July, 2015

Michelle and Bob keeping an eye out for Indians while exploring the wild Canadian back country

One of the best things about spending the summer here is getting to share this magical place with others. Be it family or friends they all fall into one of two categories. The 'chosen' or those who just don't get it.

There is a saying in the islands that states: "The river chooses some", meaning that some people immediately dial into the island lifestyle and when gone, like us, suffer from Islomania (Google it). Others find the passage from the mainland to the islands tedious and unnecessary as they feel that life on the river is not that big a deal and besides, a shore property is much more convenient and practical.

This month's guests were our California friends Michelle and her guy Bob. This was Bob's first visit but Michelle came last year, returned home to California and immediately bought her return ticket for this summer. Hmmm....I wonder which category she belongs to...?

A few days ago we drove to Boston to meet them as Michelle's son was getting married. After the ceremony, they returned with us by driving through the Adirondack mountains of northern New York. Having been here for a few days, we have started making the rounds of the river sights, with much more to come in the days ahead.

Other than flying, there is nothing to do around here except eat, drink and be merry.

FYI

3 years ago we changed our email address to mjlhome@yahoo.com. It was the first time we changed our address since Al Gore invented the internet. Occasionally, we still get folks who try to email us at our old address which was starfireproductions@yahoo.com. We monitored our starfire address for about a year to remind folks of the change then Yahoo simply stopped forwarding the messages.

Here is the bottom line. If you write to us at the starfire address you will break our hearts as we will never hear from you again. Another way to make sure we never get your messages is to simply click on 'reply' when you get this little monthly newsletter. This is sent out from a Gmail account because Gmail allows us to send out our newsletter to several people simultaneously and Yahoo does not. We SEND our blog out on Gmail but we RECEIVE nothing.

OK, one more time from the top. To write to us, please only write to mjlhome@yahoo.com. Put off updating this information in your address book till later and you will forget... and we will be right back where we started.

 

The view from the cockpit

I am days away from getting my passenger rating check ride because my flight examiner is on holiday at the moment. No matter, I am flying further and more than ever, racking up hours as fast as I can. I might have to slow down some because if I keep this pace up, soon I will know everything... 

I don't know who my first passenger will be but for some poor soul it will be like being the first patient of a surgeon who just got out of med school. Fully qualified, but... would you sign up? I will have to resist the temptation to suddenly power down sometime during the flight, put the nose in a dive and shout "OH SH**!!" just to see what reaction I get out of him / her :)

I know that my prison humor is not always shared by others and besides, it's no time to be a smarty pants. Anyway, if all goes as planned, I will have long tall tales to tell next month.

One of my favorite airports to land at is the Iroquois airstrip. Part of the reason it is so much fun is because the paved runway is the width of a bike path or about a foot wider than my main landing gears. The grass on either side is much wider but the strip itself is like landing at a gnomes airstrip. The other reasons is because is it right next to the water and a golf course, and I come in on final just feet above the golfers heads. Regulars there are used to it and know not to 'drive' and strike a landing aircraft. 

Hey! Want to se a 5 second clip of our island from the air? Remember, it is only 5 seconds long....

 

June, 2015

We're baaaaaack!

It takes nearly a full week to get settled in here every season. I have worked hard to find more efficient ways to get us up and running and it's a good thing as we continue to add more stuff and systems every year. 

This home is by far the most labor intensive to transition to with boats and jet skis to clean and put in the water, water pumps to re-start, a reverse osmosis filter to re-instal,  a fridge ice maker to reconnect, a plane to take out of hibernation, all the house windows and screens to wash, outdoor furniture to put in place, the 'Little Free Library' to re-mount at the dock, a sewage treatment system to re-activate and flowers to plant for the summer. All of this aside from the usual complete restocking of the pantry and refrigerator each time we arrive, as we have been absent for the past 8 months. 

Yes, for us...it is worth it

Photo: Chris Murray, TI Life

We also have to retrieve boxes of products that would freeze at our unheated island home and not survive the -30 degree winters. Stuff like our printer with its inks, some canned goods, paint, glue and all manner of soaps and products you would not give a thought to would burst. We have neighbor friends who kindly store them in their heated basement for us. In the fall, we spend almost a week reversing the whole process getting everything ready to survive the brutal winters and still be in top shape upon our return.

