We Can See Clearly Now......
May 12, 2006
The atrocious weather continued and we tossed it up – should we stay another day in Thunder Bay or hit the road. We mulled it over in Tim’s, the Canadian institution. No longer do the inhabitants of small communities frequent a ‘Mom & Pop’ café; they flock to Tim’s. Decision made, we toured the town and general area before departing.
Highway 17 east of Thunder Bay, the Trans Canada, now known as the Terry Fox courage Highway, skirts the northern shore of Lake Superior. About 15 kilometres northeast of Thunder Bay is the Terry Fox memorial erected on a bluff, overlooking the lake. It was here that he finally had to stop his marathon when his cancer recurred. It’s amazing the impact that young man made on our Canadian society.
As we headed out, an immense flashing sign announced “Beware of changing weather”. We puzzled over that until we met an oncoming vehicle with six inches of snow on its roof. Yikes! But instead, the weather started to improve a couple of hours out of town. Finally we could see that spring had sprung. The birch trees were just sprouting pale yellow-green foliage. The evergreens are so puny that the silver birch tower above them lending a canopy of soft pale green to the forest. The rock along the lake was mostly clay red in colour rather than the granite of the Lake District and the terrain was hillier.
Blue sky is never more beautiful than when it suddenly appears out of the gloom. Sunshine is never more warming than when it pops out of the clouds. And – how it affects the spirits. So each patch of blue that got larger than the last and each spotlight of sunshine that warmed our chilled bodies made us sing with delight. We approached Marathon, which is midway between Thunder Bay and Sault Ste. Marie, with the sun and sky finally visible. Wondering where we’d spend the night and discussing who’d be the one to ask if we could park overnight, a sign for May’s Gifts and Xmas Store caught our eye. At the bottom, a temporary addition read “Free overnight parking – 5km Ahead”. It was mystical!
May’s daughter said “Sure you can stay; choose your spot and you can plug in if you like because it’s awfully cold”. We chose a sheltered place in the trees at the back, which afforded us a clear view of the southern sky and a great satellite signal. Wifi? Well that’s another thing. There was an unsecured network present but I couldn’t get hooked up to it.
The atrocious weather continued and we tossed it up – should we stay another day in Thunder Bay or hit the road. We mulled it over in Tim’s, the Canadian institution. No longer do the inhabitants of small communities frequent a ‘Mom & Pop’ café; they flock to Tim’s. Decision made, we toured the town and general area before departing.
Highway 17 east of Thunder Bay, the Trans Canada, now known as the Terry Fox courage Highway, skirts the northern shore of Lake Superior. About 15 kilometres northeast of Thunder Bay is the Terry Fox memorial erected on a bluff, overlooking the lake. It was here that he finally had to stop his marathon when his cancer recurred. It’s amazing the impact that young man made on our Canadian society.
As we headed out, an immense flashing sign announced “Beware of changing weather”. We puzzled over that until we met an oncoming vehicle with six inches of snow on its roof. Yikes! But instead, the weather started to improve a couple of hours out of town. Finally we could see that spring had sprung. The birch trees were just sprouting pale yellow-green foliage. The evergreens are so puny that the silver birch tower above them lending a canopy of soft pale green to the forest. The rock along the lake was mostly clay red in colour rather than the granite of the Lake District and the terrain was hillier.
Blue sky is never more beautiful than when it suddenly appears out of the gloom. Sunshine is never more warming than when it pops out of the clouds. And – how it affects the spirits. So each patch of blue that got larger than the last and each spotlight of sunshine that warmed our chilled bodies made us sing with delight. We approached Marathon, which is midway between Thunder Bay and Sault Ste. Marie, with the sun and sky finally visible. Wondering where we’d spend the night and discussing who’d be the one to ask if we could park overnight, a sign for May’s Gifts and Xmas Store caught our eye. At the bottom, a temporary addition read “Free overnight parking – 5km Ahead”. It was mystical!
May’s daughter said “Sure you can stay; choose your spot and you can plug in if you like because it’s awfully cold”. We chose a sheltered place in the trees at the back, which afforded us a clear view of the southern sky and a great satellite signal. Wifi? Well that’s another thing. There was an unsecured network present but I couldn’t get hooked up to it.
posted by O'Leary at
12:21 PM
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