Category: Lifestyle

Making it Work > Lifestyle

Point Pelee National Park – in November

Posted on November 13, 2022November 13, 2022 by pioneerintrees

In early November I headed to Point Pelee National Park with my fellow adventurers, Marie and Kerry. It was a fair drive for us (5.5 hours), but we were up for it! We had booked 3 nights in an oTentik and the weather was promising, with sunshine everyday and no sub zero temperatures at night!

Check in is 3pm, and we got there around 4 … so we hauled our stuff to the oTENTik, bought some wood before the store closed and then headed out for a quick hike (November days end by 5:30 in Southern Ontario). We figured we’d stretch our legs a bit and catch the sunset, which was pretty awesome.

A bit about Point Pelee National Park

Point Pelee is a peninsula that juts southward into Lake Erie. It’s very close to the USA/Canada border – not much further west are Windsor ON and Detroit USA.

Fast Fact: Point Pelee is the southernmost point of mainland Canada! It’s approximately 7 km long. Walking to the tip is pretty neat. We were so lucky to have bright sunshine, warmth and relatively light winds (note the waves on the west side of the spit and the calm on the east). Since we were there on the off season, it wasn’t crowded at all.

Point Pelee is known for being a “major migratory flyway”. In other words, if you’re a birder, you’ll want to go and check out the birds that land there during their migration. We saw a dead bird and a dead monarch butterfly on the beach, a pair of bald eagles, a flock of black birds, and at the Marshlands a great blue heron and some ducks. (Obviously November is not when you go there for the birds!!)

Aside from birds, Point Pelee has all sorts of interesting vegetation – from the cattails in the Marshlands to the Carolinian Forest (named after the Carolinian states, ahem). We saw prickly pear cactus and groves of horsetail, and huge vines wrapping around shaggy barked trees. Very cool to notice the differences between the Carolinian forest and the one I live in, east of Toronto.

The trails in the park are very well maintained. The vast majority are hard packed and with the peninsula being completely flat, they are very accessible for easy hiking or biking (you can rent bikes at the Marshlands store). There is only one area of trail that wanders close to the beach that is much harder to walk on. In the time we were there we figured that we walked all of the trails – or close to it – approximately 13km / day.

The Marshlands boardwalk is 1 km long. It’s very cool to walk that loop and use your binoculars to try to identify the various ducks (and the single heron). During the regular season you can rent kayaks and canoes, which would be fantastic.

Our campsite: Camp Henry

We were pretty impressed with the oTENTik and amenities at Camp Henry. The tents are fully stocked with cookware (e.g., pots, utensils, plates, cups) which is so handy! The majority of oTENTiks are heated with a gas stove – three have a wood stove. Each site has a new gas bbq, picnic table, secure food box and a fire pit. Since our wood was not exactly dry, we fussed over our fires. This was our only complaint about the park services. No biggie.

We had a raccoon visit us at our campfire each night, so yes, we made sure our food had been put away! The storage box is really handy, you can drop a cooler into the bin and have plenty of room for other bags of food. Luxury!

The bathrooms are sparkling clean and well lit, the showers were hotter and stronger than mine at home. Special bonus was the washing area, with two sets of double sinks for cleaning dishes – dishwashing soap included! Super impressive. At the store Josh sold us (damp) wood & kindling and a few gift items (no spoilers here!). As mentioned previously, at the Marshlands site there is another privately owned gift store which has all sorts of amazing merch and provides rentals.

The best thing about wandering through a National Park is seeing unexpected and beautiful things.

We enjoyed exploring the beach for rocks and dead things, checking out bird nests, and considering what species of trees we were looking at. Oh, and berry-filled poop!

Stay tuned for the next National Park adventure…

first stop: Thousand Islands National Park

Posted on September 24, 2022September 29, 2022 by pioneerintrees

On a road trip to PEI back in 2018 we stopped for a pit stop at the Thousand Island’s visitor’s centre in Mallorytown. We took an obligatory sign photo – you can see the pain of it in Liam’s face and posture – and then explored a bit.

My First oTENTik

During our hike around the National Park, we saw some very cool A-frame tents facing the river. We couldn’t fully investigate since campers were occupying the tent, but I knew that I wanted to stay in one of those tents some day. They looked so civilized …

Fast forward to the present, when the recollection of those tents became the impetus I needed to get me into a National Park during the fall. Who wouldn’t want to bypass sleeping on a thin pad in a tent? (Ok, lots of people love that, I do too, actually, but still…) So I did a search and found that there are many of these tents (“oTENTiks”) in our National Parks, not just Thousand Islands National Park (and they are close by – woot!). Search again, and I shouldn’t have been surprised, but they’re generally all booked up, even in the shoulder seasons. Eventually I was able to secure 2 nights on McDonald Island in the Thousand Islands National Park for mid September. This would be National Park #5 for me!

