Meeting someone in Grand Bend, Ontario is easy. You say either 'turn left at the traffic light', or 'turn right at the traffic light.'
I left one of the two bars one cold, dark, January night, slightly drunk on Molson beer, and decided to take a walk down to the beach of one tiny stretch of Lake Huron.
It was about minus 20 and the ice had formed high ridges up against the shore which stretched as far as the eye could see in moonlight.
I walked about a quarter of a mile out into what I had previously thought to be the sea, so vast was the lake. I scrambled up the eight-foot ice dunes, then back down the other side until I made my way back to the wooden piers and jetties which thronged with holiday makers in the warm Summers.
Back in the bar, people asked where I had been.
I told them, and they looked at me and each other with a strange but old and familiar look in their faces.
One man said, "You're lucky. Most people who do what you did fall through a thin spot and we don't find them until Spring. We don't even bother to look for them until Spring."
Just looked up Grand Bend. Judging by the summer photos, you were there at the best time of year. No wonder they're not to keen on tourists.
ReplyDeleteThe town has a tiny population - in the Winter...
DeleteThat is a very Canadian story. It is an interesting perspective being on the ice, like walking on water. I hope you were dressed for the weather.
ReplyDeleteWhen I arrived in Quebec it was minus 40C. That was when I got hold of the right boots.
DeleteThat was my thought, exactly. I lived a quarter mile from Lake Erie, the next west in the chain, and equally dangerous in winter. I suppose you always could see your way back to shore; nevertheless, pretty stupid. Glad you're still here.
ReplyDeleteI am on Lake Ontario. I was just thinking of the wind chill off the lake. Yikes.
DeleteIt was a bit nippy. The shoreline had the beckoning lights of the warm bar that I had just left.
DeleteThe population of Grand Bend drops significantly after Labour Day (beginning of September). I've driven through Grand Bend a number of times on highway 21. For future reference, do NOT go out on the ice. I'm sitting here just shaking my head. -Jenn
ReplyDeleteThat is good advice, but about 20 years out of date.
DeleteI'm no fool, I don't go near water unless it's temperature is above 20 C.
ReplyDeleteits.
DeleteThen you walk on it?
DeleteI lived in a town named Bad Axe on Lake Huron in Michigan for 18 month’s. Time and winter go very slow. My husband used to like to ice fish and I never understood why. Man should not walk on water even if it is frozen.
ReplyDelete