wagon ho!

The honey wagon dropped by this morning. While the word honey may conjure up visions of hot buttered toast drizzled with the sweet nectar, this honey is anything but sweet. It is a turid sludge pumped from our black and grey tanks. Black tanks are not exactly black, but the colour closest to it on the colour spectrum; grey describes the effluent from dishwashing, handwashing, and if we didn't use the park ones, showers - a greasy, soapy, food particle ridden soup.

Ed, the friendly angel of emptiness (we don't shake hands), first tackles the black tank, the pulsating hose freeing us to use our own bathroom facilities. Oh mercy! No walk in the dark down unlit campground roads, crocs crunching on the gravel, feet dampened by the dewy walk across our grassy site to the road. He does the grey one next, its soapy water flushing the hose for his next appointment. His is a truck you do not want to run into - 350 gallons of honey! This service didn't exist for the first few years we came here so we'd skimp and conserve to last to the halfway point of our visit (about 12 days). Then we'd ready the camper for travel and drag it to the dump station (a hole in the ground into which honey is dumped). It was a hassle. Now we are happy to fork over $20 once a week.

We had other, equally (actually, more) welcome, but much less stinky guests this afternoon. Bill and Brenda have arrived for their 2 week camp and are across the road and two sites down from us. I foresee much hilarity and good cheer which starts with tonight's ribfest. We are waiting for them to setup so that we can have a swim.

It is thankfully warm today but (as usual) the wind is whipping across the waves. Too windy to have our awnings out, instead we have our less valuable, easier to repair, unlikely to rip out of the side of our camper, shade tent up. It is rocking to the blasts of wind, shuffling on its spindly legs. But giving us a little bit of shade. Surprisingly, even with the wind, there is a mist over the water, partially obscuring the horizon and the island that is not far off-shore.

the MegaLoad

The jumbotron flashed black, blue and brown on its vibrating round screen. The timer flashed 23 minutes. What a way to spend a Sunday afternoon but with hot sun in the weather forecast for the rest of the week it seemed like a good time to do laundry.

Brighton has a bright and clean laundromat with a variety of machines to chose from. We chose the easy way: stuff all clothes, sheets and towels into the giant maw of the MegaLoad.

We stepped out into bright sunshine. Having lunch and getting our laundry put away made us hot enough for a swim - the water was wonderful. We'd thought the several days of wind and waves would have brought the cold water from the depths of the lake but we were pleasantly surprised :-)

I have another parrot memory to write about today.

By the time Zack, our blue and gold macaw, was a year old we had decided to make a contribution to the domestic parrot trade by breeding our lovely pets. Finding a mate for Zack was no easy task but we eventually found Bubbers who was just an hours drive away. We went to see her and decided on the spot that she would be the one. We could only hope that Zack would feel the same way. Parrots generally mate for life and chose their partners carefully so BubbersZena (her new name) was not a sure thing.

Instead of putting her directly with Zack in his big cage we setup two large dog crates next to each other so they could get to know each other before we risked fowl and feather when we put them together. When we brought her into the room Zack let out a big OHHHHHBOYYYYY. It was clear from the beginning that they were a good match. They'd sit on adjacent perches in their separate cages, looking at each other with googly eyes.

We didn't wait many days before letting them out of their cages together. Zack climbed to the top of his cage and when he saw BubbersZena ascend he started running around, shouting "oh boy, oh boy, yummy…" with the energy and excitement that only a macaw can conjure. She had the same level of enthusiasm, but didn't yet have the words to express herself. They devoted themselves to each other from the day they met, eventually producing many fat chicks.

I think it was love at first sight.

                                                                                ~

The weather forecast for the next week is pure summer!

Ghostly Galleon

The nearly full moon hung like a golden orb in the indigo sky last night. Around the camp, details not normally seen at night were fully visible. The wind was absent and the waves almost silent. I could hear the faint strum of a guitar and wished that I was there. Groups of people gathered around campfires, an activity as old as mankind. Safe in the circle of light there was laughter and murmured conversations.

We hadn't bothered to pick up firewood so we retreated to the brash light from the TV.

This afternoon I was feeling antsy, even after a walk down lighthouse lane, so invited the people across the way for a beer. John, Maureen, and their daughter Catherine, joined us for a few hours of conversation. I don't know what Carm and John talked about (maybe some of it was about working for the Ottawa Fire department), but the rest of us talked about dogs, training, feeding, and anything else canine. They have a chocolate lab that was with her breeder having just had puppies - they are getting the 2nd pick of the litter. Puppies! I love puppies.

The writing books that I have been reading suggest writing a memory every day. I don't know if I remember enough to do this for long, but I'll start today with this memory that I was recalling with Mom just the other day.

                                                                                ~

In 1991 we got our first Blue & Gold macaw, Zack. There were few supplies, toys and cages to chose from in Canada but Zack needed a proper cage so I started looking farther afield. I poured over 'Bird Talk' magazine, a US publication, comparing features and prices until I found what I wanted: a large black iron cage with outside access feeders for a reasonable price. I placed my order with the company in California and started waiting, impatiently I might add. Googgle maps was years away from being created, so I checked my paper atlas as it made its way across the US and into Canada.  Zack was quickly becoming too big for the dog crate he was in - his new home couldn't get here fast enough.

There was one problem though - we had a small hatchback and this was a huge iron monstrosity. Mom to the rescue with her trusty van. She picked me up from work and we wended our way through the industrial area until we found the depot. The freight guys squeezed it into the van and may have wondered how we'd get it out again. We hadn't thought that far but knew we'd find a way. My mom has passed her resourcefulness to me, so together we are a formidable pair! Oh, we struggled, lugged, and heaved and hawed and finally got it across the grass to the front door. As we stepped onto the cement sidewalk we looked at each other and laughed, nearly falling down at the hilarity of our 'dooh'. We could have simply parked the van further up the laneway, removed the cage from its box, installed the wheels, and simply wheeled the cage down the path! Resourcefulness arrived several minutes too late.

With our sides still aching from so much laughter we man-handled the cage in the door and up the stairs. We'd done it!

I installed an assortment of toys and perches then put Zack in his new home. He seemed pleased and oblivious to the trouble it had taken to get it to him. The next day he learned how to open the door to let himself out. Hummm. Technology, in the form of a padlock put an end to that!

Zack stopped living in that cage many, many years ago - now it casts its shadow on the back deck as Grace's outdoor playground.

                                                                                 ~

The moon was a ghostly galleon tossed upon cloudy seas.  ~Alfred Noyes