All I needed was a couple of willing (and available) friends to go with me… and that was surprisingly easy, considering the complications of having to get ourselves to the island! (YAY Marie and Carol!) After lots of discussions and planning we took 2 kayaks and rented a third in Gananoque, which has the closest boat launch to McDonald Island. (Note: overnight parking on city streets is free until October 15th. Bonus!)

Getting There

Packing (and unpacking) for any trip is always my least favourite part, and this trip was no exception, for me at least. The three of use had to not only determine what we need, but be mindful that it would fit into our kayaks. (Yes, it all fit…) Needless to say, we learned a lot about the limitations of a dry sack’s flexibility and the pros and cons of randomly stuffing items to the far reaches of a kayak’s tip or tail.

Mid September camping is not without risk, especially when you are paddling across the St. Lawrence to get to your campsite, but we had phenomenal launch weather and a calm river when we put in. It took us a while to find our island (while there are not actually 1000, there are a shit ton). There are several solid docks and a nice beach for mooring on McDonald Island, but after we landed there and found our campsite, we decided to paddle around the island and pull up right in front of our site. These 3 photos are taken with me standing in one spot and swivelling from side to side. (You can barely see top of the oTENTik in the opening of the woods. Look harder!!) It was a pretty awesome site! Site 2A. Highly recommend!!

Camping on McDonald Island

McDonald Island has a self check in. You pay docking / beaching fees, your wood, and your campsite (cheque or credit!). You can leave your recycling and your garbage in handy bins, which is pretty awesome. There’s a cart for hauling your stuff to your site, 2 incredibly well ventilated and maintained toilets, and 3 communal eating areas to enjoy (one is a large covered structure with a wood stove). At each oTENTik site there’s a food locker, outdoor covered eating area, charcoal grill and firepit. It’s all very impressive!!

The oTENTik!

Finally I get to show you our oTENTik! It was fabulous in almost all ways.

You can see that there are Adirondack chairs on the deck. Nice touch! (We took these out to the rocks for the sunsets.) It sleeps 6. The mattresses are firm and clean (take a fitted sheet, it’s worth it). There’s a solar powered light and power jack (fits a car cigarette lighter style adapter – who the hell knows what this is called – we didn’t bring one which was a bit of a bummer – read the fine print!). There’s also a nice wooden table and 4 chairs inside, but you’re not allowed to eat, prep or store food in the oTENTik, so we only really used the table to hold our gear. The oTENTik comes with a broom and dustpan, but the floor is very gritty with old dirt (apparently no mopping), so plan for indoor shoes / slippers! No heat, so we had every article of clothing imaginable for cold nights – just in case (FYI, many oTENTiks in other parks DO have heat …). On our second night there was quite the windstorm, which caused the awnings of the tent to flap and snap and make a ton of noise. It sounded like a massive branch was scraping the roof. I was wishing I had earplugs.

Kayaking in Thousand Islands National Park

We had some great paddles around the islands, stopping from time to time to get our bearings, have a pee, eat some lunch, put our kayak skirts on … that kind of thing. The maps that Marie got from the rental shop were really handy because they included marker locations (each marker is numbered so you can figure out where you are). This helped a LOT since all of the islands in the area we were kayaking are labelled #1.

There is a fantastic website detailing 9 routes in the greater Thousand Islands Paddling Trail. We stuck to paddling route #3, the Admiralty Islands, which are relatively protected from the winds. When we went outside of that zone we were buffeted with really high waves and a cross wind. It was fun, and we all had kayak skirts (thankfully), but we were glad all of our paddling wasn’t in that kind of wind.

So that’s camping on an island in Thousand Islands National Park in September! Lots of fun. Go for it!

What I’m thinking …

Posted on September 24, 2022September 24, 2022 by pioneerintrees

Honestly, most of what I’m thinking right now has to do with how much this blog program has changed since my last post, and how utterly frustrating it’s going to be to learn the goddamned thing. Jesus. But I’m retired, and retired people must do what they want. And yes, I want to blog about National Parks, so let’s get to it! #sinceipayforthedomain

On to the topic of this post.

A long, long time ago, perhaps when I was in my 20s, I thought that it would be really cool to visit all of Canada’s National Parks at some point in my life. The years crept by and it went out of my head till recently, as I’ve been thinking about all of the things I can do in this new retired life of mine.

