©Ian Coristine/1000IslandsPhotoArt.comBoldt Castle on Heart Island
(10 minutes from home)
Project update
As I write this we have pulled the plug and are transitioning from the Bee to France. We have just arrived in Cape Cod on the Massachusetts coast outside of Boston to do a one-week house exchange for a little R&R before heading west (California) to go east (France). Our daughter Cassie will join us in the morning, flying in from California for a little one on one dad and mom face time.
Cape Cod is a wonderful place to visit and holds many great memories of my youth when we would come tent camp a mile (1 ½ kilometers) from here with my family and spend weeks at the beach. The accommodations we have now are a bit of an upgrade as we are staying in a 3200 square foot home near the beach built by an interior designer. See it at
http://www.homeforexchange.com/property_detailed_view.php?propId=18520
By and large, we managed to complete what we set out to do this summer, pretty much finishing our bedrooms as planned this past month. There are always finishing touches to do, like a little trim here and there but when we think of where we started from, ha!…piece of cake.
Before
After
Before
After (before carpet, paint, trim..)
Gone are the days when we arrived and dreaded opening the front door to face a staggering mess, hideous living conditions and a mountain of work ahead of us. There are projects left that we want to do but it is by choice and at a pace that we set.
This past month Janice and I took a little time off to travel to Glenns Falls near Lake George (upstate N.Y) to attend a hot air festival. [Now, now, lets rise above partisanship and petty politics… there is no calling for thinking that this had to do with Democrat’s! This was a hot air balloon festival!!] We got to see over 90 hot air balloons rise at dawn and watch balloons at sunset with fireworks going off as a backdrop. Very cool.
Again this year we were invited to my aunt and uncle’s cabin North of Ottawa to celebrate Canadian Thanksgiving. We unemployed never pass up a free meal so we were glad to oblige.
The Secret Pilot
One of the few ways that Janice and I differ is that she is so enthused about future projects that she likes to tell everyone in sight about them in their earliest stages of development. I generally like to talk about them when they are a done deal, a 'fait acompli'. People tend to not tell you it was a 'dumb' idea after the fact, especially if things turned out well. I had a neighbor stop by while I was getting ready to install my staircase and he looked downright worried when I explained how I intended to proceed. He had that "the whole damn place will collapse!" look. Now that it is done and the upstairs floor is more solid than it has ever been, I expect he will say " I told him it was going to work all along".
©Ian Coristine/1000IslandsPhotoArt.com
Recently we had friends over who noticed an area in the river adjacent to the island that was staked out and completely “de-weeded”. Mildly curious, they asked what we were planning to do. I was about to give them some blather about 'going green' and 'cleaning out the river' when Janice blurted out “Oh, that’s where Michael wants to dock his airplane”. So much for pillow talk and little marital confidences. The cat was out of the bag.
©Ian Coristine/1000IslandsPhotoArt.com
For those who have wondered what I will do with my time when we finish our construction projects, what follows could give you a hint. Flying is an unfulfilled passion of mine that has been brewing for decades. I could have started much sooner of course but other choices and priorities took precedence. While not imminent, the time is coming quickly. I never really talked about it but when we bought the property in 2000 it was one of the immediate draws for me when I could see that I could easily dock an amphibious airplane at the island. This is different from a floatplane in that it can land either on a conventional runway or on water with the floats on in both cases.
©Ian Coristine/1000IslandsPhotoArt.com
The kids all remember how for years I kept pictures of a helicopter I wanted in my workshop and at work. I finally came to grips with the prohibitive costs and found a compromise I could live with. It would be unfair to say that Janice shares my enthusiasm to the same extent as I do but she is willing to give it a go and I believe she will warm to the whole experience because this is a perfect area for low level slow flying with endless eye candy in all directions. This became all the more evident when we got our hands on a locally published book of photographs taken by Ian Coristine from his amphibious. They are without a doubt the most stunning photos of the area we have ever seen. Take a peek at:
http://www.1000islandsphotoart.com/Albums/tabid/55/Default.aspx Go to any link but be sure to see the one for ‘neighborhoods’. When you do, you will see the indescribable beauty that we experience here for half the year.
We first met Ian at a book signing he was doing. More recently I called to bend his ear on the subject of my plans and to begin the steep learning curve on the do’s and don’ts of having an amphibious at an island. Being a fellow islander himself, he is well versed on the subject and began to set me straight on a number of hair-brained schemes I had.
On another occasion, we had an amusing experience when we had invited other friends over with Ian for a BBQ. They had not met previously so as they talked they quickly realized that they had a common interest in photography. Initially, they figured he was just a nice guy, who like them, took pictures. As the conversation progressed, they started to connect the dots and realized just who Ian was. (He is a well know figure in the Thousand Islands or what you would call a ‘big dog’ in the area). Finally it clicked and they stuttered and stammered “You’re HIM?” with all the excitement of 14-year-old girls taken backstage to meet Mick Jagger at a Rolling Stones concert.
©Ian Coristine/1000IslandsPhotoArt.com
As I mentioned, this is not something I am going to be doing right away. Per prior agreement with “she who must be obeyed” as Wayne would say, next summer will see the completion of our household projects and the construction of the dock for the airplane as well as a deck that will become the assembly area for the aircraft. Oh, did I forget to mention that I would assemble it myself?
I know this is not everyone’s cup of tea but the fact is that I have never been able to get into typical traditional male hobbies. I would rather go to the dentist than fish, be bedridden than golf or watch paint dry than to watch any sports game on TV. My suggestion that the sport franchises buy all the players their own balls so they don’t have to fight over just one has never gone over real big with any of the guys I know.
Listen! …….do you hear that? ......No?
That’s the problem. I hear a drummer few others do.
I was destined to fly.
Fat boy.
Recently I was reading an article on diets. Like many people my age it is a subject that has commanded more of my attention as of late. I am told that people over 25 typically gain about a pound a year and at 57 I can testify that I have followed that schedule to a “T”.
I know myself well enough to know that I am never going to go on some crash diet. I know that they don’t work long term and I am not interested in a yo-yo weight gain / loss /gain type diet. What caught my attention was the fact that at a pound a year it meant that my weight gain was as little as 11 calories a day ----the equivalent of a potato chip! So, I figured that theoretically at least, cutting back on two potato chips a day would allow me to reverse the process at the same rate and loose about a pound a year.
Ok, I know that’s silly. Not the least because it would be impossible to know when that last chip was the “extra” one. Besides, this is not just about chips ----although it is a basic food group--- it’s about making small choices I can live with, like reducing the frequency of calorie intensive food choices and substituting bulky foods that make you feel full but have zero calories. For me, it’s not about cutting back on portions or to ‘eat less’.
The bottom line is that at the rate I was going I figured that by the year 4978, I would weigh over six thousand pounds. Fortunately, I have followed in my daughter Mandy’s footsteps and gone the slow but sure route. I started this on the day I left Europe and in 16 weeks I have lost 3 pounds, determined to return to being the mean lean loving machine my bride married 23 years ago.
I have heard it all. "E-pistol", "E-piss-el", "Epastile" and "Apostle" among others. Unless you are a heathen or were raised by Hari Krishna you must know that an Epistle is a letter or a formal communication.
