lake huron

#1139: Bonfire at Lake Water Stones [VIDEO]

RECORD STORE TALES #1139: Bonfire at Lake Water Stones

More people, less wildlife.  That’s a rule-of-thumb at Lake Water Stones.

Why “Lake Water Stones“?  That was a childhood nickname that I had for Lorne Beach, on Lake Huron.  Now in my 52nd summer at the lake, I realize more than ever why it had that name.  As before, I took the drone up to the cottage and filmed lots of video.  I also took the drone far lower over the water, and through the crystal clear ripples, you can see countless stones…rocks upon rocks upon rocks…as far as the eye can see.  There are very few sandy patches at Lake Water Stones this year.  It changes from year to year.  The winter always brings in a new landscape, and seascape.

Back to the wildlife.  On our last trip to the lake, we witnessed our friend the fox, four wild turkeys, and a skunk. There was hardly anybody there that weekend, and it was very quiet.  This time, there were many neighbours.  The animals made themselves scarce.  There was no danger of tripping over a skunk this time.  Even our friend the chipmunk was barely to be seen.

On the flipside of this, we had the chance to meet the folks next door, a newlywed couple we’d never run into before.  Having a drone is a good conversation starter!  Neighbour Danny was treated to the best air show I could offer.  I swooped it down closer to the surface, and buzzed him from a safe distance as he swam.  Later on, I pulled the same stunt while Jen was swimming, and I came within an inch of crashing into a rock.  It was a close, close call and I will not be flying that fast, that close to the water again!  It’s all on video.

Danny invited Jen and I to a big bonfire that night with his wife.  I’m not usually the social type, and as of my friends who have not even seen me yet this year can testify to.  In the interest of doing new things and trying to be social, I decided to go.  Of course, I brought my drone to film it from the air.  It was an impressive fire.  And truthfully, it was nice to be social for a change instead of a hermit.

That was the one new thing we did this weekend, in a summer of trying new things.

I’d be remiss if I didn’t talk about the music we played in the car, and on the porch.  On the way to the lake, I wanted to try one of the new albums I bought when Aaron and I went to Toronto.  I chose Don Dokken’s Solitary, which as I surprised, was an acoustic album.  I enjoyed it, but Jen did not like his cover of Celine Dion’s “My Heart Will Go On” one bit.  I’m undecided.  I don’t have to decide until I review it.  After that, we needed a palette cleanser so I put on Back for the Attack by Dokken.  Not one bad song.

On the porch, I asked Jen to pick bands, and then I would pick a song.  She started throwing me curveballs by naming bands like Judas Priest.  I would then shake it up by playing an atypical song.  In Priest’s case, it was “Before the Dawn”.  When she picked Guns N’ Roses, I went for “Better”.  This fun game kept us entertained for an hour or so.

Saturday morning was spent listening to the best of Kansas, in preparation for the afternoon interview with Tim Durling.  Jex Russell and I had the time of our lives talking to Tim about all things Kansas, and he should know!  A great show, though Amazon failed to deliver my copy of Point of Know Return as planned.  It just flat-out never showed up and they refunded my money.  All I had to show off for the interview with Tim was my copy on 8-track, that he gifted me last summer!

Another triumphant weekend at Lake Water Stones.  It’s wonderful to be able to keep these memories on video.  I hope you enjoy it.

VIDEO: Floating Like! Over the glassy waters of Lorne Beach (Lake Huron)

I finally had the courage to take the drone over the water. The sky was cloudy and the sunset invisible, but the blue-green waters shine brightly in this video. It’s really special and my best drone video to date.

Music: “Floating Like” by the Arkells, from the album Blink Twice.

VIDEO: Late July and Early August at the Cottage 2023

Lots of great music for you here to rock out to, as you see the sights of Lake Huron:

  • Washington Wives – “Memoirs, Etc.” (from Raw M.E.A.T 1)
  • Brent Doerner’s Decibel – “Takin’ the Color Outta the Blooze” (from Bd=I0log(P₁/P₂)=dB)
  • My Wicked Twin – Maybe Love (from Decibel Music)
  • and a few hits by Tee Bone Erickson you might recognize.