There are 48 National Parks, as you can see in the image on the left. Up until this September, I’d visited 4.

Banff

I went hiking and camping in Banff National Park (in Alberta’s Rocky Mountains) when I was a kid – with my mom, dad and sister. I don’t recall a lot of it – just a general fear of bears, a stay in a cabin in the mountains that featured mice walking over us in the night, and my sister losing a pair of cherished jeans on a hike. I think I was 10 years old. I also remember thinking we were never going to stop walking…

Sadly I have no photos from our time at Banff National Park – at least not right now. But I’m betting I could find a slide or two if I sifted through mom’s boxes.

Fundy

I have camped in Fundy National Park in New Brunswick twice – first in 1993 with my lifelong bestie Carol, and again in 1995 for the honeymoon of my very short marriage (it had nothing to do with Fundy by the way). Fundy National Park was awesome – so many trails to explore and activities for visitors – and the tides are so phenomenal! Visiting Fundy was the first time I explored a National Park as an adult. I loved it, which is why I went again only 2 years after my first visit. (Ok, it’s hard to believe we were 28 … we hardly look old enough to be camping on our own…)

Grose Morne

In 1998 I went to Grose Morne National Park in Newfoundland with Jim. We had initially thought we’d travel all around Newfoundland, but ended up staying in the park for the majority of the time. We simply loved camping there. The proximity to the ocean and a fresh catch every day, the awesome new friends that we met & hung out with, the (rather challenging) hikes – all so great. I recall that it rained a lot, but we were game. We had so much fun!

Prince Edward Island

TWENTY YEARS LATER, in 2018, Paul and I took Liam and Bree to PEI. We rented a cool little cabin in Prince Edward Island National Park, which really didn’t seem like a National Park to me … in my memory it was basically a long strip of beach and woods alongside the ocean. But alas, it counts as a stay in a National Park! We rented bikes, ate fish, explored the beach – the typical seashore beachy type of things that you do. Lots of fun and some new experiences for the kids, and a good way to come back to life after chemo.

So those were my first 4 National Parks!

Coming soon… a wee review of my first National Park exploration since retirement (and my 5th park). Bet you can’t wait.

A Poem for Poetry Month!

Posted on April 9, 2019 by pioneerintrees

really really really

yes!

It’s time to exit

while still fresh

I can go

so why not

taught loads of kids

wiped lots of snot

gained a daughter

laughed a ton

made new friends

I feel I’ve won

June 14th come and DANCE IT OUT! Meet at the McDonnel Street Activity Centre at 7pm – dance till midnight with me, Ace & the Kid and all of my cool peeps.

WOOT WOOT

Irritated

Posted on February 25, 2018 by pioneerintrees

I am a gal who is easily irritated. Years ago when I was a scrapbooker, I created a page called “100 things that bug me”. I’ve attached the page at the bottom so that you can see for yourself. This is REAL. I live my life in a relatively high state of irritation. I think that this is what my friend Sonal would attribute to being “gold”. Whatever the reason, I am constantly having to self talk so that I don’t say something off base / rude when I’m irritated. For example, at the cottage around 8 years ago people were arriving for a long weekend and I said boldly “oh you can put that case of water back in your car – we don’t use disposable water bottles here.” RUDE! But I knew that otherwise it would piss me off all weekend … my punishment is that I still think about it today.

During this cancer journey I have to deal with a LOT of irritants that affect both my body and my quality of life. My solution is to focus on eliminating the irritant rather than trying to ignore it. It’s a basic research cycle that goes like this: identify it, find info on it, try a remedy, write it down, gauge progress, make changes, observe again. It’s entertaining! And it’s currently my day job.

Top 5 irritants (you knew it was coming):

1. Horrific Nose – top irritant by FAR

As I mentioned before, mucositis is a common side effect. The chemo essentially destroys the mucous membranes from nose / mouth to anus. The whole she-bang.

My main focus is coping with the scabbing / bleeding cycle that takes place in my nasal passages CONSTANTLY. There is nothing to stop it from happening, but I found a few things that help manage it:

vaporizer in my room – feels like a rainforest in here sometimes
walnut oil – this was a total experiment – I saw it at Sullivan’s and thought I’d give it a try – you just squirt it up there … so soothing!
Secarus – put it on a Q-tip and rub it inside the nose for some relief (downfall is that you can’t get up there very far) – no more Vaseline … it’s no where near as effective

*Me in my doo-rag. Comfy but questionable.*

Ok, let me reinforce that this side effect is REALLY irritating. This will help you to understand: I try to only blow my nose when the sniffling is bugging even me or when it is completely full of scabs and I can’t breathe anymore. Other times it gets to the point of being so itchy that I repeatedly sneeze which inevitably loosens the scabs. Once they are out it bleeds a bit – I stick my remedies up there and then it begins to scab up again. (Of course my kids hate it when I want to show them the scabs. They are HUGE. Yeech. Gross. Gak.)

