Today, another day to appreciate the glorious colours of the Fall on the Lake.   The dappled hues of the trees are at their most spectacular. They are at their best around early evening, when the sun from the West turns the poplars and willows golden and the mountain maples red. They are breathtaking in their colour from red, gold, yellow, and green - it’s a rich luxurious pattern of colours. A drive in the countryside enables you to inhale the bounty of colour…its just incomparable to anything else.  The trees by side the lake reflect their colours on the surface of the lake when the water is still, as a mirror image. Little birds turn up at this time of year and scurry around looking for minute quantities of food. The birds who spend their summer here are getting ready to leave or they have already left. The Canada geese are re-assembling for the long flight South, they fly overhead in their long ragged ‘v’ formations,  honking all the while. Beautiful - from a distance.  The long dark waters of Regina Bay are the assembly area for the loons - in a few weeks’ time we may find some two hundred or so in our little bay.  Their unique calls will drown all others as they prepare for that long flight south.  Elsewhere the big merganzer broods, now well grown, swim earnestly across the Bay: each morning and afternoon - their timing an impeccable indication of the shorter days.

The deer are back to the lawns and munching on the grasses around the trees, the oaks are being eyeballed by the bears, ever ready to demolish this year’s acorns. And a few branches as well. They will search the woods, loping gently and powerfully in their perpetual search for supplies - their hedge funds for the winter.

The waters are still inviting, but the morning mists betray the changing seasons. The winds are changing, the hot southerlies come and can still provide balmy moments: but long afternoon hours are passing.

The long summer evenings show the poplar trees transformed, suffused with a light glow, reflecting the sundown. The calm of the evening lake is a long way removed from either the bristling winds of the morning or the zephers of late afternoon. The loons are as ever in the middle of the bay.

Now the beaver re-appear, swimming out from their house, nestling in the granite rocks of the shore. Fellow raptors, the eagles perched high over the bay, watch the scurrying mergansers below. This year also, canoeists and kayakers wander around the coves, avoiding open waters. Unsurprisingly, since they have been warned that the open waters, with their short waves have a well-earned reputation as being dangerous. The fishermen prowl into the bay looking for the ‘bass holes’ with their legendary catches.

All are gone by the time that dusk falls, the growl of heavy motors long silent - the bay remains with the gentle sound of lapping water.

By mid-August the level of the Lake has begun to drop and its beaches start to re-appear. My morning stroll is marked by the rediscovery of animal life as deer, foxes, and turtles move up and down from grass and reed cover crossing the beach to the water’s edge. A surprising number of crayfish seem to be surviving this year, their darting shapes visible when one looks through the clear waters of the bay from the dock. Surprising because crayfish are fairly low on the foodchain, and are the prey of otter, monk, merganzer and of course those ever-prowling loons.

Our two loons - the ‘Commander’ continue to prowl, though this year they are flying around more than usual. Their sizeable wingspan and floppy landings are in marked in sharp contrast to those other senior members of our bay society - the pair of bald eagles and their two eaglets. These last are undergoing a period of training, principally in learning how to dive for the pickerel and crappie that abound in the two deeper pools in the bay. It’s a busy morning, on the bay - the animal and bird life coming to the fore. Boat activity is down, with people running their boats at slower speeds, less prone to roar around the lake and across the bay. A very different world is opening up, one in which time honoured tranquility is perhaps more valued, the Lake restores.

The morning stillness is something that is precious. The tiny sounds of water lapping on the dock, the merganzars squawking their way as they waddle into the water, watched and watching the loons. Who’s watching them……at least between long dives for minnows.

This morning a painted turtle slowly made its way through the water. There seem to be more of them this year - or perhaps I am simply seeing them more often. Well it’s past seven o’clock in the morning so at least the bear has wandered his, or perhaps her, way past the house. These days there appears to be less activity on the Lake, an absence of high powered boats thrashing through the water. People are moving in more amiable manner, perhaps the roar of motors is less a feature of life these days - as gas prices soar and people begin to look more carefully at the cost of things. And contemplate more carefully the benefits of silence.

