Dear Canimites,
Congratulations to Sharron and Phil Simms who are celebrating their 50th anniversary tomorrow (July 24) with family at their Mahood lakeside home.
The couple retired to the lake 11 years ago. Both are active members of the Mahood Falls Community Society.
Ode to berries
The Saskatoon picking has been unusually fruitful this year (oops) and pickers, including myself, are spending quiet evenings romancing the bushes.
My love of berry-picking comes from my mom. As a young squirt, I would row her across the lake from the tar-paper shack we called ‘the cottage’ to the vacant farm where wild raspberries reclaimed the meadows.
On the return trip, there would be six quart baskets heaped up and sitting on the floor of the boat. Then I’d start looking for the pine knots needed for the hot steady baking fire she needed for the pie-feast to come.
She was one of 14 siblings and got her love of picking from her father I suppose. He was a railway engineer in the days of steam, and as the story goes, not averse to stopping the train between Barry’s Bay and Madawaska, Ont. to escape the stupefying heat of the boiler and pick the abundant blueberries which grew beside the track.
There’s a Zen-like quality to berry-picking, particularly on a quiet evening with the birds muttering in the background. Worries melt away, grievances are put to rest, new possibilities spring to mind and the energy to pursue them follows.
That’s all for now
This is column #177 and my last for a while.
I’m holstering my pen to free up energy for other matters that life has presented.
I consider it a privilege to have been your scribe for Canim, Hawkins and Mahood communities. You have been patient and forgiving of my gaffs.
I’ve had the honour of writing some of your personal stories – ones of courage, tenacity, triumph – and I have been constantly amazed at the goodness and talents of the people in our community.
That’s all for now. Go pick some berries, and until next time, here’s wishing you many blessings.
Editor’s Note: The Free Press thanks Peter for his great coverage of the Canim, Hawkins and Mahood communities. He has chronicled the history of those communities and provided the fridge art with his excellent columns and photographs. He seldom missed a column – even when he was not well or visiting in the North or Down Under.
If anyone has interest in taking over the Canim Lake column, please call the editor, Ken Alexander, at 250-395-2219, or e-mail newsroom@100milefreepress.net.
In the meantime, if you have information about upcoming events or celebrations, phone or e-mail him at the above contact numbers.