Saying Hi To An Old Friend
I did my annual pilgrimage to Lake Superior a few weeks ago.
The Bear seemed to enjoy the lake.
So did I.
It’s like going back to an old friend and saying “Hi”. a
And it’s impossible NOT to feel relaxed when you’re in her presence.
It’s better than going to a therapist. Maybe even church, for some people.
Some of these scenes are definitely going to be watercolor paintings.
Eventually.
But I could sit and watch the waves crash for hours.
Or just stare out into the calm nothingness.
Either way, it’s all good.
And the Bear concurs.
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Tags: Gargantua Beach, Lake Superior, Michipicton, Neys Provincial Park. North Shore
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September 14, 2010 at 9:21 pm
Wow… Some pics reminded me my hours at the beach when I was a young kid with not many preoccupations.
You keep adding places to visit to my agenda!
September 14, 2010 at 9:54 pm
I visited and lived on the other side for a number of years…I find water most soothing. Thank you for sharing, it caused me to think about my family and being calm and relaxed.
September 14, 2010 at 10:52 pm
Great photos! Some of my favorite vacations have been around Lake Superior.
September 15, 2010 at 12:44 am
Stunning vista, my good chum. I agree that it makes for a better church than the conventional ones. I really feel like the hand of God is here in such peaceful locations.
September 15, 2010 at 4:20 am
You need to figure out a way to be self-employed and move up there, you know. I think you are destined to do that one day.
September 15, 2010 at 7:05 am
@Brett – Friar could continue taking such marvelous pictures and sell them as screen savers and desktop photos to all of us who work in the stressful cubicle farms.
September 15, 2010 at 7:08 am
@Canadian Army Wife,
Exactly – I could see him finding happiness up there, painting. Maybe once he’s got his pension he could do it, houses should be relatively cheap up there if you live in a small town.
Seriously Friar, that might be it for you.
September 15, 2010 at 7:09 am
PS – by the way Friar, I still want to hike that ski hill before winter comes. Let’s talk offline and find a mutually convenient date.
September 15, 2010 at 8:03 am
@Mr G
You should go. It’s amazing, how many people live within an hours drive of Lake Superiour, but have never in their whole life have gotten around to seeing it.
@Sheila
You…get it. Not to many people do. (Which isn’t that bad,actually…because it helps keep the crowds down and that area unspoiled)
@Tony
I’m not a religious man. But any spirituality I’ve ever felt, has been in places like this, and not in some musty chruch, listening to Mass.
@Brett
I actually had a job offer there, 6 years ago. A paper mill in the Soo. But I sensed that the mill wasnt’ doing that well, and that I’d be laid off if I took that job.
I was right. That millisn’t running right now, neither are most of the ones in the region. I would have been out of work within a year or two.
Self employment is a possibility. But probalby not the small towns. Those communities are all dying out (as per my last post). But Thunder Bay is large enough..perhaps that’s the answer.
@Canadian Army Wife
Thanks for the vote of confidence. But there are a bajillion photos available on-line at least as good as mine. The market is saturated with them…
But if you want to use mine as screen-savers, by all means go right ahead. I won’t charge you!
@Brett
Good! I was wondering if you were still interested in that hike. We’ll chat about it off-line.
September 15, 2010 at 8:08 am
Amen. I’ve been hesitating with my paean to her, thinking you all will think I’ve gone off the deep end. Well, I did a long time ago. I’ll get it posted this week.
September 15, 2010 at 10:16 am
Thanks for the little taste of home again, Friar.
You’re right about the towns/cities in the area and lack of job opportunities or growth. Apparently fewer and fewer people find benefit in toughing out Superior’s quixotic winters. Sad since the rest of the year is so absolutely perfect. We’re heading up to visit next month, and I can’t wait!
September 15, 2010 at 10:26 am
Those are some beautiful pictures, Friar. I can’t wait to see them in water colors. =)
September 15, 2010 at 10:48 am
@Betsy
Go ahead and post it! I love reading your musings on Superior.
@Nicole
The winters would be okay for me …provided there is a good network of cross-country ski trails around. And maybe a decent downhill ski resort. So again..maybe Thunder Bay seems to be the answer. It’s got world-class winter sports facilities.
