September, 2025

 

Neighborhood watch

A friend keeping a close eye on us..

                                                                  coming...

                                                                  and going

How we spent our days being productive

Friends Bud and Bev

Niece Christine and Jason frolicking 

in sandy cove during a recent visit

Christine contemplating retired life

                         Visiting a lock on a nearby canal

                                  A really cool song ...

       ... was written about the Thousand Islands. It is here

https://youtu.be/hepBXJN3Lbk?list=RDhepBXJN3Lbk

New! Our home in France has an underwater trail in the 'Bonne-Eau" cove.

At the bottom of our garden are two coves. One now hosts a free underwater trail accessible to all. You can now dive into the heart of the mediterranean with fins, mask and snorkel. This is a new ecotourism development to allow snorkeling enthusiasts to freely discover the wonders of the Mediterranean flora and fauna, in a protected environment. There is a marked route in the open sea with 5 submerged educational panels to discover seagrass, starfish, hermit crabs, sea urchins, anemones, etc. 

In our district of the Var, (In Provence, think County, District, Province or State) are 13 marked underwater trails to discover the rich biodiversity of the coastal seabed of France's number one marine destination.

This is one of our two coves.

A flash from the past 

Do you ever reminisce about your younger years? Sometimes, I seem to. I was checking out some pictures in  my archives and came up with these doozies. 

Always wanting to build my own, at ten years old my race car was the precursor to years later building my plane. At 17, I was frustrated that being a wanna be happy hippy, the real action was happening 3000 miles away on Haight-Ashbury in San Francisco. I just so wanted to be part of the culture. 

Expressing that in art, I painted this 4 X 8-foot (1.2 X 2.7 M) mural on a wall in my room. I just now noticed the two domes at the center top of the painting, indicating where I was heading even  at that tender age. 

That painting got me into a lot of trouble. No, I never smoked pot or did drugs of any kind, but one day I noticed a few of the screws that kept the canvas attached to the wall had come loose and I could pull the painting away from the wall a bit on one side. I spied an opportunity and cut a 1-foot square hole in the drywall on my side of my bedroom, exposing a cavity where the studs separated the two adjacent bedrooms. I built a shelf in the void and had a secret vault to hide my Playboy magazines. This worked for quite some time until one day my mother was cleaning my room and found my stash. The jig was up. 

If my mother was still alive, I would probably still be grounded.

August 2025

Latest disaster: 

Tom Green Co - San Angelo Texas

The tough thing about disasters is that you always know there will be another one. Or several more. Fortunately, we have never suffered one personally and for that we are grateful. When the flood in Texas was first reported, 27 kids had drowned in the rushing waters that rose 24 feet in 45 minutes and crested at 30 feet. That could be twice the height of your house. As I write this, 119 bodies have been recovered and 173 more are missing. Since I never saw anyone in a tree waiting to be rescued I am going to say they are gone also. Probably under 3 feet of mud at the bottom of the river.

When Janice first saw the newscast, she said "You are going to Texas". I didn't say anything, but I knew she was right. Sure enough, the call came and off I went. I was not at the airport yet when the call came in to go to New Mexico also afterwards. While we were in Europe, I probably got a dozen requests to deploy but I am not a disaster junkie, so I keep it to two weeks per year.

Meanwhile, the misery for some here is unbearable. Homes and property are lost for sure but for some, children and grandchildren gone under hideous conditions. Friends, neighbors erased from the face of the earth. Then we show up and gut what remains of their home so they can rebuild. 8 days in Texas in July is VERY hot. Mid 90's was the norm, up to 100 was routine. As this occurred in town, I was not needed as a sawyer as there were no trees to cut. To a large extent, floods kind of all look alike. It's weird driving into town from the airport, where everything looks normal. Businesses are open, traffic is flowing and all looks just fine. Then, you make a turn down a street or two and OMG! Hundreds of homes have water damage. It all depends on the topography. The water levels might be different, but the damage done is similar. Where I was, the water rose to a foot or two. "Is that all" I wondered? Truth is, that that amount of water does almost as much damage as 6 feet of water. 

Water creeps up the drywall and insulation, so we have to remove 4 feet of it from the floor to rebuild. With 6 feet of water, we have to gut the house often having to remove the ceilings also. With less water, all lower cabinets in kitchens and bathrooms have to be trashed as well as doors (mold and warping). With more water, upper cabinets go as well including all hanging clothes. In all cases, all appliances are toast as water has flooded the motors. Sofas and fabric furniture are done. We save homeowners a lot of money by doing the demo and get the house 'contractor ready' but the rebuild is not cheap. Some have insurance, some don't. I am now back home, until the next one...

