Beth, Brantford

“It was in Bobcaygeon, I saw the constellations, Reveal themselves, one star at time.” I heard these song lyrics recently and was transported back to a summer vacation with my father and my siblings when I was a young child. Bobcaygeon‎ was my first experience of cottage life. My childhood self remembers roasted marshmallows, Kawartha Dairy ice cream, swimming in the lake with my brothers, my dad teaching me to fish. My adult self looks back at my brave, wise, patient father and the lessons he shared that summer and in the years that followed. Thoughts about the land and it's history, respecting it, listening for its stories. ‎The treasures we found while walking in the woods. Lying in the grass and gazing up at the stars, discovering whole new worlds of wonder. That summer began what was to be a life-long journey of discovery about our connection to this place that is Ontario.

(Lyrics from The Tragically Hip’s “Bobcaygeon”, the Phantom Power album)