The fall colors should be peaking when you go!
@Kat
Some of these are on my short list. I might do some within the next month. And post them…(much to Eyeteaguy’s consternation).
September 15, 2010 at 2:23 pm
Just a general line of thinking here.
So many of us are “technology workers”, we could do our jobs from anywhere thanks to computers, networking, videoconferencing and so on.
What prevents us from doing this is obsolete management styles, in most cases.
Even though I am really not the biggest fan of blustery cold winters, you know, if I could work from my home, and was assured that there would be a nice roaring fire in my “living room office”, I would choose to live way up there as well.
We as a society need a paradigm shift to make this happen.
Until that day, those who are fortunate enough to have built careers like this for themselves would be foolish not to at least consider this option.
September 15, 2010 at 3:19 pm
@Brett Exactly! The thing I dislike about the winters is the having to get up in the mornings, go out and scrape off the car, shovel/blow the drive, and get to work in iffy conditions. Then you have to do it all over again in the afternoon, which is fine as long as a lake effect blizzard hasn’t decided to drop in. If I could work at home, I would live Up North ™ in a heartbeat!
Those bears know what they’re doing with that hibernation thing!
September 15, 2010 at 6:05 pm
@Nicole,
Then you and I should go into business together, perhaps Friar can paint in our home-based work co-op
and we can all live on the shores of Superior.
September 15, 2010 at 6:26 pm
Sounds like we’re forming a commune. Shall I grow the “veggies” then, and Friar can fish?
September 15, 2010 at 7:09 pm
Sounds good! I guess I’ll have to learn how to hunt, then… I already know how to make jerky and pemmican, so I’ve got that covered.
September 15, 2010 at 7:14 pm
@Brett
God Forbid. If someone works from home, you can’t trust that they’ll do their job. Better to have them physically next to you in a crowded cubicle, so you can keep your eye on them every day.
(Or so the old dinosaurs keep trying to have us believe…).
@Nicole
I don’t mind the veggies, if we subsidize them with fish, and possibly some moose-meat.
September 15, 2010 at 7:22 pm
@Friar I don’t have the greenest of thumbs, but I would happily eat fish three meals a day!
And those dinosaurs should see the hours I put in working my ass off here at home every day.
September 15, 2010 at 7:28 pm
@Nicole
I can do fish every day….I had it on my vacation. Just so long as there is some other meat during supper. Like beef. Cow. Or Steak.
As for the dinosaurs…they eventually became extinct. That’s what I keep praying for.
September 15, 2010 at 7:29 pm
@Brett
And I think I know how to skin and butcher an animal. I saw it done at the lodge.
We can let the vegans gather the nuts and berries for our snacks.
September 16, 2010 at 4:51 am
Maybe we can eat the dinosaurs…
(Cannibal tribe FTW!)
September 16, 2010 at 11:23 am
@Brett
I bet you the herbivore dinosaurs would be the tastiest. Like the Brontosaurus or Stegasaurus.
The T-Rex or Veloco-rapter would probably be all muscle…tough and stringy.
September 16, 2010 at 11:41 am
Well this blog is nicely off-topic.
Carry on.
Eyeteaguy
September 16, 2010 at 3:29 pm
@Eyeteaguy
From Lake Superior, to eating dinosaurs.
Makes sense, to me!
September 16, 2010 at 7:17 pm
@Eyeteaguy,
Too bad we couldn’t join the thread between Triassic and Jurassic Periods when the dinosaurs roamed about and the Ice Age when the Lake Superior was formed.
Then we’d be right on topic.
September 16, 2010 at 10:13 pm
[...] speak of knowing her. I yearn to be first with her, and I tell myself I am. I recognize their thoughts and descriptions exactly as I know her, and I congratulate myself, as I love her so much she must love me more. [...]
September 16, 2010 at 10:20 pm
Okay, my post is up. http://passingthru.com/2010/09/looking-into-forever-part-4/
September 18, 2010 at 10:43 pm
Awesome. Totally awesome.
September 19, 2010 at 11:34 am
[...] Deep Friar has awesome pics of Lake Superior. If they don’t tell you, you can easily think it’s the [...]