2. Poop Trouble

I have never been a good pooper. I listen to other humans (mostly men) offhandedly brag (?) about their morning constitutional and I think REALLY??? In my regular life, pooping has always been directly proportional to how much of the good stuff I ingest (water, veggies and fibre) versus the stuff I like (gluten, dairy, caffeine and junk food). It’s a balance that I had perfected.

Then came the chemo and pre-meds. Constipation is high up the list of side effects for both. My struggles have made me very empathetic of all of my friends who struggle with Crohn’s or irritable bowel syndrome!!

So ya, I am hyper focused on pooping – I take an inordinate amount of pills (see below), and have changed my diet a LOT. Much more greens, dramatically reduced gluten intake (sad sad sad) and more drinking than seems reasonable. Honestly, for a person in education who has spent 28 years never drinking in the daytime since there is no time to pee, this is horrific, the water intake. I mean, seriously. It is BORING!! I have to force myself to drink more. I make a lot of deals with myself. It’s rather sad. But the poops make it worth it in the end. No pun intended.

poop inducers — *These do the trick, but you’re not supposed to become dependent on them. So I only use them prior to chemo and on the night of chemo and whenever I’m in dire straights.*

3. Gut Pain

I was first introduced to the idea of severe gut pain precluding puking when I was a new teacher. It was illustrated by Kathleen, one of my Grade 1 students at the Point. I’ll never forget it. We were sitting in a circle at the carpet – someone was sharing. She suddenly jumped up, ran across the circle clutching her stomach. “It hurts!” she said. I pulled her onto my lap (MISTAKE MISTAKE MISTAKE). Less than a minute later she was puking red hot grossness into my cupped hands (save the carpet!) while I tried to pick her up and get us to the bathroom.

Gut pain is real. For the majority of people it comes right before puking. But I’m not a puker (unless related alcohol poisoning or food poisoning). I think I’ve puked less than 10 times in my entire life. With the chemo I have gut pain – it can be ‘kicked in the stomach’ gut pain or ‘low level constant aching’ pain. Either way, I have it for approximately 3 days in my 7 day chemo cycle. Irritating.

Three of the pre-meds I take work against nausea (Ondanestron, Dexamethasone, Raninadine – more about them in an earlier post). So I’m numb for a day and a half and then the gut pain comes. I have more of these drugs that I can take if I wish but they are very bad for constipation. For this reason I’m wary of taking ANY more drugs than I have too – their side effects are often not worth it.

Of course a drug that manages nausea well for chemo patients with relatively few side effects is medical marijuana. I talked to both my oncologist and GP about it. You’ll never guess – they were reluctant to give me script (“I can give you other drugs for that.”)! Such a surprise. My GP didn’t flat out say no – but prescribed Nabilone which is a synthetic cannabinoid that mimics THC. Work exactly the same but is man-made and provided in doses. I think that this gives the medical community the feeling of having more control over its usage. Still – seems strange not to be able to use a very helpful and naturally derived drug. I mean… I have SO MANY DRUGS from this journey that are far more problematic in terms of addictions and harm to the body (e.g., Oxycodone, Percoset and Tylenol 3’s from my bi-lateral mastectomy). Clearly there is a need for research on the use of medical marijuana so that we can get on with treating people with the least invasive drugs. Ridiculous!

The negatives with this particular solution is that Nabilone takes a while to kick in, I can’t drive and the dry mouth is irritating (I drink enough water already, for Christ’s sake!). But the gut pain leaves completely – as well as any heartburn. Bonus!

4. Kibosh on Reward Eating

I’m a person who is highly motivated by the prospect of food. I know it’s wrong. Food should be fuel. You should only eat what you need. You should only eat when hungry. BLAH BLAH BLAH.

