…to see Jeanette Lynes and Ariel Gordon both in one night. Ariel gave me a present she found at VV, a cougar belt, tagged from the bed/bath department (somehow strange and yet fitting for a cougar belt). It was a great evening, and such a great gift to spend some time with both.

The clouds parted long enough after dumping more rain than we need in one week to let the red wash the last bit of day from the needled hips of evergreen trees.

shot I have is courtesy of Ibi Kaslik who was here the first week of colony. The greenery is very lush now as we’ve had rain/storms every day for the past week or so.

At the end of each week we have our own reading series, The Gazebo Room Readings (photo also courtesy of Ibi).

…pictures of St. Peter’s because I forgot my camera, not once but twice. I could’ve have used it many times, especially yesterday, as I came close to a coyote who was curious to see where I was going on my walk. He grew bored with me, probably because I didn’t have my camera.

So, instead of a picture, I’ll give you a quote from Annie Dillard’s book For the Time Being:

“Sometimes we touch strangers. Sometimes no one speaks. Like clouds we travellers meet and part with members of our cohort, our fellows in the panting caravans of those who are alive while we are. How many strangers have we occasion to hold in our arms?”

…at Emma had me up most of the night. Near sunrise, night’s fog began to lift, and there I was in a row boat, rowing along with two others, in the channel between big Emma and little Emma (not an easy feat in daylight let alone the fading dark). A crescent moon rose above the spruce. It was a good two weeks at the colony, once the weather finally became agreeable, and I plan to return next year to capture more sunsets with my camera. This week I’m off to St. Peter’s for 5 weeks, where I’m sure the sun sets equally well in the north-west horizon, and hopefully I’ll post some pics while I’m there.

Launching the ducks with candles onto the lake. Blurry, because the photos are taken without a flash, and because they are without a flash, the shutter time is too long for me to hold that still. I can’t quite figure out how to focus it and shoot with the long shutter time, and have no idea where the manual is (if anyone has any expertise on this please let me know); however, they make for cool pictures. Very ritualistic. The one candle and duck lasted nearly an hour until people on a boat overturned the little reed duck, extinguishing it forever.

…sunset shot so far. This shot overlooks Fairy Island, which never used to be an island, but years ago, don’t ask me how many, they dug a channel between big Emma and little Emma and flooded certain sections of the landscape. Thus, the island was created. It used to be tradition, according to writer legend, to swim over to the island sometime during your stay here. I didn’t bring a bathing suit. I will not be skinny dipping in this lake–it is far too full of strange creatures.

…with the sound of buzzing. Horseflies, deerflies, flies, wasps, bees, and mosquitoes. Yesterday I was bit by something that left a small stinger. There are motorboats that buzz the lake. Airplanes in the sky. These sounds circle me. And in the evening at Emma Lake we stop to listen: to grebes, a muskrat, some beavers, and other artist/writers as we gather around the fire. Sometimes we are quiet, and gaze at the sun, setting in the distance.

The road up was rather interesting, but nothing really came of this storm.

I like the totems.

More shots of the lake later. I’m going to try for the sunset.

Where writers go to play. Or maybe our minds might follow the bouncing ball. Strange sign in the middle of nowhere.

The sunset was hindered by clouds tonight, so hopefully another night will show better; however, I liked the sky, and the reflection on the water in this shot. I have a view of the lake through the trees from my cabin.