Unleashed

Storyline: Advantures in our back yard

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Looking down memory lane a quarter century back. My dismay at the contrast between the beauty of Ontario nature seen through the safety of one’s car and the reality of being bitten to death by its most populous creatures: big fat mosquitoes. Add the black flies and the deer flies to this picturesque nature, and I came back from my first ever hiking in Ontario with no skin left, but big red bobbles of bites (now the English grammar police may argue over this usage here, but honestly they looked like bobbles to me). “Where have you been?”, asked my colleagues. “Algonquin Park” … Rolling eyes and laughter: “Who in the world hikes in June? Or July for that matter!” “Did you not have bug spray?”, “Bug spray? What is that?” Having just come from Europe the previous year, all this was a new nuisance to me. We hike in the parks and mountains all seasons there. Very few mosquitoes or any other biting creatures. No bug spray, no bites!

Haven’t thought about this early encounter with Canadian nature (it’s not just an Ontario phenomenon, you know) until last weekend. We usually visit Alex’s sister in late fall and winter. But as everyone else we’ve been locked down for way too long and our new campervan was getting rusty (eh, not really) and itchy to be taken around to see some of the world. About three months after Doranya took us on a “European tour” in Southern Ontario, we finally could drive it again. Although we all live in a pandemic world, those outside of Ontario have different pandemic realities and timing. Weather in March was beautiful by our Canadian standards, and we had plans for more self-isolated trips in our self-sufficient home on wheels. Unfortunately, Covid had different ideas.

We were in the midst of a third wave with all kind of variants, and as though naming them after countries of origin wasn’t confusing enough, they were also named using the Latin alphabet followed by some numbers. And just so that no one was left out of the total confusion, the Greek alphabet was introduced too. Soon after our March road-trip, we were ordered: “Stay at home”. It was illegal to drive around except for groceries and medications. Cold April came and went. May was nice but all we could do was gardening and walking in the neighbourhood.

Alex’s sister’s special birthday was fast approaching and my mind was working on exceptions. A few came to mind, but just as I was ironing it out, the government made its own exception. Golf was allowed. No kidding! Who are the big donors to our conservatives in power? But this allowed a line in my script! We are going to play golf in Kanata my Love! Pardon me for holding the club backwards!  (Actually, that was a tennis racquet, but who’s to quibble – A).

This first mad trip in late May left us with only a small mosquito story. We had left Doranya’s windows open overnight, with the screens up of course, and woke up to a swarm of mosquitoes trapped between the windows and the screens. We had to somehow close the windows before we drove away.

This required pulling the screen down and letting the mosquitoes into the coach. I wasn’t going to let this happen. However, my attempt to flush them out wasn’t very successful. Then a brilliant idea popped in my head (I’d only know it was brilliant after all was done with). Still in my PJs, I asked Alex to get me a hair dryer from his sister. Perhaps I could blow them away. They don’t like the wind, do they? It worked perfectly well! Not a mosquito left.  Add a hair dryer to Doranya’s accessories!

Back to last weekend. By now we have mastered checking the sliding door of Doranya quickly, making sure no biting bug is ready to sneak in, then opening it fast, jumping in and shutting it even faster behind us. Also, parking in the sunny and breezy open area, so only a few are around. But this time another enemy had arrived. The dreaded deer flies! (As many of you know, we live just north of Toronto. There are very few mosquitos and no other annoying flying creatures to speak of in our backyard. Not in the parks we walk through either.) The deer flies were acting just the opposite of the mosquitoes. They like the sun. Boy, do they love it! As the sun rose and mosquitoes retreated into their shady swampy areas, millions (poetic licence here – A) of carnivores swarmed and buzzed around our heads, filling the air just about everywhere.

It’s been a long time since we’ve seen Alex’s nephew and niece and their families however. Unleashed with a new provincial order that allowed outdoor gatherings for up to 10 people and with the hope that late in the summer Doranya will take us much further away, and Chris and Tim’s posting to the other end of the world, it was perfect timing to visit and see them all.

And what better place for this than their parents’ fantastic property nested among the rocks and the woods and (regrettably) the many swampy water bodies. Picture perfect! Alas, looking from inside out through their big windows, which of course, are off limits in the pandemic.

Bug screen tents were set; chairs – each pair 2 metres apart from the next, carefully arranged; tables spaced between; each and everyone armed with a mask around the serving table and when in proximity of a person from a different household; toys for the kids scattered around the lawn…

Delicious lunch prepared by Marian, our cheerful and welcoming hostess, and drinks prepared and delivered personally (at arm’s length or greater) by our great host and bartender Jim, and we had a great time: deer flies and mosquitoes excluded (from the fun that is)! And as rain is pouring from the open skies in a deluge while I am writing this two days later, the weather could not have been better! Thank you Marian & Jim for being such great hosts!

After moochdocking (parking an RV on a friend or family’s property) for two nights in Marian and Jim’s driveway we headed out to reconnoiter a few free/wild camping (or boondocking as it is called in North America) ideas and check some of those suggested by a few free apps. Check our next post for our findings.