Yesterday’s weather on the South Channel was the polar opposite from Monday’s. It was overcast all day, with rumblings of thunder that finally let loose in impressive fashion as we were treated to a classic full-blown Georgian Bay electrical storm. There was lots of thunder and lightning, which I fully enjoyed, but Ian and Courage the dog weren’t too sure of. It all culminated with a torrential downpour that more than thoroughly soaked the place and cooled things right down. During the storm we had several flickers of our lights, but this time Ontario Hydro won out and the power stayed on.

Today the weather was iffy, with the sun working to poke through overcast skies. The temperature was pleasant and there was a slight breeze, which is a far cry from the torrid weather back in New York. Kiera, Ian, Courage, and I went in to town around noon to do errands and pick up the rest of the Topping Crew; my mom, wife, sister, and nephew, and Mom’s two dogs Sounder and Parker. We timed things perfectly and met up in Sobey’s parking lot, where I pulled in right next to Mom who was waiting with the dogs at the car. She was more than happy to see us.

Mom has been a bit apprehensive about returning to the cottage. However, soon after we arrived at the island she found herself relieved at how quickly she got caught up in the beauty of the area and rediscovering the joy of just being here. This is still a very difficult time for our family, with each of trying to find our way through process of coping with our loss. This trip promises to be especially emotional, because Mom brought half of Pop’s ashes with her and we are planning on scattering them tomorrow if the weather cooperates. We will be taking a shore lunch to enjoy on Mineral Island, and Mom has a special tree in mind that Pop used to sit on where we will spread some of the ashes. We will also scatter some in the channel off our dock and inter some on our property. Although we are all grieving over our loss, we are upbeat about honoring Pop’s wishes and moving closer to some kind of closure. Pop would be proud.

The weather was spectacular here today in Parry Sound. We enjoyed lots of sunshine, a mild breeze, and temperatures in the mid 30s °C (90+ °F). However, this was cool beans compared to the heat wave hitting the US right now. New York City registered 37.2 C ° (99°F) today with a heat index of 111°F, and power outages were widespread.

Ian and I went water testing yesterday, and Ian was of much assistance. We incubated the samples overnight and read the results together tonight. All sites showed slight increases in recorded total coliforms and the only perfect samples were those of my control blank sample and another sample I took directly from the water tap in our cottage sink. The full results should be available on the South Channel website in the next day or two.

Today we relaxed and mostly stayed out of the direct sun, and in the afternoon we went for a little swim. Ian fished off our dock and caught a nice smallmouth bass, which we released. A group of 12 or 15 geese were playing hide-n-seek in the reeds in our cove, and eventually they came out and waddled around on the beach, stopping every now and then for a snack. Courage the dog was very interested, but wisely kept his distance. He had been following and intently watching a duck family paddle around the cove yesterday, but he seemed to know that the Canada Geese were in a different league in terms of size and attitude.

Yesterday afternoon, Ian and I spotted a large fox snake near our pump house where we conduct and record water tests. It was strikingly patterned in brown and a beautiful shade of yellowish-green, and was about four feet in length. I have seen larger specimens in the past, most notably a six footer that was swimming smack in the middle of the bay near Sans Souci not closer than a quarter mile from the nearest land, but a four foot snake is still a pretty good sized snake.


Ian was very impressed with the defensive tactic employed by the fox snake when we startled it. Fox snakes will vibrate their tails producing a rattling or buzzing sound, especially when rubbing against dry leaves. This behavior often causes them to be misidentified as Rattlesnakes, Bullsnakes, and because of their copper-colored head, Copperheads. Unfortunately, they are often killed because of this. Fox snakes are terrific swimmers and can grow to about 7 feet in length, and they are common here on the South Channel. In fact, I saw another approximately 18” long example as I walked on the cottage path tonight.