我愛夏日長 (八月) / Summer Time ... and the Living is Easy (August)

You wouldn't be able to tell from the photos, but, over the long week-end, I was with another adult supervising eleven teenagers camping on an island that was accessible only by boats. During the planning stage, we weren't quite sure how it was going to work out. Sure I knew a lot of these young men and women when they were still kids, but that was quite a few years ago. As it turned out, the outing was a complete success. Everyone enjoyed himself/herself, including the adults.

Upon arrival, as soon as we finished unloading all our gears off the boat, we changed into our bathing suits and jumped into the lake. The crystal clear water felt like cool silk against our skin and provided a much needed respite against the hot summer sun. During our stay, other than a few fishermen trolling or casting from their boats, the lake was always calm, quiet and peaceful. Occasionally, a motor boat towing a water skier would pass in front of the campground, creating small diverging waves that glimmered under the sun and eventually lapped against the rocky shoreline. As soon as the sound of the motor faded away, the local loons would reappear and make their distinct looney-tune calls to each other across the mirror surface of the lake. At night, the northern sky was just filled with thousands of winking stars. The Big Dipper and Cassiopeia were the most recognizable, with the North Star being in the middle. The Milky Way was like a bright starry veil spanning from one side of the sky to the other. On a clear night, with a reasonable pair of binoculars, one could even see the ring of Jupiter and one of its moons.

I must say I always enjoy countryside living, especially on an island far away from the city's traffic jams, man-made pollutions and work-related worries. The eleven young men and women were well-behaved and we all shared our enthusiasm toward water sports such as canoeing, boating, tubing, jumping off the end of the dock, fishing, etc. As the song goes: "Summertime, and the living is easy ..." I sure hope you all enjoy your summer so far, and if you have a chance, do come to Canada in the summer time and enjoy cottage life near a lake or on an island. You will love it !!!.