Of course such silence comes at a cost - warmly nurtured living quarters on lands removed from the bustle have first to be reached. But, once there, once located near the water then the ‘toys’, the heavy boats and seadoos, will perhaps lose their attraction. As people contemplate the sound of silence, and enjoy.

Gathering driftwood - there is much this year because the water is so much higher - reminds me of the need to move with care and not disturb those myriad water dwellers - crayfish, minnows, frogs, and small creatures whose activities compile the beaches.

Well, I suppose the time has come to face the blank page again - and move to that much wanted second expresso.

These days of rain the bay is full - driftwood from decades past comes into the bay. The mergansers, loons, otters and the beavers navigate effortlessly around it, but boaters beware - for driftwood can be deadly to boats and motors. With rainy days come glowing evenings, the sunsets radiating on the trees, providing a completely different view - one of almost molten energy.

Boats drift gently in, with fishermen scowling, squinting over lines concentrating on possibilities, calculating, calculating on the knowledge that there are two bass ‘holes’ - fighting fish, great sport. But at this hour of the evening hardly ready for much. And the sound of silence remains deafening. Enough to reach for a glass of something vaguely amber and most reassuring.

These past days have been rough on the trees, last weekend the old poplars were finally decapitated by the swirling winds. The bears amble effortlessly through, their supple muscles barely moving - it must be 5.00 in the evening. You can almost set your watch by them, and can see them at 7.00 a.m. in the morning; they are creatures of routine, like deer absolutely attuned to the ripening of crops, grasses and berries, unaware but deeply sensitive to the slight changes in the landscape that I, or any other human, might engineer.

A stroll through the woods in the morning. Again my faithful expresso its tangy warm glow - hazelnut flavoured coffee has much to answer for – it’s keeping me alert. It’s clear that looking across at the loon, that one loon is in the middle of the Bay - moving slowly, hunting as always. The alertness of loons - whose gaze comprehended all movement, watching us watching them. Loons are creatures of habit, and there is every evidence that this particular loon - called ‘the Commander’ because of its imperious ways - has flown to this Bay for decades, to nest in the neighbouring Bay. Seeing the Loon, this morning, reminds me of the distances they travel and their nesting on edge of the Bay.

Their prey, the young merganzer swim scurringly along the beach whilst their mother shepherds her large brood some twenty or so keeping near to the beach, watching for the Loon. His ungainly dive some metres into the Bay signals a swift move to shore by the tribe of merganzers, whose mother pushing them to shore. This morning the merganzers are lucky, they have crossed the Bay to their daily feeding place. By the end of the summer, September their numbers will have decreased, the loons will still be there. The golden stillness of the Fall will have sharpened my sense that sheer survival has its own beauty.

The short walk back to the cabin prompts the sense that perhaps today will see something besides the Loon and Merganzers, perhaps the gambolling otters will appear. Anyway, today’s mists prompt another long gaze across the Bay, the mid-morning breeze making way for a great wind - should be great sailing. And an expresso.

Every morning’s walk along the beach is refreshing, with my faithful expresso clutched in my hand, the sense of being alive in a warm morning palpable. Calm air is broken by the dull hum of a boat passing through, fishermen moving from place to place, checking out the possibilities. For over a century sport fishing has held pride of place as the activity of Regina Bay, but it is of a special kind, owing much to a way of life in Middle America which is perhaps fast fading. Fathers, children and grandchildren, boys and men came to Regina Bay for fishing, for a few stolen days away from the farm, the city, the town. They came with either friends or family, to enjoy the Lake and regain a sense of continuity, of boyhood rituals, and the re-learning that comes from the challenge of the sport. The experience of the Lake, its calm beauty and sheer expanse has traditionally been part of growing up, to be savoured in the hustle and bustle of family life or the long hard winter’s grind of daily work. For generation after generation of new or old ‘mid-westerners’ the few stolen days of quiet fishing on the Lake had a very special significance, reliving those golden years when boys became men. Silence was savoured.

