The islands were happy, even a century ago

How a canoeist revelled in Georgian Bay’s wilderness This book, published by McClelland & Stewart in 1926, covers a period from the late 19th Century to the first two decades of the 20th. The Bay was quite different back then. Logging was declining but still active, leaving much of the shoreline and interior denuded ofContinue reading “The islands were happy, even a century ago”

How we love this place…

If you have read “About this blog” and gone on to “Who is this Ancient Islander“, you may understand how I came by my affection for Georgian Bay. But these legacies are not unique to me or my extended family. Numerous permanent and seasonal residents have felt the pull of this region for centuries andContinue reading “How we love this place…”

Longevity on the Bruce

On a cliff above Georgian Bay at Lion’s Head is the oldest living tree in Ontario. It’s not a towering majestic pine or hardwood. It’s a lowly, twisted, gnarley white cedar that you probably wouldn’t give a second glance. Yet that tree has clung to its rocky perch for 1,316 years! Its remote and ruggedContinue reading “Longevity on the Bruce”

The versatile canoe, and hats off to paddlers

Canoes, despite their fragility, were for centuries an essential and effective means of transportation for indigenous people throughout North America, including Georgian Bay. Before today’s pace of life with pressures and deadlines, travellers could simply pull into shore to shelter until bad weather let up. In the early 17th Century, Wendat (Huron) fishing parties wouldContinue reading “The versatile canoe, and hats off to paddlers”

Living in harmony with the land and water

A nature writer who has been my idol for about 60 years is the late Sigurd F. Olson of Ely, Minnesota. The title of his first book was The Singing Wilderness. Now, how can that not make you want to read it? His home ground was the Quetico-Superior canoe country northwest of Lake Superior. ButContinue reading “Living in harmony with the land and water”