For the seventh or eighth or ninth time – I’ve lost count – Steve and I returned to “adult camp” at The Haliburton School of Art & Design (as it is now known).  Those who are reading this might be quietly (or not so quietly) asking, “Again”?

Good question.  What keeps us going back so many times over approx. 15 years?  Is it because we like the area?  Is it because we’re too lazy to plan something different?  Is it because we don’t want to be idle, sitting on a beach, for two weeks?  Is it because we get the opportunity to either engage in an art form we already like or try something completely different?  Is it because we can’t go to France every year?  Maybe a little bit of all of the above but, regardless, it’s a rewarding way to spend a vacation.

Aside from our classes, we really look forward to being in the country and seeing some wildlife and, within 26 hours, we were not disappointed – a turkey hanging out by the side of the road, a fox that started out curious then changed its mind, a kamikaze chipmunk that played chicken (repeatedly) with our car, a young deer munching on long grass, and a larger one ambling across the road in front of us.

         

And, every morning upon waking, and every evening as dusk settled in, I’d peer out a window down the long driveway hoping to see some kind of beastie at the end.  Very near the end of our vacation, coming back late in the dark, I kind of got my wish.  There at the end of the driveway was a healthy black and white striped furry beastie who wasn’t too pleased that we were interrupting its evening stroll and who wasn’t hesitant to display its displeasure.  Needless to say, we came to a sudden stop then very slowly followed, at a safe distance, as it ambled up our driveway!  There was a moment of indecision on its part, and some tension on our part, before it chose to continue down the side of the garage instead of hanging out at our front door.  Disaster avoided!

Because I was limited to early July, and because I’m more discerning (picky) than Steve, I didn’t end up doing anything unique or funky for me this year.  I stuck with two repeats – a Travel and Landscape Photography course I took two years ago and another Ukulele course which was a continuation of the beginner’s course I took three years ago.  (Steve took another guitar course, then a photography course similar to the one I took the week before.)

During the first week, I spent an enjoyable four days completing seven various photography assignments that allowed me to wander in the great outdoors for a considerable amount of time.  I do believe I may have absorbed some sun into my somewhat pale skin.  Here’s a picture of me in action on one of our field trips.

On day five, we presented a selection from our assignments for a final critique.  If you’re interested, I included my 40 choices at the bottom of this post.

Although I’ve been playing my Uke regularly for three years, and fairly well I’ve been told, I’ve been spending that time improving my repertoire of chords and learning how to strum to match my guitar buddies in our weekly jam sessions.  Ukulele Ensemble 1, the next level up from the beginner course I took before, focuses on reading music and picking the individual notes of the melody (or the harmony) on the fret board.  In my case, there’s nothing like sheet music to make me feel incompetent, like a true beginner.  I’m better than I was three years ago but there’s LOTS of room for improvement.  At the end of the week, the two Ukulele classes (beginner and ours) got together for a little performance in the lobby of the school.  Here’s an audio of our five pieces. You have to scroll down to choose each one – # 2 & #5 are the best.  In # 2, if you can hear the harmony in the higher register in the chorus and last verse, that’s me!  Also, this is a wee video in which the last song got cut off because the video device ran out of battery.  (Our jam group, with the guitars and my Uke all playing chords, and our bass player and drummer keeping us grounded, does this last song so much better but note picking is hard so it’s not too bad.)  In any case, don’t set your expectations too high – think of your kids’ elementary school concerts!!!

The night of our arrival there was an unexpected, but short-lived, rainstorm followed by a brilliant rainbow.