For as families moved across North America, immigrants from Europe, from Scandinavia and Eastern Europe, kept the old habit of leaving their place of work to spend time fishing, on the Lake. Gradually families too came up from the South, from the Mississippi Valley and the bold Midwestern farming towns. Fishing camps gradually began to give way to cottages, as the eastern and northern European habit of the hunting shack gave way to the home comforts of the cottage. A place for families to spend a few summer months by the Lake, men going fishing, fixing things, and women spending time quietly walking, reading and catching the moment. Sometimes time was spent catching up on life’s long conversations, collecting memories. Long summer evenings spent together, listening to silence and a forest’s conversation, while gathering energies for the coming long winter months.

Cottages continue an ancient and honourable ritual for families. For decades cottages and tourist camps lay side by side, scattered along shores and inlets on the Lake. Now things are changing, and the silence of the Lake is shattered less often by the full throated roar of 150 hp engines in search of that last fish. An earlier epoch of tranquility is returning – and my expresso has gone cold.

A walk in a misty morning and a sidelong glance across the Bay brings on other musings. The hurried warmth of an expresso in my hand brings on a sense of the long connections of this land, not with the coffee and Brazil, but between here and the sub-tropical Gulf of Mexico to the South, the Prairies and the fastnesses to the West. Prior to European gentlemen, being fashion conscious, and desiring at least four top hats per year resulting in the beaver’s fur fetching astronomic prices in England and continental Europe, people here looked and faced South not only westwards and eastwards for trade. The warm grasses in the morning’s heat are mute evidence of animals and humans who brought seeds from far distant lands throughout North America.

The geographies of three hundred years ago looked so different, but what really came from elsewhere? The woods and rocky shores and the seeds and grasses sprouted from them if they could talk, might tell of the activities of those voyageurs coming from the East and working for the North West Company to meet the Hudson Bay Company men coming down from Hudson Bay, from London and the Orkneys. With faint apologies to the fragile geographies of Kings – some of whom placed great store on this part of the Americas. As if to remind me, my mind’s eye perches on a rock, the dun colour of which reminds me of the leather globe – map of the world last visited in the great library at Bologna – the globe [a gift of Louis XV to the Pope] indicates the location of the Lake of the Woods – as part, of course, of the domains of France. As was of course so much of that great valley of the Mississippi River. For over a century men moved from South to North East, ‘down East’ from Regina Bay, owing allegiance to His Most Christian Majesty.

Like so many others this place too felt the ripples of war, as French was replaced by English rule, always indirect, and peoples pushed by the sons and daughters of Jefferson moved from rich Eastern hunting lands to more desolate Western areas. The expresso is cold now, but still tastes good – another morning has begun and there is a lawn to mow.

More about ‘Clapham Junction’ -

From my beachside chair the idea that the centuries old comings and goings on Regina Bay were anything like Clapham Junction seems absurd. Clapham Junction is a triumph of Victorian investment, a hub of iron and steam – my first memories of train journeys was the soot blackened tunnels carrying wartime adverts and bomb shelter signs. Regina Bay remains a still waterway, ruffled by stiff breezes, its dappled evening a wash of colour. Trains full of dark suited, bowler hatted somber men carrying umbrellas and newspapers, working in government or the ‘City’ clanked across the Junction. Not at all like Regina Bay, an hour from the railroad to the North. But then these things are relative and the connections are never far from our imaginings. After all, the City of London financed the railways and mines, consumed caviar and gold and much else besides. The seat of the Hudson’s Bay Company, long headquartered in London, workplace of the many commuters traveling through Clapham Junction in mid-Victorian times serviced the Whitefish Bay Post, in Regina Bay. It is possible to imagine that some of them may even have known of the little Whitefish Bay Post, erected a century earlier.

