chasing the comet

Jeff checking the position of the comet through
Starry Night Pro about an hour before we head out.


As some of you may already know, Jeff is an avid hobby astronomer; I blame our friend Andy for being at least partly responsible. One of his goals during our cottage visit is to view the NEAT (acronym for something, can't remember, sorry) comet through his telescope.



By the time we got across the lake, the clouds had
moved in. :-( The "X" marks the approx. spot where we had
expected to see the comet.


Sadly, the weather hasn't been cooperating. Last night it looked clear, but we were wrong (see above photo). While Jeff fiddled with the telescope on the beach near the Portage Store and cursed the skies, I sat on a life jacket nearby, comfortable and somewhat sleepy in my two sweaters and Gortex jacket, a thermos of hot mint hot chocolate and bag of chocolate mini-brownies by my side in case of chocolate craving emergency.



Jeff cooks far more at the cottage than at home. Dinner
he served Tues. night: scallop, white onion and
mandarin orange salad, with asparagus on the side. Yum....


Lazy day yesterday. I had two (yes, TWO!) very satisfying naps up in our cabin, finished reading Strangers In Paradise (thanks, Rand). Even did some work on two articles, one of the digital photography articles I mentioned before, and an interview with a potter in Muskoka, worked on Market Watch. Took another sauna: jumped in the lake FOUR times, and convinced Jeff to jump in with me the first time. Experimented with Corel Painter some more:



Very quick sketch I did of Jeff (he's wearing a
baseball cap on backwards) when he was at his computer.


On the way out of the boathouse last night to crash for the night, Jeff spotted a big beetle just outside on the deck. Anyone know what kind it is?



Anyone know what kind of beetle this is?


As I was taking the photo above, we both heard a loud noise in the darkness of the forest. At first we thought it might be an animal, but then figured it must be a big branch falling somewhere.

Still, I was a wee bit nervous going up the hill to the outhouse in the dark later that night, but nothing jumped at me on the way there or back. After years visiting the cottage, I'm usually fine with those nighttime walks, but every so often the thought of bears does cross my mind.

When Jeff and I went on a Nahanni canoe trip, we learned to make a lot of noise on trails to avoid surprising grizzly bears, and I've carried that habit with me when I'm a bit bear-leery. Just to be clear: it's very VERY rare for bears to attack humans in Algonquin Park, and as far as I know, there have only been five human fatalities resulting from bear attacks.

Still, sometimes a tiny irrational, primitive part of my brain takes over when I'm out there in the middle of the night by myself, and every tiny scuttling sound out in the forest magnifies itself into an image of a drooling night-creature who wants to eat my head.

(Hm. Make note to self: Stop reading Stephen King books while at cottage.)

The only time I've been REALLY scared out there on that trail up the hill to the outhouse was years ago one night when I was POSITIVE I heard something big moving out in the forest. I went back to the boathouse to tell Jeff, who laughed at me and said it was probably a squirrel. At my insistence, he came out onto the path with me to listen.

Jeff (after a pause): "Ok, that's bigger than a squirrel."

Jeff (after another a pause): "Bigger than a raccoon, too."

[As if sensing us, the irregular noises pause out in the forest, then Something quite clearly STARTS PADDING TOWARDS US! Jeff grabs my hand and we run faster than I remember ever running before, back to the boathouse. Amazing how long you can postpone going to the bathroom when you have to.]

We never did figure out what was out in the forest that night.

Speaking of forest, Jeff and I are off on a hiking adventure this morning! Gorgeous weather: clear blue skies, gentle breeze, sunshine. Maybe tonight Jeff will get to see his comet after all...

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