Northern Ontario

I had to clean all the blood off the ceiling and the walls of my trailer. What massacre happened here? The last trip I took in the trailer to Algonquin Park a couple weeks ago, there were so many bugs, black flies, mosquitoes and deer flies. I spent most of the nights smacking them on the walls and on the ceiling. Heading north again to feed more bugs, I wonder over and over again why God made those darn bugs. I figure I am doing my duty for northern Ontario by heading back and feeding more and getting back to work after 3 months off.

I really did take the circuitous route to the Sault, visiting friends along the way. Went by my old house in Minden, the house that I loved the most, snuggled in the bush at the end of a dead end road, my little log cabin. I loved that place. I dug up trees from the bush and planted them all in the front yard and now many years later those trees are huge and you can hardly see the house from the road. I really miss that place. The nicest house I ever owned, certainly not the most modern or the largest but it suited me just fine. I loved the trails around the property, I put in so many gardens, a wrap around deck and hot tub. Such a comfortable home. I really could have stayed there forever I think. But I moved on.

Frost on my windshield, it was the middle of June and I was in Sundridge, not even that far north! The thermometer said one degree but my backside said it's colder than that but likely because of the wind. The cold air makes for beautiful pictures over the lake as the mist rises. I headed off at 6:00 in the morning with no one else on the roads except moose of course. I had a watchful eye for moose in the mist. It should be a movie title.

Driving on northern Ontario roads early in the morning with the sun rising over the hills in the east, mist puffing up from the water is breathtaking. Up ahead and too quick for a picture, a bear runs across the road. Not more than a couple minutes later as the road goes from paved to gravel, I slammed on my brakes as a moose jumped out in front of me from the ditch. The sound of the tires on the gravel scared him and he made a quick about turn and went back into the bush. I stopped to get a couple pictures but nothing close up so I just watched him trapse noisily through the bush. He was just a young moose. Not more than a few minutes later a deer runs across the road ahead of me. It reminded me about when I was in Kruger Park, South Africa and everybody was looking for the big five. On my first safari I saw all five of them, which I gather is a rare event. I guess in Ontario we have the big three, and I just saw them all in a few minutes.

I worked a week at a small animal clinic in Sault Ste Marie doing mostly surgeries but some appointments and many drop offs as well. Then I was asked to do the on call for the weekend. Crazy busy weekend,. Calls just kept coming in and coming in and coming in. When I left after work on Monday thinking I could drive 4 hours to get to a campsite in Killarney park, so I would be halfway home. I was way too tired and had to stop after an hour of driving.

Emergencies are often just urgencies, they likely could wait a bit but owners were willing to pay the emergency fee to be seen. To some I believe it was just more convenient to be seen on the weekend and money was not the issue. Others were truly emergencies. A couple of dogs actually died on the way to the clinic, obviously emergencies. One had ONE porqupine quill in the nose and they were over a two hour drive from the clinic. I suggested they pull it themselves although they were willing to drive in. Then the requisite pot eating dogs made more frequent since it is now legal in Ontario, several vomiting and diarrhea dogs, some giardia dogs, a couple dog fights that needed suturing up. I really did not expect it to be so busy as we were still in partial lock down due to covid-19 and no tourists up this way. Some people are not good at staying the requisite 6 feet away and needed to be reminded.