So Clapham Junction like Regina Bay is a window to a wider world, and canoe travel from the Whitefish Bay Post South across Turtle Portage to the Rainy River was a part of the East – West crossing of North America from times long forgotten. Quiet contemplation in a still summer’s afternoon brings half-remembered memoires of those voyageurs, as Hudson’s Bay trappers vied with those affiliated to the North West Company from Montreal for furs and provisions for decades. Going South – South East down the deep channel to Whitefish Bay and Rainy River, opens up a wider world of travel and commerce: but also allows endless seques to the peninsulas and islets of the Aulneau, one of the great wilderness habitats of North America.

From Clapham Junction to the Southern homes of English Victorian commuters took an hour. In less time we could have traveled from the comforts of the beach in Regina Bay to the fastnesses of the Aulneau, and the sailboat studded waters of Whitefish Bay. There is much to contemplate on a sunny afternoon. Anyone for a G&T?

In these current fervid days of strange numbers, frantic headlines, and the helter-skelter news cycle it is just good to be able to relax, kick back and enjoy the tranquility of lake waters of Regina Bay in Sioux Narrows. The ability to be able to do this in such a serene environment, whilst sitting in a deck chair overlooking the lake itself is actually incredible given this region’s past. Indeed, this ‘relative peace and tranquility’ has only been achieved during the last two generations. This region, indeed, this bay has prior to the last sixty years has been a hive of international trade, activity, the ‘Clapham Junction’ of Central North America. Regina Bay was at the heart of incredible trans-national communication node stretching southwards to the Gulf of Mexico, northwards to the Arctic, east to the Atlantic and westwards to the Pacific. The routes taken by water have been replaced by the railway, the road, and the plane.

We’re contemplating the ebb and flow of time, shifts in commerce, banking, etc. Let’s take the long view of apparently quiet and tranquil bay. Over three generations ago, at the turn of the twentieth century the tug boats with their slim stacks and smoke billowing out of their chimneys pushed and pulled wood booms down towards Whitefish Bay and perhaps to Kenora in the northern part of the Lake of the Woods. It’s likely that some of this wood was tamarack since huge groves of these great trees were cut down during the 1880s and 1890s in the Reed Narrows/Berry Creek area. So tugs, like the one called the ‘Pastime’, moored at ‘Tom’s Point’, towed the logs cut down in on the northern shore of Lobstick Bay. Indeed, the use of the first motorised boat in 1872, a small steam launch or tug which had only 1.07 metres feet of draft from Hungry Hall in the southern part of the Lake changed the way that people and goods were transported in this region. The use of an engine meant the Lake of the Woods could be travelled and explored without total reliance on manpower and dependence on marine weather conditions especially the wind.

The mind’s eye sees the tugs towing log booms through the waters of Regina Bay , it spies out small canoes on their way to visiting the small General Stores on the south side of the bay. Yet, the General Stores had supplied not only those in the logging industry but the miners in the working deep underground in the local gold mines, or the prospectors staking out new claims, or those in the huge commercial fisheries. High gold prices meant men worked at the deep mine shaft, running under the Lake. The desire for ‘black gold’, or what we know as caviar, drove the commercial fishing industry hard – day and night. World records exist for the quantity of caviar obtained from sturgeon caught in the Lake of the Woods.

So, Regina Bay was not the peaceful retreat that it is today. It was part of an international network which had survived for several hundred years. By the 1930s the tug boats had largely gone, the ‘Pastime’ lay moored at ‘Tom’s Point’, burning up the ends of timbers used for the construction of the Reed Narrows Bridge. The hard graft of the work of boats, tugs and canoes, the visible parts of that network that connects Regina Bay to the Lake of the Woods to the world, also disappeared from the scene. These boats, tugs and canoes had assisted the lumber, the mining, and commercial fishing which were soon replaced as small tourist camps, initially small day and sleeping cabins, were constructed, and dotted along the shores. The architecture of these new vernacular buildings inevitably spoke its rough voice to the area’s rugged past and hopeful future. Hard work in the mine, in the bush or on the lake was replaced by the four-five months’ graft - keeping ‘camp’. And… drinking beer while looking at the sunset, musing about the ‘one that got away’.