35 + 35 +5

Someone we know had a birthday this month and turned 35 + 35 + 5. She was minding her own business when all manner of boats, jet skis and the like converged simultaneously on the island from the front, back and sides. I say simultaneously because 24 of her friends disembarked to drop by and say hi! One more was scheduled to fly in, but the weather did not cooperate. The coordination was such that all knew that if they arrived at 11:59 AM, they we way too early, but at 12:01 they were much too late. Amazingly, it went off with military precision and she was gob smacked!

Arrivals

Scotch in hand, ready to rumble

 

 

Hamburgers, hot dogs, chicken and corn cooked by our own chef.

 

Preparation was quite involved with all food purchased on the sly and bagged in ice chests and brought over by boat with our guests. I brought 12 people over in the pontoon boat alone. Many condiments were cut up and prepared on the back gate of our pickup truck prior to the trip over with them. Ice chests with beverages were packed off island, chilled and brought over with our guests. A surprise party for the record books.

And then...

We were docking when a fisherman was boating by and shouted "Hey, did you see the article in the 'In Flight' magazine about Honey Bee Island"? At first, I thought he was just blowing smoke until he added "It said it used to be a speakeasy". This is a detail that few know about since it dates back to prohibition.  We have not seen or located the article but if on your next flight to Paris, Rome or Hawaii you happen to come across it, please save us a copy.

Poetic justice

A fellow named Steve McNeld posted a photo of himself with his grandmother in a coffin, happy about her death because he would inherit $900,000 from her.

However, after the funeral, he was surprised to find that she had donated her entire fortune to charity and left him a note saying, "My little Steve... I left you your grandfather's crutch and my dentures in my closet. I hope your feet wear out and your teeth fall out so you can benefit from them. Get them before the new owners come home!!!"

Rocket man

So, our 3-year-old grandson got a rocket shaped tent to play in the living room. However, he was verry frustrated that try as he might, he could not get it to fly. He even had his entire family put on their bike helmets and join him in the rocket and demanded that they 'Take Off''. His aerospace engineer father simply could not explain in a way he could understand why he could not.

July, 2012

               My patient is well. 

Last month I wrote that Janice was going in for a "little" surgery. She did, did very well and has been home recovering since. Her job is to point and mine is to lift, pull, open, reach and push as directed. She has seen every Home and Garden and cooking show that has been produced in the past 5 years so she is seriously caught up. Another couple of weeks and she should begin to start getting around far more. The doctor said that after this rebuild, she will be good for another 100,000 miles. 

Da Plane

Hours before she was admitted, I quickly completed my ground school before this month long hiatus, so I am officially a licensed and certified armchair pilot. I guess that means I can now make airplane noises while I flail my hands in the air, simulating airplane moves, as if I had any idea of what I was talking about. 

Click on any of the pictures ONCE

I practically have the flying part whipped since I already had my 1st lesson. I can now start the engine all by myself after yelling “CLEAR PROP!” out of the cockpit to prevent decapitations. (We surely would have had a close call with that one before my traumatized instructor taught me that trick) I also got to taxi down the runway a bit, some of it near the middle. I am sure we will have much more fun as soon as he stops yelling at me*. If that ain’t pickup-truck nirvana, what is?

Lifting off was magical. My testosterone was pumping like Henry VIII eating a turkey leg and demanding a new wife to behead! I have a friend that refers to flying as “the privileged view”. True, but I would add “for the privileged few”. I know, I know... many people have flown, but there is a huge difference between being in a 100 foot long aluminum cylinder and flying like the Wright Brothers. Only 2/10 of 1% of Americans are active pilots and barely half of those own their own airplane. I am extremely grateful to be joining their ranks.
*Note to instructor: Dude, lighten up; I was just kidding about the yelling thing!

                 The Little Free Library

Several months ago, we saw a TV news story reporting on a volunteer effort that some guy had put together in memory of his mother who had been a school teacher. He built a small box to look like a school house, and then put the box on a post on his lawn by the sidewalk of his house. He put a bunch of books in it with a sign offering them to people to take. To see the NBC story, click HERE

The idea was to encourage people not only to help themselves to a book, but if they wished, put another in its place for others. It was a “pay it forward” kind of thing and we thought it was very sweet. We looked the organization up online and saw that there were no two Little Free Libraries that were alike. With a lot of TV publicity behind it, the idea had really taken off. There are now 2,000 Little Free Libraries in a dozen countries.