Prior to chemo the following 3 reward schemes defined the boundaries of my poor eating habits:

the chips / junk food reward
- used to be when the kids were finally in bed, now it’s any time after dinner (On a daily basis, yes! Big problem, I know…)
- when I drive long distances (very motivating, keeps me awake – chewy candy is the BEST – makes the trip enjoyable!)
- when writing or reading report cards (the pain of it doesn’t stop when you’re in Admin…)
the Starbucks / crap drinks reward – “you deserve this because you are an entitled white person who can afford this ridiculously expensive high calorie drink with a stupid ass name” – so wrong, but somehow helps you get through meetings at the Big House much more easily
the alcohol reward – for just about any issue or getting through a tricky day at work or a long week, or a crisis, or a tragic Netflix show – oh how I miss a glass of wine at night!!! sad sad sad

Why can’t I eat this stuff? I can’t eat lots of sugar because it is too harsh on my taste buds – feels like I’ve burnt my tongue on a hot tea. Same with salty snacks. Chips will rip holes in my face. Alcohol is dehydrating and burns all the way down. Starbucks treats are high in caffeine which is dehydrating. (Remember, dehydration will slow down the poops even more…)

So no more reward eating. Life is not very much fun without all of my typical vices. Truth. On the flip side, ice cream, home made juice popsicles and frozen yoghurt are options that also make my throat feel so much better. So I’m enjoying them A LOT.

5. Tiredness

This is just starting to happen now. The treatments are piling up, so my legs feel a bit more leaden and my overall energy is lower. Naps are happening. It’s weird. It’s hard to get anything done. Dinner is a drawn out affair with NO multitasking (omg) and I’m often bitchy by the end. I am best to prep dinner in the morning or the kids will suffer (In this way, I think that this side effect is actually most irritating for my kids!) After dinner I lock myself away in my rainforest and sit on my ass. Yoga in the evening is beyond me now. Being tired is very boring.

Coping

So ya. This chemo thing is irritating … but I’m surviving it by being proactive and with self talk. Get over yourself! You’re not dying. Shut up already! (I reserve these for when I’m having a lot of pain / discomfort.) Keep going! You can do it! (when climbing flights of stairs at the hospital) I also do visualizations of the spring and summer when the chemo will be behind me.

This too shall pass and I’ll once again perseverate over the small stuff. And eat chips. Crunchy crunchy chips with salt and vinegar.

Scrapbook page — *Ya, … the small stuff.*

Too Much Stuff and The Lure of Minimalism

Posted on August 25, 2017 by pioneerintrees

As September approaches my pulse quickens and the list-making ramps up about 50 notches. So much coming at me at lightening speed, so much stuff to get organized!! Kids: get stuff for school; work: get stuff organized at work and pick up the stuff you said you would but forgot until this week; extra-curriculars: register for hockey and choir and make sure you have all the right sized stuff (Jesus god, you need new skates again?? Wtf.); farm: consider how much wood we will need to get split (ok, that’s a separate post…).

OMG we need so much stuff and we already have too much stuff! And what does it do? It causes me stress!!

Coincidentally (or maybe it’s a cosmic intervention), I listened to a podcast this morning by The Minimalists. Basically The Minimalists are two 30 something American men who are making a living preaching about how to live a simpler life with less stuff. They have a lot to say, they have a lot of adulating fans. It’s a bit rich at times, but … I can learn from them. I DO have too much stuff. I hold on to old papers, memorabilia, art supplies, a few of the kids’ baby clothes (ya, I am going to make them a quilt, ok?), wool that is so scratchy or ugly that I’ll never make anything from it, scrapbooking tools (I was good at it …stop judging), CDs (sooooo many), electronics cables (in case I ever need a yellow / white / blue combo thingy), hot tub chemicals that I will NEVER use (jet cleaner? Whaaa??), gardening tools (ya, that’s funny I know), candle nubs … you get the picture. I have WAY WAY too much stuff in my house, my garage, my office … likely in the cabin too, which is pretty damned small. I have stuff that I don’t use or apparently need, … everywhere.

So I have decided to get a grip on things by taking the 30 day Minimalist challenge. On the first day of September I have until midnight to throw away, donate or sell ONE item. On the second day, 2 items. On the third day, 3. You get the picture. If you do the math (and there is an algorithm for that…), that’s a shit ton of stuff that will be out of my life by the end of September. I know it will just be the tip of the iceberg, but it’s a way to start thinking about it and perhaps even making better choices (like stop buying so much stuff, ummmm ya think?).

Logistically I don’t know if I can ACTUALLY sell a few items on the day that I plan to sell them … but I can post them for sale. And logistically I’m not driving to Vinnie’s every day I when I decide what to donate – but I can box them and label them and put them in the garage.

Wanna join me?? Comment if you’re in!!

To demonstrate my commitment to the crusade for “less is more”, I tossed an old, ripped, and completely ineffective pair of oven mitts into the flames today. BE GONE, I SAY!! You will never cause me to burn my hands again!