The Canada Day festivities took place in Sioux Narrows yesterday, highlighted by the official opening of the Sioux Narrows Bridge. The first event of the day was the kid’s bike parade and races. Attendance for this event grew since it provided fun for the whole family. The races that took place were: running races, sack-hop races, three-legged races, AND a tug-of-war. Much fun by all was had by everyone when the parents took part in the sack-hop event. Later that afternoon the Sioux Narrows Bridge was opened with a ribbon cutting ceremony. Both the Mayor and some guests gave a short speech in front of a large crowd who were gathered to the right on the Bridge to watch the ceremony. At dusk spectators returned to the Bridge for an incredible fireworks display. The fireworks are set off from a barge parked in Regina Bay, in front of and below the Bridge. The local volunteer firefighters were in charge of organizing this display and they did an great job, as always, and ended this year’s show with a red and white grand finale. Another birthday celebrated Sioux Narrows style!

It’s the beginning of July and it’s only a month until the LOWISA sailing regatta in the Lake of the Woods. No-one should forget that you have to register for it by the 2^nd August The form to register your boat and crew can be either downloaded or you can go to the Kenora Harbourfront . Mind you, it’s probably easier just to register on-line at their website. It’s the 43^rd regatta and this year’s layover day is at Ash Rapids. This week long regatta is great fun, is in the Lake of the Woods which is itself in Ontario and Minnesota and starts on the first Monday of August. There are classes for every type of sailing vessel and every level of ability. Even competitive racers or state of the art boats can join in the fun. Maybe it’s a good idea to get some refresher sailing classes at the Royal Lake of the Woods Yacht Club on Yacht Club Island which is about 2 miles from Kenora. It was founded in 1903. But perhaps it might be a a good idea to consider a sailing trip between now and the regatta, as a practice run, maybe even a round trip starting at Sioux Narrows heading towards the Yacht Club and then back again? It would be fun and not just challenging. It would probably take more time than if we just took a ride there using the motorboat but considerably more enjoyable. What a shame that the regatta isn’t having a layover day in Whitefish Bay since it’s one of the deepest parts of the Lake and it’s not that far away from Sioux Narrows. What’s even better is that the views and scenery in the Sioux Narrows area are amazing. So many tall white pines, granite cliffs, incredible views, bays, birds and above all incredible opportunities for some good winds! (Perhaps cameras should be brought along on my next sailing trip around the lake…Mmmmm that’s some food for thought.) Ah…if only the layover day was in Whitefish Bay this year since it would be so easy to get additional supplies from home in Sioux Narrows…perhaps even freshly baked cookies!

Only a few days to go until Canada Day and this year’s celebrations of the country’s official birthday are set to be exceptional. The new Sioux Narrows bridge is going to be officially opened and there’s going to be a free barbeque as well as a massive fireworks display over it later in the day.

It turns out there are lots of events occurring to mark the occasion. The day starts with a Bicycle Parade and Games for Children sponsored by Northwoods Realty at 10 am in the centre of Sioux Narrows in the morning outside “The Trading Post ” in town.

Later on at 2 pm they’ll be a ribbon cutting ceremony and it looks like the township has been given permission to shut the Highway running through Sioux Narrows so that the event can take place. Four of the town’s longest residents will cut the ribbon as part of the official ceremony

After that there’s going to be a picnic and barbeque near the Travel Centre and down at the government dock. It’s a free event but the Sioux Narrows-Nestor Falls Rescue Service Fireboat Fundraising Campaign are holding a silver collection. They’re trying to raise $100, 000 CDN for a new fire rescue boat.

Then just after sundown, celebrations are sure to go off with a bang with a huge fireworks show over the new Sioux Narrows Bridge. You’ll get a great view if you stand on it or better still, if you’re in a boat you can watch from the water below it!