We decided we were in and so we built our Little Free Library this past month and inaugurated it with friends and some adult beverages. Ours is registered with the organization as # 1335. The kicker is that they then told us that we are the first Little Free Library anywhere that is boat accessible only.

Right about then, the Los Angeles Times was doing a front page story about the Little Free Libraries featuring one in their local area. As they interviewed the organizers, it was mentioned that they were all over the world and that there are no two alike. “In fact” they said, “there is even one on an Island in the Thousand Islands”.  The L A times reporter contacted us to confirm what she had been told and included a reference to our Library in her story. To see the L A Times story, click HERE 

Within days, Janice had made the front page in our local paper on the Canadian side in the "The Brockville Recorder and Times" (HERE) and the "Thousand Islands Sun" in New York today.  We have not seen today's paper as we drove down to the Hampton's on New York's Long Island this morning. More on that in a minute.

By the way, the new oversized hanging flower planter above the Little Library is suspended by the arm I forged in France this past winter. Since I am to do whatever the little voices in Janice's head tell her, it  has been decided that what our dock needs is a second one, so I will be back at it again next winter.

           

                        The Hamptons

Every summer, we rent our Island out for two weeks to allow us to travel somewhere on the East coast, while having our entire yearly overhead costs paid for by the rental. Depending on your point of view, it is either being cheap or efficient in the use of our property. 

This week, Janice brilliantly arranged a home exchange in the Hamptons on Long Island outside of New York City, where we drove to yesterday. It certainly lives up to its reputation as being a playground for the beautiful people who are rich and famous, with money to burn. 

We are fitting in as best we can, except for the part about being beautiful, rich and famous or having money to burn. Still, it looks like we will have a great week with new places to explore and adventures galore.

     

                        SS Honey Bee

Last month we “invested in our security” and acquired an addition to our fleet. [Isn’t that how the government explains spending money?] Janice has been hankering for a canoe she could handle by herself, so we bought one that had seen service as a vessel used by smugglers and abandoned somewhere nearby. As the owners could not be located for the past year, it was put up for sale.

I promptly repainted it in the appropriate color and made it otherwise seaworthy. She (the vessel) is the third to join our armada and will remain under Janice’s command as real men don’t paddle, we throttle up.

                          Bill Johnston

Every year, thousands of people are drawn to the area to celebrate “Pirate Bill" Johnston days, held sometime in August. It is a 10 day celebration of a Thousand Islands smuggler, river pirate, and War of 1812 American privateer. He so annoyed the British in the 19th-century Canadian colonies that they called out the army every time his name made the newspapers. He was the man the British most wanted to hang. They spent a fortune hunting him and preparing defenses against him. 


Please, bear with me. There IS a point to this story. In 1838, he served as admiral in the rebel forces that repeatedly attacked Upper Canada. For his efforts, 500 British and American forces and at least four steamships hunted Johnston throughout the Thousand Islands.

In those days, the lightly inhabited islands were heavily treed and offered Johnston refuge and concealment in numerous groves and grottos. During his decades as a smuggler, he had discovered every trail, portage, cave, and hidden cove. Many of his cavern hideouts are gone. Some survive. Others surely remain to be rediscovered. 

In 1838, one of the commanders returned from a Johnston-seeking excursion with a discovery he'd made on one island. He found his bivouac on an almost inaccessible islet near the narrowest part of the channels of the Thousand Isles at Fiddler's Elbow, and cleverly constructed inclined planes upon which fast-rowing boats had been drawn up. 

Johnston pulled his boat up here

He never named the island but his description held several clues: it is near Fiddler's Elbow; it has a gentle inclining slope where a boat ramp could be constructed and concealed; and, it has a deposit of tourmaline resembling coal. (Tourmaline is a rare crystalline mineral found in many colors but most commonly black.)

I had read of this account by Shaun McLaughlinin in the "Thousand Island Life" this past winter ( much of this is from his article) and recognized that the area was a mere 5 minutes from our island. I had to see for myself if I could find what this commander had discovered 174 years earlier. 

