Sign of spring

A long winter does really funny things to people.  Seseganaga Joe who rarely likes to venture to a population center larger than Ignace had enough of winter this year and drove 4000 km to visit to other end of our province.  I think the whole trip was an excuse to see new faces – some of the faces around here have gotten a little old.   Joe somehow managed to arrive at the only Bass Pro in Ontario (near Toronto) and managed to do a little pre season preparation. 

I think Joe threw this fish back in anticipation of fresh walleye on Seseganaga Lake in just a few weeks.  I understand he bought the fishing rod however to add to his arsenal. 

Snow is melting

The snow is melting quickly now.  I finally figured out why I haven’t seen Randy for the last few months.

We are still hopeful for iceout soon.  Now that we’ve found Randy, and the walleye are hungry and the northern pike are well trained, we are ready for opener.

Location, location, location

Last week I was in Toronto to attend a couple of days of meetings.  I sit on a volunteer advisory committee.  As I sat in an office building in downtown Toronto, I couldn’t help but notice the irony.  Our committee is focused on promoting tourism in Northern Ontario, yet here we were in Toronto. 

Compare the view from this office…  I sometimes don’t fly this high…

and my office…

It is no wonder, the powers-that-be bring a few of us “northerners” in for a little advice. 

Where would you rather be? 

Make time

Sometimes we have to just sit down and figure out why we are so busy.  If making a living becomes more important than having a life, I think we have to adjust some priorities.   I doubt that at the end of it all our last thoughts will be “I wish I had worked a few more days”.

Congratulations Jo and Dean

This weekend, Karen and I traveled to Niagara Falls to celebrate with Jo (our youngest) and Dean.  

They were married on Sunday.

The Bright Side

This has been a brutally cold and long winter.  The media has in their zeal of naming winter storms, now come up with something to call the weather when it is not a storm.  They have invented the term “polar vortex”.  I guess it sound ominous enough to have more viewers tune in but to those of us who live in the midst of this seasonal cold, we call it “winter”.  Always have and always will.  This time of year sends many, who are tired of complaining, running south to bask in the sand and surf or to even somehow enjoy the desert.  

It is cold and snowy this time of year.  And such is life in Northwestern Ontario.  Our chief pilot Randy tells me there is a bright side however.  He says he hasn’t seen a mosquito for weeks now. 

March Desktop Calendar

Karen has posted her March desktop calendar.

Find the size for your desktop here.

The words of work

I'm a bush pilot and remote tourist outfitter. Originally I wanted to work in an orange juice factory, but I would have been canned because I can’t concentrate. Then I wanted to work as a lumber jack, but I figured I wouldn’t be able to hack it and that they would give me the axe. After that, I thought about being a tailor, but I was just not suited for it, mainly because it is only a so-so (sew-sew) job. So next I pondered working in a muffler factory, but that would be too exhausting for me. After many years of trying to find steady work, I finally applied for a job as a historian, but I realized there was no future in it. Then before I finally settled on flying, I considered working at Starbucks but I had to rethink because it would just be the same old grind.

That in a one succinct paragraph answers “How I got to do what I do?”