I have wondered why it takes us so darn long to get up and running, but as I re-read this partial list I am getting tired already. All of this raises the question: Is it worth it? Is two weeks of work out of  the 16 weeks we spend here every summer worth it? To us, the answer is unquestionably...YES! Those two weeks allow us a lifestyle that is pure nirvana. It is simply not in our nature to settle for less than the best we can do and have so we gladly plug along to achieve it. 

We once had a friend who came to visit and having watched one too many episodes of "The Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous" was rather miffed that we did not have a 'dock boy' to take his bags when he arrived. Actually, we have two of them. Here, they go by the names of Michael and Janice.

# 1 son

Within days of our arrival, our son Wesley flew in for a visit. It has been 10 years since he was here last so things around have evolved some since. It is great to spend time with our kids under any circumstances, but it is special to have one on one time with them too.

I am not saying that people come here to relax but...

While here, we did not miss the opportunity to tear up the river on the jet skis, take a side trip to visit Canada's capital, introduced him to long lost relatives, explore an historical Canadian village, visit Singer castle and crash river parties at every turn. 

Uncle Dave and aunt Monique dropping by to see Wesley

Is 6 enough?

This past winter, I posted an add on Craigslist that said: 

"Wanted:  Small ugly boat. No motor or oars. 

The worse the condition the better. 

A repairable hole or leak is acceptable. 

Must be cheap."

I got several offers for boats that were 35' (12M) when I was looking for something the size of a bathtub. Finally, a fellow called that was wanting to part with a mini vessel that was in excellent shape, the right size, for a reasonable price and would deliver it to a friend (we were still in Europe) to hold  until we got back.  

No sooner had we returned that its true purpose was revealed. Shameless copiers of other peoples great ideas, I built a platform within it and turned to Janice's green thumb to fill it with flowers. We then proceeded to float it on the river near our dock as a floating flower garden. The spray from our hose on the island can reach it for watering and a bilge pump keeps the excess water out from our watering and the rains to prevent it from sinking.

The S.S. Honey Bee, as it has been dubbed, joins the fleet of two jet skis, a canoe, a runabout (our sedan on water) and an aluminum fishing boat that grace our docks. This makes it # 6.

Time's up

Last fall I wrote that I would stop annoying  you with endless stories about 'Da plane, Da plane, Da plane' for the next 8 months. Well, time's up. Within days of our return, I rushed to the airport, pulled C-IJQP out of the hanger and fired her up. Sweeeet...

I had 'pickled' the engine so that it would not develop any rust in the cold hangar all winter, and made sure all was running tickety-poo before calling a CFI (certified flight instructor) to come take an hour long spin with me. I have my pilots license and do not require anyone to supervise or accompany me but out of an abundance of caution I want to start the season with a 'ride along' while I get any kinks and rust out of the pilot who has not flown for the past 8 months.

That out of the way, it's time to finalize my training to obtain my passenger carrying rating. That maybe all well and good but I am still totally in awe of this awesome flying machine. [Eyes well up] You can think of the experience akin to flying like a bird but it is more as it was described to me by a friend who called it a 'magic carpet' providing the privileged view. It's almost a religious experience. 

While I understand the physics of flight very well, total exhilaration still spiders down the length of my spine every time I lift off. It feels more like levitating than taking off. Orville and Wilbur had no clue as to the impact their work would have on my life.

Still, It's that time of the year again. Time to face the yearly onslaught of dire warnings of impending doom, of my spiraling to an explosive fiery end, screaming as I auger into the ground. They’d do as well to burn a pile of sacrificial owl feathers or chant in Mycenaean Greek to think it will deter me.

The rest of the story.....

It's OK. The thing is, people are not good at imagining the upside of things. They think of risk first. They think “this could be a better life- or death. Ooh, let’s avoid death”. But flying has added years to my life. I have truly come to understand the saying that the time spent flying does not count towards the time we are given on this earth. Besides, pilots are a realistic bunch. They know that flying is the 2nd greatest thrill known to man. Landing is the first.

I even had my first experience formation flying with another plane. Well, kind of. We flew a short flight near each other and I found it surprising how fast two planes can close in on each other.  

Some people are convinced that flying in a professionally assembled airplane by experienced builders is the only safe way to fly.  If so, they might want to consider that the ark was built by amateurs, the Titanic by professionals.

If you don’t live on the edge, you will never see the view.