Leaving Honey Bee, I steered my small aluminum boat into the roiling, turbulent waters of Fiddler's Elbow, the narrow channel between Ash and Wallace Islands to Lyndoe (a.k.a. Lyndoch and designated Island 79 in 1884).  I circled the island, past the navigation light and around the west end. On the south side, I found the sheltered bay. 

Pulling up on a stony beach, I discovered a wide gently inclining slope, concealed by shore-side shrubs, leading up into a pine stand. Climbing to the island's igneous spine, I had a close and clear view of the western end of Fiddler's Elbow. In one area, I found shards resembling anthracite, the hard edges of its crystalline form (like quartz but black shiny version of coal).

Johnston could watch for the ennemy's approach

 In the War of 1812, Johnston enlisted with the Americans as a river scout and raider. Fiddler's Elbow was then a principle route for boats supplying Upper Canada. On the spot I stood, a few armed men could command the channel's upstream approach. And, spread before me to the northwest was thousands of acres of open water. Any rebel or smuggler on my perch could see boats approaching long before they presented a danger. 

He was right! Pirate Bill Johnston had holed up here. Why study history when you can walk through it?

 

Buddies Joe and Tony, just hanging out.

To hear about and see more of life here CLICK HERE

July, 2025

 

I swear, it's the last time I ever say no to her. Or was it Just a little project accident? You decide. If you ask, she said to say "You should have seen the other guy".

25 and done

Hard to believe, but we have owned the island for 25 years. Naturally, one of the first purchases was a refrigerator. We may be here only 4 months a year but hard winters in an unheated cabin still takes its toll. Our refrigerator still works fine, but prudence seemed to tell us that it is past its due date and smart boys and girls would think of pre empting a problem and replacing it before it circles the drain. If this new one lasts 20 years, I may have already gone down the drain and not need to replace it.

Replacing an appliance, especially one the size of a fridge, is an event when you live on an island. Home Depot doesn't simply show up at your door with the new one, as a barge has to be lined up to pick it up at a dock, ferry it over to the island, get the 380 pound appliance up a small hill, get it in the house, take the old one back on the barge and arrange for a way to get it to the dump, after the freon has been removed by a service. Now you can see why we stalled as long as we could.

We took the doors off the old fridge to get it out the door. Problem was, the new one had water lines for the ice dispenser in the door snake their way through the hinges of the doors. The only way to get it in the house was to dismantle the door frame. Yes, it has been repaired. It took 4 of us, groaning and panting to get that beast up our hill into the house.

All in all, it’s been a good month. I spent several days helping a friend split many cords of wood that he uses to heat his house throughout the winter. 

Then, I helped a couple of friends build an A-frame on one of his islands. Now, all I need is a good hurricane and I will be on my way. My GO bag is packed and I am ready to roll.

Really? Many have been fooled seeing this on the water. It's actually a jet ski with a fiberglass auto body wrapped around it. The fella on the jet ski owns two of these vehicles and accompanies them on a tour of the islands. Every day, we hear him go by (he has a megaphone) giving his guests a run down of features in the area. "On your right, you have Honey Bee Island. You can see the statue of Tecumseth, the waterfall, the flower boat and the little free library and ..."

Only in the Thousand Islands....

A day on the river

First person account of visiting

 Canada, post tariffs

Unless you have just returned from the moon, you have certainly heard of the recent tiff between Canada and the US. Prior to our return, we had read and heard (warned actually) that Americans were not welcomed in many cases, and reports of cars being keyed and punctured tires had occurred.

We braced ourselves, and we were armed to the teeth (figuratively, of course as the 2nd amendment is not part of Canadian culture) as we entered the country. Being hyper vigilant, Janice drove, and I rode shotgun with a baseball bat, ready to beat off the Mongol hordes. (just kidding) I will cut to the chase here, kill the suspense, and tell you unequivocable that in the first 6 weeks that we have been here we have not seen, experienced or noticed any difference from our past visits. We still tool around in our California plated vehicle and boat in our 3 American registered watercraft and have never experienced a problem.

Our Canadian friends are still our friends, and they may well be keeping their political opinions to themselves, as we are. The most visible (and only one to date) outward protest move I have seen is a friend who refuses to buy orange juice because it comes from the US. (Canada's climate does not allow for growing oranges) His choice to boycott US products will hurt, but our $30 trillion economy can probably survive it.

