Da bears

So I returned back to the cottage around 8pm or so from my kayak, and just before I get out of the boat I see this bear sitting in front of my door eating birdseed from the feeder that was knocked over. I definitely sat in the kayak for a few minutes strategically planning on my next move. It's funny, my first inclination was to go get my camera; so the plan revolved around somehow documenting this situation. Just as my dad pulled away on Sunday afternoon he said "Oh yeah, and some people have seen a bear in the area recently, so... watch out for it."
Out from the Kayak I crept slowly not to draw too much attention to my white body with my uber white bathing suit. As I passed the fire place I grabbed a piece of wood that would have made my cavemen ancestors proud; you know, you need to defend yourself right? Now, I wasn't planing on getting very close to this bear, but if he were to run at me I didn't want to just stand there and expect a bear hug. So I went along the shore and eventually got to the cottage where I grabbed my camera. Here's what happened after that:

I call this one, "should I swing, or should I go maul Chris?"

I guess he was practicing his mauling stills here...

I was just worried that momma bear was going to show up right behind me... I'm glad I just saw the baby.

Playing with a dragonfly

Some shots at my cottage... My cottage is up on Lake Kasshabog in Ontario. I've spent much of my childhood here swimming, skiing and just playing around on the lake, and as a kid I took much of this for granted. Yet, the older I get, the more I realize how fortunate I am. I love this place. Hope you enjoy some of these shots.

This is me skiing - Photo by Becky G.
(nice shot Becks)

I call this one "life raft - After the storm"
Although the lake was SO calm, only an hour or so before this picture it was thundering with very rough water. Debris was all over the lake... this piece had a dragonfly on it.

This is a eves trough dropping water. I just wanted to highlight a few drops of water..

This dragonfly was awesome! It kept following me while I was out on the water.
I got some good shots of him.

A kayak on the sunset

It was a beautiful kayak last night; an amazing escape from the southern-Ontario bullshit. I get to spend a week up here at my cottage, the only place of my childhood that is still in my life. And it's amazing here. Our kayaks are the family kind, the 'pg' version; almost unable to tip, so it felt ok to bring my camera out and cruise around. Here are some of my favs from last night.

St Stephen beauty

So, although I've spent four years at St. Stephen University, it turns out that four years is not nearly enough. Although four years is a good chunk of time, when it is spent without a car, or any real mode of transportation to explore the surrounding areas, there is so much of southern New Brunswick that I have not yet seen! After consulting a few local sources, I was tipped off with some suggestions on where to go, and what to see out here. Here are a few pictures taken just last week; some of Deer Island (so beautiful), some of just around Charlotte County. It turns out that beauty can be anywhere, even in St. Stephen.

Tresspassers will be shot.

The food was good, but the view was much better.

This boardwalk used to be somewhat flat. It felt like if one were brave enough to cross it, they would deserve some type of reward. Turns out that the reward was 'not getting soaked by the river below'.

Natural Disaster for these trees.

Heart of the forest.

Our suite rocked... The hot-tub was the best part.

Evening walk at the house

We have such beautiful property here, I thought I would just walk around it and take some shots...
A mozzy bite.

After a cool walk around the property in Campbellville, and nearly being chased inside by mosquitoes, I took a few pics of this Caterpillar on our deck.

Made me think of "Please mind the gap between the train and the platform".

I like the texture of the wood with the fuzzyness of the Caterpiller.