THE EPISTLE: October 2026

October 2026

MANATOANA

(Garden of the great spirit) Its what the Indians called the Thousand Islands.

As we pulled the plug after another spectacular season, we look back with jaw dropping admiration for the area we have summered in for the past 22 years. We never tire of it, and each year we find more and new to be in awe of.

First, a few facts that just blow us away:

It has been estimated that 1/3 of the worlds fresh water flows by our Thousand Island front door. The great lakes occupy a 95,000 square miles (250,000 S Km) surface and every drop of it flows past us on the way to the Atlantic.
The River is a 750 mile long highway of commerce.
It is the scene of a war that was fought with England in 1812.
The Thousand Islands was once a station of the underground railroad.
Locals have a few expressions like : 'The River Choses Some'. If you are a true River Rat, you get it. If not, its a pointless expression.
Another is 'Another day in paradise.' We spend all summer every year where people kill themselves to be here for short vacations. The tour boats on the River take thousands of people each day for short visits. As we boat by, we can see them drooling with envy seeing the area.
It has Islands with names like: Axeman, Deathdealer, Dumbfounder, Bloodletter, Psyche, Tom Thumb. They all have colorful histories.
Then again, we have river locations like Fiddler's Elbow, Smugglers Cove, Blacksnake passage, Lost Chanel, Lovers Lane, and Devils Oven with endless stories behind them.

Now a few pictures.

Just Room Enough Island

So named for obvious reasons. Wikipedia says that it is the smallest inhabited island in the world. Ironically, it is located right next to Bolt Castle about 15 minutes from us by boat. The local joke is that it's the mother in laws guest house.

Boldt Castle

Among many other amenities, Boldt Castle has 88 bedrooms, 55 bathrooms, a bowling alley and an indoor swimming pool. The building at the left of the island is the children's play house, the building at the right is the power house. They had power before the town did.

Devils Oven

So named because the current comes from different directions and

converges here, sending your boat in all directions.

Tom Thumb Island

Said to be the smallest island in the Thousand Islands. Why? Because it meets the criteria of being at least 1 square foot, has one living tree and is above the water 365 days out of the year. Anything else is just a shoal.

Deer Island

This 40 acre island just 15 minutes by boat from our island has been a rustic retreat for Yale University's secretive Skull and Bones society since 1856. Its members include US Secretary of State John Kerry as well as former US Presidents Howard Taft, George Bush Sr., and George W. Bush.

Honey Bee. Home Sweet Home

If you're lucky enough to be on the River, you're lucky enough.

Published stories

in the Thousand Island Life magazine.

This month saw three more stories that I had written before I left the island. The first was on a SAR team (Search And Rescue). While I may well be known as not being a dog person, these dogs are worth their weight in gold. It is HERE.

The second is about a family that lost a daughter that was getting married and died. The story is about her becoming an organ donor. I meet and interviewed the mother, then wrote the story. After reading it 20 times, I still get choked up. It is HERE.

The third was on our trip to Iceland that we just got back from. It is HERE and below.

From one island to another.

(The Thousand Islands to Iceland)

Every October, like migrating birds, we leave the Thousand Islands and head to our home in sunny California.

We love snow and cold—but only in Christmas movies.

This year, we decided to make a detour before heading home: Iceland. We spend our summers surrounded by thousands of islands, so why not visit one in the middle of the North Atlantic? Curiously, Iceland has far less snow and ice than Greenland. The Vikings probably got their labels mixed up.

WELCOME TO ICELAND

The moment you step off the plane, you know you are not in Kansas anymore—or the Thousand Islands, for that matter. The architecture is different. The landscape is different. The weather is very different. And then there are the names. We discovered that finding a destination was easier than pronouncing it.

Hallgrímskirkja.

Sólheimahjáleiga.

Try saying either of them three times quickly. We wondered whether we had accidentally flown to Russia.

THE WEATHER HAS ATTITUDE

We drove the entire 1,500-kilometre (900 miles) Ring Road that circles Iceland. The interior of the country is largely inaccessible, occupied by mountains, glaciers, lava fields and some spectacularly inhospitable terrain. So, most of the population—and most of the roads—hug the coast.

