Friday, May 20, 2011

Story: Tea Lake / Lac Tea



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Tea Lake: 44.606818N, -63.575613W

Francesca via e-mail
Montreal - May 20, 2011

Coordinates: 44.606818, -63.575613
Other name: Purcell's Pond

Tea Lake is a tiny lake about 20 minutes outside of Halifax along Purcells Cove Road. It's unofficially called Tea Lake because minerals in the water have coloured the water like well-steeped tea.

Tea Lake Gypsy

Come and we go
Everyone’s a gypsy girl
Nowhere to go?
There’s a place we know called Tea Lake

Driving along the highway
Dapples washing over us
We’re on our way
To a little place we know called Tea Lake

Gypsy do the swirling dance
Brother she won’t need her clothes
Water colour of Red Rose
Sip the tea it’s delicious

Come and we go
Everyone’s a gypsy boy
Nowhere to go?
There’s a little place we know called Tea Lake

Diving beneath the water
Ripples washing over us
We’ve found our way
To a little place we know called Tea Lake

Gypsy do the swirling dance
Sister he won’t need his pose
Water colour of Red Rose
Sip the tea it’s delicious

 

 

Wednesday, May 18, 2011

Story: Rawka Stream / Ruisseau Rawka



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Rawka Stream: 50.276937N, 19.024086W

Moniczka via form
Halifax, Nova Scotia - May 18, 2011

Coordinates: 50.276937N, 19.024086
Waypoints: Industrial area, nearest town is Katowice, Poland
Other names: Rawa, Roździanka (1737)

The story is about a stream that ran behind my grandmother's house. As a child I remember walking on a small roughly made bridge that crossed it. I always hesitated however because my mother always made a point to tell me to be very careful when playing by that stream. Years later, my mother told me a story of how she almost drowned in that very stream. She was walking alone near the edge and slipped. Thankfully one of the neighbors was looking out her window and ran to help; she jumped in and saved my mom. I always loved how my grandmother ended that story; the neighbor ripped her stockings in this ordeal and my grandmother had bought her a new pair. Sadly, the stream was filled over in recent years.

 

 

Tuesday, May 3, 2011

Story: Lake Laurentian / Lac Laurentien



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Lake Laurentian: 46.458333N -80.933333W

Karen Hibbard via form
Winnipeg, Manitoba - May 3, 2011

Coordinates: 46.458333 -80.933333
Waypoints: The Laurentians in Sudbury. Roadside. Laurentian Lake. Suburbia. The University.

Summers swimming up near the University at Laurentian Lake, Sudbury, Ontario

My sisters and I would spend all summer walking between Laurentian Lake and our little suburban enclave where we lived as children. There were 4 of us. And we walked for a mile there and back, spending our day swimming in the sun. We didn't hurry along like we would now as adults. Of course you can't when you are just children, our bodies were still in development.

Walking along an isolated country road is something that children would not be allowed to do nowadays. There was nothing but bush. And drivers would race by from time to time, caught unawares that children were by the roadside. I was the oldest and always slightly worried about any trouble that could potentially appear.

We loved getting to the lake finally, dusty from the walk. If we were hungry, we'd fill up on blueberries and raspberries we saw peaking through the woods at us. Or we would vandalize the food machines at the University. Not that we were old enough to do any real damage besides maybe squeezing a sandwich out (if we were lucky). This is not really a story but more of a memory of a happy childhood spent independent of adults and as part of a sister gang with bonds that last to this day.

Now we are all grown up middle-aged women. Everyone is living in a different city. Some are single and others are married with children. There is very little time for communication and lots of worries about money and jobs and children. I have worries for the future — what will happen to our parents health-wise and how will we react as a unit? Will our sisterhood fall apart when our parents go? Are the bonds from our childhood really as strong as I imagine? Are they just valued memories for some of us?

Jumping in the lake as kids from a rock face seemed reckless but exciting. We knew the lake so well and had the good sense to investigate below the surface of the water beforehand. Free from all cares for that moment in time, we enjoyed each other's company and our natural surroundings. I would love to experience this innocent abandon again with my sisters. I hope our bonds will not be broken in our old age.