On the national scale, a variety of reactions have occurred. In Alberta, for instance, there is a movement to secede from the country, as a number of folks would prefer to join their counterparts to the south. The Premier (think governor) lowered the number of signatures needed to trigger a referendum from 600K to 177K. 37% of its residents have reportedly given up on Canada. A recent poll found that 47% of them support independence. (Brexit anyone?) This is not the first time that a province has flirted with leaving the mothership. Some time ago, we happened to be in Quebec City (province of Quebec) on the day they voted to secede (or not) from the country. They came within 60,000 votes of pulling it off.

The dream

A few years ago, when I was in my early 20’s, I spent a LOT of time planning the home I wanted to build. I drew elaborate detailed plans and schematics, right down to the placement of outlets, with cost estimates for all materials. It’s great being in your 20’s when nothing seems to be impossible, and you can achieve anything you put your mind to. It was to be an 8000 sq foot (750 sm)  ultra-modern home with a helicopter landing pad and a bedroom with a glass wall underwater to see the fish swimming by, since in my mind the house would be right on the ocean’s edge in Big Sur, California. 

Dream big or go home, I thought. A few decades on, I never managed to build that house, although we do have 3 homes that combined are pushing 7,000 sf (650sm). Slowly, I became more realistic as to what is required to maintain them, not to mention as to how much work it is to simply keep them clean. Then, there was the little issue of money. 

I still have those plans, and I am going to build it. Just as soon as I am resurrected.

June, 2025

 

Road trip!

Last month I wrote that we would be visiting daughter Mandy and family outside of Munich in Germany. We had a great time as usual and enjoyed dining at different beer gardens with their friends.

\

Some of the higher end restaurants around here offer sunshades for their customers' cars so they can keep them cool when they return.

Pre departure swim

The transition

Here we go again. Empty our fridge and freezer and get an Uber to the airport, about an hour away for a two hour check in before the flight. Problem is, at the last minute our Uber driver tells us, as is frequently the case in France, the taxi drivers are on strike and are blocking all access roads to the airport. Prudence called for a 6-hour window to give us the best chance to make the flight, and even then, he had to drop us off 1 mile away for us to walk the rest of the way with our roll on as no vehicles could approach the terminal.

It was a great way to start a 9-hour flight in addition to a 6-hour time change to Philadelphia to be treated to a 6-hour layover there for our flight to Syracuse NY. Once we landed, the airport was short staffed, so another half hour’s wait was in order to park the plane, a mere 50 feet from where we stopped. After spending the night nearby, Janice had lined up a chemo treatment and we were on our way home.

Arriving at our friend’s home who gave us our initial ride to the island, (all our boats are out of the water for the winter season) he discovered that his boat battery was dead. After a good recharging we were on our way to an island with no running water, (think toilet, sinks,  dishwasher and washing machine) and all outdoor furniture filling every interior space. OH, and a big storm had knocked out our internet, TV reception and house phone. I know, I know, by now you are thinking “ I am so glad I don’t live on a stupid island!”

Within a day or two I was preparing our pontoon boat to launch in the water. It is shrink wrapped for the winter to keep snow, ice and rain off of it. And most critters. As I removed the plastic wrap I discovered that a racoon had managed to pry an opening, moved in rent free and had its way with our boat. I was facing 172 square feet of poop all over the upholstery and every square inch of the entire boat. I spent two days cleaning feces with mostly great success except for the 3 holes in the fabric he made. 

Best of all, was after an hour of cleaning I lifted the protective cover over one of the seats and out jumps Mr. Racoon, the size of a medium sized dog, scampering off before my very eyes.

The torn upostery is scheduled for surgery shortly.

A few days later, all was up and running, flowers planted, and we are thinking “ Thank God we live on an island! “ It is SO worth it! We would NEVER want to do anything differently.

 Fathers day

So its father's day. Every year, I get cards from one of my daughters for all occasions. She has found a source for cards that is simply outrageous. They are always gut splitting funny, so I look forward to all of them.  I couldn't help myself, so I looked up the company that makes them as these are not your Hallmark variety. They could come from the "Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence" as some are beyond inappropriate.

Here was this year's funny one.     :)

Finally

Over the years travelling throughout Europe, we have visited several WWII gravesites. Each is quite impressive and moving in its own way, from Omaha Beach in Brittany, Draguignant near us on the Riviera or Vimi East of Paris. There are many more all over Europe to visit. This one is high on our list.