Ah..everyone always hopes that the long weekend will be sunny and not wants rain! Who knows what to do since there’s only so many card games that one can play! Let’s hope that the rain clears up in time for the ribbon cutting ceremony and the fireworks show over the Sioux Narrows bridge just after dusk!! Fortunately the weather is supposed change for the rest of the weekend since it’s only to rain on Saturday so one can do more than hangout inside, talking and thinking of fishing trips, barbecues, …and above all swimming. Maybe it would be a good idea to baking something delicious for Canada Day especially since it’s been a few days since the farmer’s market in Kenora and the cookies that were bought there are already gone!! Maybe it’s a good idea to make some and try some more?!

Soft Squashy Oatmeal Cookies:

1 cup raisins
1 cup water
1 cup sugar (preferably soft brown)
1 cup butter
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 eggs
1 tsp soda
2 cups oatmeal
2 cups flour

Method:

Preheat the oven at 350 degree Fahrenheit/180 degrees Centigrade

Cook the raisins in water for 10 minutes, then take them off the heat and set aside to cool. Cream the sugar and the butter, add the salt, vanilla and both eggs. Mix well. Strain the raisins from the water and set raisins aside. Dissolve the soda in the cooled raisin juice. Add the raisins and juice to the creamed mixture. Stir in oatmeal and flour. Drop the mixture spoonful using teaspoons onto a greased baking sheet. Bake until lightly browned, take out of the oven and remove while warm to baking racks to cool. Makes 3 to 4 dozen cookies depending on the size of the cookies.

Old Fashioned Sugar Cream Drop Cookies

3 cups flour
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/8 ground cinnamon
2/3 cup butter
1 1/3 cups white sugar
2 eggs
2 1/4 tsp vanilla extract
3 - 4 drops lemon extract
1/4 tsp finely grated lemon zest or cinnamon
1 cup sour cream

Decoration:
2 tbsp granulated sugar
1/4 tsp lemon zest or 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

Method:
Preheat the oven at 400 degrees F. Mix together well the sugar and the lemon zest or cinnamon. Sift together the flour, salt, baking powder, and baking soda. Beat together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy and add the eggs into this mixture one by one. Add the vanilla, lemon extract and the lemon zest and sugar mixture until well blended. Mixture together the dry ingredients and the sour cream, starting and ending with the dry mixture, adding about a third of the total at a time. Drop the dough using teaspoons on to greased baking sheets spacing the cookies 2 inches apart. Lightly sprinkle each cookie with some of the sugar-lemon mixture. Bake in the top third of the oven for about 10-12 minutes or until the edges are tinged light brown. Turn the sheets around half way through baking the mixture so that the cookies are evenly browned around the edges. Once you’ve removed them from the oven let them sit for a few minutes and then transfer them to wire racks and until completely cooled. Makes 45 - 50 cookies measuring 2.5 inches.

Try with a glass of milk, cup of coffee or tea or what ever you think is good to drink with cookies. But try not to eat them all before Canada Day on Tuesday!!!

There’s nothing quite like buying local food that’s grown near by is there and we all know that the best place to find such tasty produce is at a farmers’ market. It’s so fresh and delicious, particularly when you get to eat it by the lake! While every town seems to be getting one, there’s no exception here. One of two local farmers’ markets is held close by in Kenora every Wednesday between July 2 and 15 October this year. Kenora is only a 50 minute drive from Sioux Narrows and all the stalls are right there on the harbourfront on Bernier Drive. Why not turn your visit into a day trip, spend the morning wandering around the stalls. Follow it up with an afternoon tour on the northern shores of Lake of the Woods on the MS Kenora taking in the sights. The farmers’ market is so close to the shore of the lake, float planes land and take off right there in front of you! It’s worth getting there early to pick up those goodies though! It’s open from 11:00 to 3.30 and it’s very popular. It would be a shame to miss out on those delicious molasses ginger cookies. And as for what to pick up for supper, will it be those juicy red peppers, the Yukon Gold potatoes, the onions, and all those locally picked vegetables and fruit, fresh cuts of meat and sausages made at local farms? Or perhaps some of those divine looking cheeses, the honey and a huge array of baked goods or even some locally grown wild rice? Life by the lake just got a whole lot better!!

