expression of Canadian Shield machismo, thrust up as it is from the cold deep waters of the Bay

All in all a good day and a great weekend but it's always nice to fold up the plastic tables, load up the boats and head home. By the end, even Terra was tired, and that is always saying something.

So while she's napping and I'm wringing out my jeans, enjoy the video.