The End of a Perfect Summer

Yesterday was September 4, the end of Summer 2016 for most cottagers; and particularly the youngsters who return to school on Tuesday.

I’ve never forgotten the return to public school after endless days of heat, swimming, and boating. I can recall the classrooms that were almost unbearably hot and stuffy. And I can still smell the odour of fresh varnish on the desktops. 

And yes, it was a sad trip down to the city!

As summer goes and fall slowly creeps in, we get lower temperatures at night that create early morning fog as the heat is slowly removed from the lake. There’s a very slight orange tinting appearing on some leaves and the chipmunks, the squirrels, and the birds are starting to horde food.

We went for what is probably the last paddle down the river until next spring because the water is getting so low. We saw the heron; the lone gull that stayed near the dam all summer; small shorebirds feeding on spiderweb trappings; and the loon that feeds on the small bass that are still found in the river waters. 

To-day we also saw the destruction being done to the municipal lot just west of the Gregory Lane causeway by the high Springtime water flow through that new culvert. Embankments are being eroded away; the pool west of the culvert is many times larger with more gravel eroded from the river bottom and deposited downstream, affecting paddling. Several large cedar trees in the water’s path now lie in the water. Perhaps unintended consequences from a recent culvert replacement project! 

The water is so low at the approach to the dam that the telephone line that runs from the dam to the highway can be seen if one looks carefully down into the water. The line is used to send automatic water level recorder data to the Trent Severn Waterway’s staff in Peterborough. The line was installed because of troubles incurred with satellite transmissions from the dam stemming from a lack of sunlight to charge up the transmitter’s batteries. The very useful water level graphs that are on the Trent Severn Waterway’s website use data from the auto recorder. 

We enjoy paddling down our river and we’ll miss it until next year!