You’ll also see my visit with Aaron KMA, and all the goodies he gave me, including the Iron Sheik.  You’ll see a 400,000,000 year old rock.  You’ll witness a cheeky chipmunk, a laser light show, a bonfire, some slow-mo waves, and lots more.

Please enjoy.

Gallery: Have you ever seen the moon set?

July 21, 2023, 11:10 PM, Kincardine Ontario.  Total coincidence but “Moon Voices” by Max Webster was actually playing.

#1063: Life is Like a Lake

RECORD STORE TALES #1063: Life is Like a Lake

Over the course of 51 years on the shores of Lake Huron, I have witnessed the power of nature and the change it brings every season.  Change is the one constant in life, isn’t it?  For better or worse, everything changes.  Nothing can remain static.  Things wear and decay, and are eventually replaced by newer, younger things.  This is obvious every spring on the shores of Huron.  The coast changes, the rocks, the trees, everything.  In a way, life is like a lake.

When we returned this spring, much had changed.  The seasons are unrelenting.  We found several large rocks, freshly cracked, and sharp like blades.  Over the summer and fall, water found its way through microscopic cracks in the stones.  Over winter, it froze and expanded, breaking rocks clean in half.  The remnants are like ancient stone cutting tools, sharp and jagged.  In a way, that’s parallel with relationships.  Sometimes things set in, year after year, until they eventually expand and crack the relationship in two.  I’ve experienced this recently.  The edges that cut are still painful.

Things die over the winter.  Some young trees do not survive.  Older ones fall, only to become firewood for the coming year.  Just like life, and the losses we experience more and more as we get older.  It never gets easier.  It’s a matter of picking up the pieces are carrying on.

The only constant at the lake is change.  Eternal change.  This is especially obvious when you look back at old photographs.  The lake levels change, the beach is covered with rocks one year, and sand the next.  The changes cannot be predicted, except that the land will change.  Where men once pushed the forest and weeds back, now they encroach again when left untended.  It’s quite amazing how quickly nature can retake a patch of land left untouched.  Just like life.  Neglect an aspect of your life, be it physical or mental, and you will notice the difference.  Life must be worked, at constantly, or you will lose what you gained.

Some years, there is more life than others.  Some years, wild turkeys.  Other years, foxes.  Perhaps the foxes scared away the turkeys.  Once in a while we’ll have a dear, or a bear.  Raccoons, porcupines and skunks are common.  When the animals disappear, you can only guess as to why.  Kind of like being “ghosted” in life.  Sometimes they return unexpectedly.  Always a delight.  Like a friend returning after a long absence.

One thing that is clear at the lake:  You cannot return to the past.  The past is gone, like the ghost of a memory.  Things only move forwards, not backwards.  The massive winter ice sheets we used to get are gone now, likely never to return in my lifetime.  The rivers carve away the landscape, leaving different shapes.  The cliffs we used to walk as kids no longer exist, or are now on inaccessible private property, built over and paved.  There is no return.  Those things are gone.

And that’s life in a nutshell.

 

 

 

 

 

#1061: Musical Flashbacks and Flame Throwers (VIDEO)

RECORD STORE TALES #1061: Musical Flashbacks and Flame Throwers

I know how to pick the tunes.

Trip up:  Of course, it had to be High Noon by the Arkells.  Had to be.  That album has become too important to me.  And so we played and I sang along, and really struggled and failed to hit the one “ooo ooo ooo” in “Never Thought That This Could Happen”.  One of many signs of my aging body this weekend.

Three day weekends are really special.  Sure, we didn’t get to finish everything we wanted to.  But we did have fun.  For the first time, we checked out a local shop called the Beef Way.  We picked up a delicious tomahawk steak and some apple pie jam.  Highly recommended.  We are all done with Robert’s Boxed Meats in Kitchener.  For the second time, he sold us steak that had gone bad.  Never again, Robert!  Beef Way has our money now.  Guy was super helpful.