The weather, however, does whatever it pleases. In one day we experienced sunshine, snow and torrential rain.

The rain deserves special mention. In Iceland, a raincoat and umbrella are not signs that you are prepared. The wind can rip an umbrella out of your hand before you have finished opening it. Unless you are wearing waterproof pants and waterproof boots you will get thoroughly and intimately wet.

We were.

Some of Iceland's best sights require a kilometer or two of walking from the parking lot, over gravel paths into ankle-deep muddy water.

FIRST IMPRESSIONS

Iceland is majestic, spectacular and beautiful and the people are friendly.

It is also sparse, remote and, in many places, barren. The entire country has a population of only about 370,000—roughly two and a half times the population of Kingston, Ontario. 60% live in and around Reykjavík. Outside the capital, you can drive for miles without seeing another car. What you do see are mountains, glaciers, lava fields, waterfalls, sheep and landscapes.

A FEW ICELANDIC FACTS

Only about 1% of Iceland's land is considered arable.

Only about 2% of the country is forested.

An Icelandic horse that leaves the country cannot return, because of strict disease-control rules.

There are no McDonald's restaurants in Iceland.

Amazon does not operate a domestic retail service here.

Iceland has no standing army, navy or air force

There are no trains.

Beer was illegal until 1989.

Until 1987, television broadcasting was restricted on Thursdays—a way of encouraging families to talk to one another.

And, of particular interest to Thousand Islanders: there are no mosquitoes. You can even snorkel between the North American and Eurasian tectonic plates in remarkably clear glacial water.

EXPENSIVE? YOU HAVEN'T SEEN ANYTHING YET.

We occasionally complain about prices at home. Here, everything from meals to gasoline can produce the same reaction: How much? Parking lots have a way of separating tourists from their money.

If you are looking for amusement parks, grand castles, cities or endless shopping, you have chosen the wrong island. But, if you like unusual and remarkable geology, remote landscapes, glaciers, volcanoes, waterfalls and places that make you stop the car every ten minutes to take another photograph, you have come to heaven.

There are more than 10,000 waterfalls in Iceland. After a while, waterfalls become so common that you drive past them without stopping. There may be relatively few cattle and horses, but there seem to be millions of sheep.

Being intrepid travelers, we make a point of seeking out UNESCO World Heritage Sites. To us, going somewhere and missing one is like visiting Paris and forgetting the Eiffel Tower. We've now visited 146 World Heritage Sites in 42 countries.

We still have a few to go.

The Hellgrimskirkja church. Iceland’s tallest and most famous

church and Reykjavik’s main landmark was our first stop.

Harpa concert hall In Reykjavik

Thingvellir

Thingvellir is a World Heritage Site where an open-air

parliamentary assembly was held annually from 930 AD to 1798

This cliff in Thingvellir is a 7 km long rift that marks the edge of the North American tectonic plate and is home to many volcanoes. It is the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, the meeting point of both the North American plate and Eurasian plate. Iceland is the only place in the world where this rift is visible above sea-level.

Geysir

It erupts every 10 minutes with boiling water that can reach 30 meters.

Gulfoss

This two-tiered waterfall spills enough water to fill 4 Olympic sized swimming pools every second.

Seljalandfoss

Iceland has more spectacular waterfalls than you can count.

You can walk behind this one.

Volcanic cliffs and Lava rocks below

Skogafoss

Skógafoss is a massive, 60-meter-high waterfall on the Skógá River in South Iceland, famous for its powerful 25-meter-wide water curtain and frequent vivid rainbows.

Skogar Glacier

Rutshellir cave

Reynishverfisvegur black sand beach is a UNESCO Global Geopark. One of the few in the world, it has regular sand that is jet black. The 200-foot (66 meters) high Reynisdrangar Sea Stacks Basalt columns, which according to legend are made of petrified trolls. National Geographic loved this beach so much that they called it one of the ‘top 10 non-tropical beaches to visit on the planet.

This is what some of the roadside looks like. Volcanic rock.