Thousand Islands Life Magazine, TI Life in Sept '19

"September" is written with anticipation, sadness and joy! Anticipation for those heading to a new grade, college or university, sadness as we say goodbye to River friends and joy as we once again "own the River!" The bays are quiet, marinas are starting to empty slips but most of all the River traffic subsides and the St. Lawrence River is once again, all mine.

The water is lower, probably not as low as we remember in past Septembers, but getting there. Enough letters written, comments posted and videos viewed to ensure the IJC has some work to do. Local Canadian politicians met in August with IJC representatives and learned about plans to mitigate future levels. The bottom line "IJC must communicate their actions better to explain their actions." Wayne Lowrie of the Brockville & Times article "Explain yourself" provided some explanations regarding releasing more water in the winter, but it is safe to say the public on both sides of the border will not remain quite.

1000 Islands Kayaking's says, "No caption needed. A beautiful photo taken by Captured by Sage!."

Sad news

We have 22 communities in the Thousand Islands - but that does not include all the Marinas to which boaters return each year. Their relationships grow strong and like cottage communities, losing a mariner can be just as upsetting as losing a neighbor. This happened recently to those in the Gananoque Municipal Marina. Kim McQuaid, Marina manager, notified boaters that Larry Martin died at the marina on Sept 2. 2019. "He will be sadly missed by all fellow boaters who knew him. Myself and my staff will miss Larry stopping by the office for a chat or just even walking by and giving a hello and a wave as he passed by."

End of Summer Signals

Simple announcement describes the end of summer for Murray Isle. "The last mail boat will arrive on Saturday, September 14, 2019." Nuff said!

Hunting Season will start with a “Heritage Day” on the 21^st of October for young hunters, but the regular season begins on the 28^th and runs through January 11^th on the Ontario side of the river. Be sure to review all the current Canadian regulations.

The season opens in the United States, Northeast Section at different times for different waterfowl and migratory game birds. It looks like we will hear the sound of guns beginning October 5- 27 and November 2-December 8. Be sure to read the DEC information... It is way to complicated for this non-hunter!)

There are two paragraphs Waterfowl News for 2019-2020:

"Due to a slow, but steady decline in mallards across the northeastern United States, the mallard daily bag limit has reduced from 4 birds (2 hens) per day to 2 birds (1 hen) per day. Please see the Declining Mallards in the Atlantic Flyway (PDF) brochure for more information."

"The Canada goose season length in the Northeast, West Central, East Central, Hudson Valley, and Lake Champlain zones has been reduced from 50 days to 30 days and the bag limit has been reduced from 3 per day to 2 per day. Please see the Status and Management of Atlantic Population Canada Geese (PDF) brochure for more information."

"The northern pintail bag limit has been reduced from 2 per day to 1 per day."

Shooting Hours: one-half hour before sunrise to sunset; see exceptions for Canada geese during September and snow geese during January 16 - April 15.

Our thanks to Heidy and Konrad Linckh, for their photograph taken from their Tower on Hill Island, (captured in the shadow) for sending this one along to TI Life.

Happy Ending?

At least there is a happy ending to this story now... Let's hope for the future too. Soon after two tourists met at Boldt Castle on July 16, a personal ad was seen in Toronto newspapers and all over Facebook!

Now in mid September Canadian Global News gives us the next chapter... The girl has been found and they are meeting for lunch in a couple of weeks.

This Issue

Lynn E. McElfresh presents her 130th TI Life article - Betty White.
...She was the talk of Grenell Island—Murray Isle too. “Did you see the new set of ducks...

Liz Huff presents: Lisa Free - Her Work Beautifully Evokes the St. Lawrence River
...Lisa Free is an active professional painter, and watching her at work is magical...

Craig Irwin Stephenson (our St. Lawrence Seaway historian) presents: Out of a Flood: The Upper Canada Migratory Bird Sanctuary
...The Sanctuary is an oddity of history, its nine thousand acres...

Becky Ferringo joins TI Life with her first article: The Work of Minna Anthony Common: Rock Ridges Trail
...Minna Anthony Common spent nearly all of her summers surrounded by this beauty…

Stewart Dutfield leaves his kayak at home and goes on his bicycle: Two Ferries and a Vineyard...
Every summer my wife, Jean and I celebrate our anniversary by taking a day-long ...

Cary Brick returns with a most interesting “Small World Story.” 1,431,000 Texans: Small World Stories
...In looking at the magazine a familiar picture caught my eye. It looked like the...

Kara Lynn Dunn gives us a science lesson: Gobies, Methane Gas and Shoreline Erosion... Research on the River
...Recently granted research projects are investigating areas of interest to St. Lawrence...

Chris Murray’s photography lesson is a good one: Depth of Field: The Story Behind the Image, "Windblown Daisies”
...The scene was beautiful because of the wind. It then hit me: embrace the conditions...

Nicol Hartshorn (Super Mom) provides a review in: Accolade to the Aqua Mat & Millens Bay Melons!
I feel I have stumbled upon the greatest boating accessory of all time! THE AQUA MAT...

And Dan LeKander gives us his: Sudoku #58
This month we will complete the first four steps in the order we observe them, (Easy for you to say Dan… Once again you stump me for a little while…)

David and Judy Orr, Mudlunta Island, Admiralty Group, captured a double rainbow over Grindstone Island... and yes, boats, giant ducks and beautiful sculptures are part of their lives.

And Please Don't Forget!

It is not too early to be thinking about purchasing Holiday Gifts...Want to order online? Call your favorite store along the River and ask what they have that is different this year - and ask that they send one or more items to you! That way you will be shopping both online and LOCALLY.

I thank those who send photographs for TI Life – they really are better than 1000 words… Always send medium-to-high-resolution photos to info@thousandislandslife.com.