As beautiful and serene as the country is, there are also some inconveniences.  Friday night after our first week, we met Doug and Louise (long-standing friends from a previous lifetime and who are now permanent residents in nearby Bayfield) at the Pepper Mill Steak and Pasta House for dinner.  We had a lovely catch-up, as well as dinner, but the predicted rain had settled in and, over the course or our 2.5-hour visit we lost power three times!  It came back each time but it just as likely might not have.  Then, upon leaving the restaurant, we noticed our gas tank indicator hovering very close to empty.  At home, we are not used to covering longer distances in the same time it takes you in rural areas and we had lost track of our gas consumption.  At home, this would not have been a problem but, in the middle of what seemed like nowhere, this was a bit concerning.  Thank goodness for smart phones as Steve was able to find two open gas stations about 15km south in Minden.  But that took us a bit out of our way and we didn’t get ’home’ until close to 11 mostly because of our reduced speed due to heavy rainfall.  The drive was safe (no random animals on the road) yet not uneventful as we were treated to a spectacular light show for most of the way.

And still on the subject of weather, it was either sunny and suffocatingly (sp?) hot or it was pouring and still hot.  Our bunky didn’t have air conditioning but the overhead fans helped a lot.

We had an enormous amount of rain between Friday night and Saturday night of our in-between weekend – especially on the Saturday – yet, although we had a very slow and lazy start, our day was interesting.  We started with a visit to The World’s Smallest Book Shop, a unique location we discovered a few years back just at the side of the road near Kinmount.  Although it’s cramped and jam-packed, it’s organized by author.  It also works on the honour system – that’s Steve recording our purchases after dropping our cash payment into the lock-box.  We came away with nine used books for the price of either one new hardcover or two new softcovers.  Unfortunately, there is a ’sold’ sign on the property so who knows what’s going to happen to this little gem…

    

         

Continuing on, we stopped at a park in Kinmount where the old Austin Sawmill is being restored.  Of course, as soon as we got furthest from our car, it started to pour again!  Fortunately, there was a comfy and dry place to wait it out along with another guy and his lovely dog.  The rain didn’t stop the die-hards though…

         

    

To top off our rainy day, following a quick dinner at a diner in Minden, we attended an Open Stage evening at the Haliburton Museum compliments of the Haliburton County Folk Society.  There was a variety of performers, some more experienced than others but, overall, worth the $20 we dropped into their donation jar.  And I left determined to learn how to play and sing ’Wagon Wheel’ by Darius Rucker.  So, the next day Steve downloaded the chords and lyrics, spent a considerable amount of time tweaking it to make it right, then presented me with a finished product that we could practice at home then introduce to our jam club group.  Then, coincidentally five days later, one of my classmates presented Eve, our instructor, with the exact same song and asked if we could learn it, play it, and sing it, so she could record it for a memorial service (her passed friend’s most favourite song) – so we did.  (I like Steve’s version better.)

    

    

Haliburton County, which encompasses several small towns and villages, is a community of artists – musicians; sculptors; painters; jewellers; photographers; those who work with glass, wood, fabric, metal, stone; etc.  Throughout the year, mostly during the summer and fall, there are various opportunities for these artists to display their work.  To name a few, there is the Rails End Gallery in the heart of Haliburton Village, there are tours of artists’ studios, there are fairs, and there is the weekly Music in the Park held every Tuesday evening at the one-air amphitheatre in Head Lake Park in Haliburton.  We totally forgot about it the first week but spread our blanket on the grass the second week and were entertained by Fifth Business (Thom Lambert opened for them but we missed him by the time we arrived after dinner.)

While away, we received an unexpected invitation from our jam club bass player, Chris, to join him at his cottage in Coboconk, about an hour south of our bunky.  What a lovely midweek treat that was complete with a leisurely boat tour of some of Balsam Lake, and a delicious dinner on the dock accompanied by great music and charming company, including Steve’s new friend, Belle.  When the mosquitos swarmed around 9:30, we declared our thanks to Chris and Rosalind and headed back.

Two weeks passed too quickly.  In reflecting, we will miss the dark and star-filled nights, the overall quiet interrupted only by the lonely call of the loons, the random wildlife sightings, the artist community, the varied and sometimes quirky locals and their restaurants, and the power of the storms.  Until next time, Haliburton…

(my photography course presentation, if you’re interested…)   2016 Travel & Landscape Presentation