A ‘fish fry’ or a ’shore lunch’ is one of this region’s most well known culinary traditions. It’s a firm favorite with vistors who come up to go fishing or even people who come to just relax and enjoy the Lake of the Woods scenery Fishermen traditionally eat a shore lunch so that they can spend the day trolling from one ‘fishing hole’ to another without really breaking up a good day on the water. More often than not locals and visitors to north-western Ontario prefer to use Walleye caught locally, often caught moments before the meal! Sometimes this fish is also known as “Yellow Pickerel”. Remember though, if you’re going fishing you’ll need to get a fishing license before you attempt to catch anything. Not having one could get in the way of a great lunch! So, first of all fillet some of the fish caught during that morning’s expedition, gut it, dip it in an egg batter and bread it in cornflake crumbs. Sometimes the summer months get so hot fires are banned but providing the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources is allowing camp fires, construct a fire pit, preferably on bare bedrock to prevent any forest fires, and cook your lunch! Meanwhile get other people in the group to collect some broken wood, light the fire inside a circle of stones to contain the flames and then carefully place a grill over the top being careful to balance it on the rocks. Don’t start cooking until the coals are red hot and the flames have died down. That way you’ ll get the maximum amount of heat from the wood. The fire may not look ready but when the wood is red and glowing in colour, the heat is the strongest and the best to cook with. Cook the breaded fillets in some melted bacon fat in a frying pan over the fire. Take out some parboiled sliced potatoes from the cooler and pan fry them. Cook some corn kernels in water and serve them with butter and some seasoning like thyme and maybe a little dill. A good shortcut is to heat up an open can of corn over the fire. Open up one end of a can of baked beans and heat them up by placing them on the grill over the fire at the same time as the corn. Everything must be cooked at the same time!! Serve all the food with some fresh cornbread and accompany it with a cool drink. If you’re not driving the boat maybe even a glass of wine! Pan fried potatoes, fish, baked beans, corn, cornbread, baked beans are the standard components of this meal but why not add something special like a Hot Potato Salad or even some cooked Green Beans. It’s a good idea to prepare these dishes at home and bring them to the lunch in a cooler. So here’s some recipes to get you started!

HOT POTATO SALAD

1 quart of potatoes
1/4 lb of bacon
1 medium onion, cut finely
1 tsp salt
1/8 tsp pepper
1 tsp mustard
1/2 tsp sugar
1/2 tsp water
1/2 tsp vinegar
1/2 tsp flour

Scrub the potatoes, cook in boiling salted water until tender. Drain and while hot, skin them and cut in to 1/8 inch slices. Sprinkle with the salt, pepper, sugar and flour. Add water to the vinegar and heat thoroughly, Place bacon, sliced and chopped into bits into a skillet and fry until light brown, add onion, brown it slightly, add the potatoes. Pour the hot vinegar over the potatoes, let it heat through to absorb the vinegar and water. Place in serving dish and serve warm. You can leave out the bacon but it gives it great flavor and the fat can also be used to make the dressing taste great. If the salad is too dry, add a little hot water. It should have a glassy look without being lumpy or greasy.

GREEN BEANS

6 slices bacon
2 medium onions, chopped
4 tsps cornstarch
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp dry mustard
2 tbsp brown sugar
2 tbsp vinegar
1 lb. fresh green beans, cut into short lengths and COOKED, OR 2 (10 oz.) pkgs.) Frozen cut green beans, COOKED, OR 2 (1 lb) of canned cut string beans
1 cup fresh water, OR water from cooked frozen beans, Or 1/2 cup liquid from can plus 1/2 cup water

Fry bacon until crisp and drain away the fat using a paper towel. Sauté onion in the bacon fat until golden brown. In small bowl, mix cornstarch, salt, mustard, sugar, and vinegar. Add liquid from beans and beat until smooth. Then add this mixture to bacon fat in a pan and boil until thickened slightly. Add string beans and stir well. Crush bacon and sprinkle bacon bits on top. You can always garnish it with a sliced hard boiled egg. Serves 8.

