Photos

Just some summer photo's. Click on them for full size.

My new thingy . . .

It's a power monitor. And they're free from Hydro One in Ontario. Well, okay... not entirely free. You have to pay $9 shipping. It's a neat little gizmo that monitors how much electricity you're using at this very moment, in dollars and cents. You put the toaster on and it costs 23 cents a minute. Leave the hallway light on and it costs 1.5 cents a minute. The idea is to convince you to conserve power. Not a bad idea.

Check your zipper. . .

Yeah, that's what I said... because if it says YKK on it, then it is made with zinc ... zinc from Timmins. It's kind of interesting at this time because all these huge foreign mining companies are trying to buy Falconbridge. Everyone thinks its just for nickel. But Falconbridge is more than that. The massive Kidd mine in Timmins is not merely one of the largest silver mines in the world; it also produces copper and zinc. And if your jeans or jacket or whatever has a YKK Zipper, then it's using metals from the Kidd mine. Oh yeah, Kidd also produces the metals for all the Duracell batteries in North America. Cool eh.

Man with knife kills bear . . .

Sounds like something only Davey Crockett would do. But truth is always stranger than fiction. It was in the Wawa news this weekend. A man from Kitchener was portaging his canoe near Wawa, when he and his dog were confronted by a bear. The bear lunged at the dog. The man lunged at the bear with his knife. The man lived. The bear didn't. Interestingly, the man said he bought the knife because of last year's attack in Chapleau when a bear killed a woman. Check out the story. The MNR is spending huge sums of money to make us all "bear smart". Hmmmm, does that mean they'll be buying us all new knives?

Dragonflies

They fly so quickly they can startle you, but dragonflies are the good guys. They eat mosquitos! It’s not easy to get a picture of them, because they rarely sit still long enough. This one was catching some sun beside Little Pearl Lake in Timmins. They're pretty amazing little creatures. There is also this photo of a Dragonfly class airplane, built by deHavilland in the 1930s. This is the DH89 Dragon Rapide which can be found at the Canadian Bushplane museum in Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario. I really enjoyed that place. Jeez, I think it’s getting to be obvious that I have a thing for airplanes eh.

Cools news

I like to submit aircraft photos to the JetPhotos.net website. It's a showcase for aircraft from around the world. I have been doing this for more than a year. They're very fussy. Today they informed me they have accepted another photo. Woohoo. I have submitted over 100 photos. So far, they have accepted only six. Oh well, it's still a good way to show off Northern Ontario.

Where's winter : (

Okay I'm a big suck. I was outside hanging clothes on the line, washing the truck and farting around in the back yard. This heat is TOO hot. I am NOT a warm weather person. I like summer... but not like this. That's why I am hiding out in my basement office right now. Oh well, this is Timmins and the normal weather will happen soon enough.

Take Off eh...

It was kinda cool. I was on the Mattagami River last night, paddling north, when I heard a whiny buzzing sound in the distance. Suddenly a small Challenger float plane came into view just as it was taking off and clearing the trees. Whoever he was, he looked like he was having fun. Hmmm... maybe i can put wings on a canoe.

No wonder eh...

Stats Can just released info showing that drivers in Toronto spend an average of 79 minutes a day driving to and from work. Wow. No wonder they get upset there. In Oshawa, it's worse. They spend an average of 111 minutes a day commuting. Hmmmm. It's not so bad in Timmins. I guess I can't complain about that traffic light by Feldman's Timber store eh. Somedays it takes 30 seconds!

Canoeing after supper . . .

I was out on Mountjoy Creek after supper for a quiet paddle. There was a storm last week and some dead trees were blown down, into the water. At first it was a nuisance to get around them. But then I realized it would probably be a nice picture. The trip was nice too. I got to see a beaver hard at work, but every time I got close, it would do the tail-slapping-on-the-water thing and disappear. Next time I may chance bringing my big camera with the long lens and I will get a nice photo.

Don't forget to portage!

Canoeing the Englehart River is another treat in Northeastern Ontario. It offers some intermediate to advanced level tripping and great scenery. It's rated as a pretty darned good trip. Here's a shot of High Falls from last week, at Kap Kig Iwan Park. The falls look great from shore. They don't look great from a canoe if you're upstream. There are several portages on the river. All are rated as easy. Average portage length is 138 metres. I gotta say that Northern Ontario scenery is simply world class. Photo info: Nikon 18 mm - F 6.3 at 1/160th.

Sex on the beach?

Am I strange or what? I was travelling along Lake Superior a few days ago when I saw these two logs having sex on the beach. So I took a picture. Maybe they’ll make little branches. ha ha ha. I can’t be-leaf I wrote that! I think I should log off for awhile … ha ha ha.

Back home in Timmins...

It’s about time to jot a few more lines here. I have been on the road again. Dropped in to New Liskeard to check out the Biker’s Reunion, then continued on to the US. Mackinaw City, Michigan was a nice place to spend Canada Day. We were doing the company thing and promoting tourism for Canada. After that I was able to spend a few days in the Northern wilderness at Cedar Ridge Lodge. The peace and quiet was very nice. The lodge is located on Burt Lake (photo) east of Matachewan. Back home in Timmins now and as much as I enjoy “vegging out” with a book, I think I will do some canoe exploring.