A late september visit to the lake

I had an early fall trip planned out to Kamloops, and then Todd Mountain (Sun Peakes) for a gathering.  I decided that, it being a sabbatical year (and thus no teaching obligations), I should stop at the lake for a few days.    

It was late when I arrived, so I headed out to the back porch, turning off the house lights so I could enjoy the nighttime sky.   It never fails to take my breath away, the difference between the sky when you are in the city, or out in the woods.  I had some small flashbacks to sitting with siblings and niblings out on the dark porch during the summer Perseids meteor shower.   I did notice that the warmth of the summer nights had been replaced by something a bit crisper, so i headed back indoors to snuggle down for sleep.

In the morning, I got to enjoy the music of the local crows, flying around (and I think also checking me out too).  

I am not usually out at the lake in the fall, and was reminded of Arta telling me that it was always a very different vibe once the "summer people" have gone (ie all of us kids and grandkids who head off to our homes by late august like some kind of migratory bird).  She would say how much fun the 'regulars' (ie. Arta, Moiya, Wyona, and Glen) would have, just hanging out with eachother, and taking turns making shared meals.

the Douglas Fir on Lot 4

I thought I might just head down the road, and see if things looked much different in the fall.   I hadn't really told anyone I was coming (just Doral, Anita, and Bonnie Wyora).  

I thought it might be fun (and jealousy inducing) to let the summer people know where I was by sending them pictures, and seeing if they could guess where I was [insert diabolical laughter here]. 

the same trees reflected in the window

I stopped first at Richard & Miranda's cabin.  I like it that their windows are so reflective that I could take a selfie that captured both the cabin and the lake at the same time.

Then I headed off to Dan and Marina's place to enjoy a few minutes on their porch swing.  It would have been a bit more comfortable with the cushions.  And a bit more entertaining if i could have been sitting there chatting with Marina or the kids, but.... you take your pleasure where you can!

Resting at Lot 5

a selfie from moiyas front door

From there, it was just a hop skip and jump to Moiya and Dave's. 

Again, no one was home!  

That was a bit of a bummer.  I do often stop in there hoping that I will catch her in the middle of taking bread out of the oven, which gets me at least the pleasures of enjoying the fragrance, and the possibility of also snagging a few slices with honey and butter.  

I dealt with the disappointment by texting a photo of me to Moiya with the line "guess where I am?"   

And I then headed in the direction of Wyona's, after pausing to notice that Moiya's cherry tomato plant is still generating tasty little globes of happiness.  I couldn't stop myself from pulling off a tomato, and popping it in my mouth along with a leaf of fresh basil which was growing alongside it. 

From there, I headed over to the Bates house, knowing that Wyona and Greg were back in Calgary, and wondering if their trees would still be loaded up with fruit (I was still feeling a bit peckish, after that cherry tomato appetizer).  

The plum tree did have a few fruit still hanging on, but they did have the smell of having fermented right on the tree (little bags of booze-mash for the wasps?).  

The pear tree was also quite loaded up.   

But what struck me this time was the apple tree.  

Now, it is not that an apple tree is such a shocking thing:  they are all over the place on the property.  

But growing up, we were always picking them way too early, when they here hard nuggets of tart/sourness (and sometimes used as ammunition in battles against eachother).  

The 'weird' thing this time around was experiencing the trees in the fall, in the right season, when they were finally approaching apple perfection:  perfect for picking and eating off the tree. So yes, I did pick a 'red delicious' right off the tree, and enjoyed munching on it from Wyona's lawn, looking out over the lake.  

Glen hard at work

At this point, I seemed to be the only person out on the property.  So, I headed off to Glen and Janet's, knowing that Janet would be at work, but wondering if Glen would be hanging out at home.   

Within seconds, I could hear music playing from the direction of their garage, and knew I was in luck!   I found Glen there.  

He told me he was 'busy loitering'.  I told him I was loitering too.   He then had to correct me by SPELLING his activity. 

 

Glen's legs (loitering while lautering)

He was not LOITERING but LAUTERING.  Put otherwise, he was actively involved in his autumn activity of beer making, and at the 'lautering' stage.  

Perfect!   Because he had to sit there and hang out lautering, I could loiter at the same time.

   

Glen's grist grinder

While I spend every summer sitting out by the hops plants while thowing pots on the wheel, and I know those hops go INTO the beer, I have never been there when Glen was actually DOING the beer making.  

It was fun getting to see those pieces come together.

We started with 'grist for the mill'.  Or is that grist from the mill?  He showed me his homemade 'grister' to crack the wheat.  

It totally had the smell of the wheat grinder we had at home growing up.  Yes, he said, this is similar, but he is not aiming for flour, just cracked (gristed) wheat.

I got to hang out while hot water filtered from the top tank to soak the grist, which Glen had to stir every so often to break up the cake, and the brew filtered down, and then turned into wart (wort?), and then filtered into another pot, which would then get boiled later.   

I will admit that when he was stiring up the cake with a big stick, my mind was filled many images of witches stirring their brew.   This seemed the epitome of magic.

electronic wizardy?

I was particularly interested in the electronic gizmo thingy he had hooked up which was gradually raising the temperature of the brew.  

My interest was high because he told me he was simulatenously working on how to attach an electronic gizmo thing to the kiln, so that we can program the kiln to add more precision to our pottery firing for next year! 

Multitasking!   I was happy to see him honing his skills while brew-making, hoping they will transfer over to the pottery set up!

almost ready for the boil?

At that point on my travels, I headed under the deck to just run my fingers over the wheel and kiln.  I also had to stop to enjoy the grape vines threading their way up the side of their house, to the balcony above.  

love the vibrant white/green/blue in this photo

Those corcord grapes tasted every bit as good as they looked.   I love how those tart little things slip out of their skins (we kids called them 'slippery guts grapes'), and require your mouth to do the callistenics necessary to spit out the seeds.   Reminds me of childhood!

Having once again sampled the bounty of the land (supported by the planting and stewarding work of my relatives), I headed back to Lot #3 to meet up with Bonnie Wyora (at the end of her work day).  

Air still smelling as delicious as ever. 

 

another glorious sunset