There’s never a shortage of things to do in the summertime! You can play a round of golf at the White Moose Golf Course with a challenging 9-holes! You can catch dozens of different species of fish, and have a fish fry along the shores of the lake just like many of the locals do. Why not visit the local gift shops to find something to spruce up your cabin here or maybe take home as a souvenir? Perhaps you’d rather just relax by the lake and go for a swim when you want, or maybe you want to enjoy the clear waters and the quiet. You could even enjoy a meal and a great evening out at one of the many local restaurants. These are just a handful of the many activities that you could enjoy in the Sioux Narrows area this summer!!

Don’t under estimate the power of the human brain, we can do many things but it’s impossible to experience that feeling of the lake breeze on your face or the fresh scent of the trees in the air. But let’s be blunt. It’s impossible to imagine yourself in a boat and really appreciating the delights of being rocked gently while exploring Lake of the Woods in a boat. Nothing beats actually being there. A visit to the region itself, a short break and some respite, might be just the thing you need to help you really see what’s what.  Shut your eyes for a brief moment, it may help get some perspective on life and grab a few moments away from work. Perhaps some quality time at the lake can benefit the soul. Sometimes you have to get away from the smog of the city and the hustle and bustle and the noise of the city. Sometimes it’s worth travelling on a whim, running off to explore another part of the country, another continent, or another corner of the world. If you spent a few days in a region around Sioux Narrows in the Lake of the Woods area you could relax explore the lake and turn what’s in your imagination into reality. You never know, you could even take advantage of being able to rent a boat and discover the beauty and tranquility of Regina Bay and Whitefish Bay for yourself. Perhaps a few days by the lake would give you a good idea of an insider’s view of a more relaxing life at the lake, leaving behind the sidewalks, concrete and continuous developments. Maybe the local people can even give you a few suggestions on how to relax and really enjoy life and you’re surroundings again. Maybe the area is so enchanting that you’ll want to stay forever! Who knows!

Finding about a new place is always difficult when you live and work some distance from it. The internet and a high speed connection or a webcam can help you get a better idea about a place. Large colour photos can help you build up a picture of a region like Lake of the Woods in your head. It’s amazing what you can imagine in your mind’s eye!! Even if you close your eyes and concentrate you can imagine what it might be like to see a deer walking slowly through the trees or chewing your grassy lawn. What can you see in your mind’s eye? A mother merganser is swimming along the shore of the lake, the rocks of the Canadian Shield, closely followed along by a line of baby and adolescent ducklings with their juvenile fluff. She’s clearly the ‘administrator’ and collector of her friends’ children! But look, they are suddenly madly swimming around in a frenzy, moving in all directions with their heads pointing down into the water underneath them…what are they doing? Ah, yes, they’re following a large school of minnows – it’s their lunch! Out in the middle of the bay, with the help of a pair of binoculars, you can catch the sight of a pair of loons looking for food. They’re swimming along with their babies that hatched this spring! Can you see the moose, deer, bald eagles, loons, ducks and all those animals you’ve seen in various photos of the area on websites? The surface of the lake water is calm, even tranquil, and it’s the middle of the afternoon for all. Just imagine making that a reality.

The weather has been a bit cool so far this spring but the forecast ahead is for sunny skies. A recent forecast by Environment Canada suggests we could be in for a hot summer. While we have had some rain recently, we have fortunately been spared the type of rainfall that has occurred to the south and east of the Lake of The Woods Area. While Minnesota, Wisconsin, and the Thunder Bay area have been drenched we have probably only received normal amounts of rainfall. However, the Lake of the Woods Drainage Basin extends to the south and the east almost all the way to Lake Superior. The water collects into Rainy Lake and then flows down the Rainy River into Lake of the Woods. So with the increased flow of water we expect that the level of Lake of the Woods will rise moderately over the next week or so. The good news here is that the fish don’t seem to mind all of the rain as reports from all of the fisherman are good. Walleye or Pickerel fishing is steady with most anglers picking up their limit every time they go out.

Jake