On to the Shield

The next leg of our trip took us to northwestern Ontario for a family wedding. We shared a large log cabin at a fishing & camping resort with some of our extended family. It was a great chance for the kids to reconnect with some of the paternal side of the family, including Grandma, three aunts and an uncle. We had a lazy morning together as well as a couple of evenings.

The cabin was huge and gorgeous. We arrived while the others were out. The first thing the kids noticed upon arriving was the acoustics of the great room. Instantly the violins and violas were out and for no other reason but the resonance of the room the kids played and played.

I have dreams of building a large open strawbale music studio at home. Erin regularly complains about the acoustics in our house. We have tiny rooms, carpeted floors, low ceilings and sound-absorbent rough-milled log walls in our house. It was amazing how intrinsically enjoyable the kids found playing in a resonant open room.

This trip was a great geography tour in that it took us through three separate geographic regions of Canada -- the western mountain region, the prairies, and on into the Canadian Shield. This was our sojourn onto the Shield, and staying at the cabin on the shores of a lake really brought the geography home to us. In the morning we walked along the shore and enjoyed the scenery as well as the flora and fauna that are different from what we find in the west.

The view from the window was stunning. We were right in the northern forest, and the view made us aware of that. The shore of the lake was a wonderful place for walks. And it was all just so very "northern Ontario." We lived in a similar area in the eastern corner of the province before moving back to BC to start our family, and this area brought all those memories back. Canoe trips, cottages, lakes and lakes and lakes.

I think I could be happy living in Northern Ontario if circumstances brought me back again. If I had a canoe.

Fall is my favourite time here.