When we arrived on the front porch, it was all about the music once again.  I captured some on video for you to enjoy, and I hope it gives you that “being there” feeling.  The idea this weekend was, once again, to travel back in time.  Listening to albums in the place I first heard them:  the cottage.  Priest…Live!  Misplaced Childhood by Marillion.  White Lion’s Big Game (who Jen understandably confused with Bon Jovi).  This time it just made me glow.

The biggest deal about this weekend was the unprecedented spotting of wildlife!  I managed to capture all of it either on photo or video.  There was a beefy raccoon.  We had a turkey.  There was a beautiful skunk.  Best of all, our fearless little chipmunk friend returned to visit us on both front and back porches.  On Saturday we had a Lego session, and he came right out to help.

A word about Lego:  It sure has changed a lot since we were kids.  Now there are angles for every degree and orientation, slopes we never had before, lots of pieces that have both right and left-handed counterparts, and building techniques that involve going sideways just as often as upwards.  It was challenging for both of us.  But we’re both making progress!  And I thought we’d be done in a weekend….

If YouTube allows the music, then check out my picks.

2023 is off to a banging start!

Cottage Weekend! April 28-30 2023 at Lorne Beach

Not a lot to tell this weekend.  No speeding tickets (four cop cars though!) and no glasses burned in fires.  It was a quiet, simple weekend and the video tells the whole story.  Enjoy this rainy weekend at the lake.

VIDEO: The Last (Summer) Train

Summer is over.  Today is the first day of fall.  For the final cottage video of the summer, you can see more of the incredible wildlife that we have come to expect.  This is edited to the tune of my favourite Tee Bone Erickson song, “The Last Train”.

While it is always sad when summer comes to an end, it must be remembered that things are not like they once were. I don’t think I’ve ever gone swimming in September before. Fall is not necessarily the depressing wet cold thing it was in the 80s or even the 90s.

This video also features a cameo by my old friend and guest contributor Aaron Lebold.  I don’t think I have seen Aaron in person since the Record Store days!  We hung out and shot the shit for about an hour.  He brought me some crazy Optimus Prime figures that you will see as well.  Good to see an old friend, and good to have company at the lake, which we have not had since well before the pandemic.

#991: You Shook Me All Long Weekend

Jen and I took a Friday off so we could make a long weekend at the lake. With three days to ourselves, good food and good music were a given!

Music for the road trip up:

  1. Ace Frehley – Bronx Boy
  2. AC/DC – Power Up
  3. Deep Purple – Deep Purple

Upon arrival, I spun the usual Kiss on the porch, until 9:00 PM at which point I tuned in to Thursday Night Record Club with Brent Jensen and Alex Huard, discussing AC/DC’s Back In Black.

We filled the weekend with food (pork chops, steaks, trout, and veggies) and more music (lots of Kiss and Iron Maiden).  We enjoyed a few nice walks in the cool summer air.  Yes, it was a chilly one, but we still managed a game of Monopoly on the back porch, in the open air.  Our money never blew away once!

What did blow me away?  Listening to Iron Maiden’s Live After Death on the back porch.  It was like 1986 all over again, but only if 1986 had digital quality sound on the back porch!  We also played some music for Grampa Winter, who would have cranked Kenny Rogers’ Greatest Hits and “The Gambler”.  Except he did it on vinyl with some big old speakers mounted on the front of his bunkhouse.

Friday night I did an excellent live show with Rob Daniels and Harrison Kopp, showing off some incredible collectables.  This enabled me to do some stop motion with my new phone/camera, which turned out really cool.  The new camera is also finally capable of capturing some of the majesty of Kincardine sunsets.  I was impressed with the results and intend to use it frequently all summer.  Another feature is slow motion, which I used to capture some fire and waves.

It was over all too quickly.

Music for the drive home:

  1. Peter Criss – Out of Control
  2. Peter Criss – Let Me Rock You
  3. Criss – Cat #1 (Half)

I can’t explain why I chose those, but every once in a while, you need to listen to some Peter Criss.  So I did.

Please enjoy the video of the weekend, all the sound of Max the Axe, below.