A Weird and Bittersweet Weekend

  This has been a very weird weekend so far.  The weather has been fabulous.  We came to the cottage on Friday afternoon anxious to wake up here in the peace and quiet of the Bruce Peninsula.  It was also the weekend of the Garage Sale Trail, a huge garage sale event.  I was woken up to a noise that seemed right outside my bedroom window.  Not thinking that bears came this close, I assumed it was a raccoon.  The next morning my neighbor said there was a black bear 5 feet from her bathroom window.!!  Glad I                                                wasn't outside letting Gracie out for a pee.!

  I set out early Saturday morning with my neighbor and our morning took us from the east side of the peninsula on Georgian Bay to the west side on Lake Huron.  We found some wonderful Bits! Will post my finds later.

  

What seemed like a peaceful and fun morning changed when I recieved a call from my daughter to say that a friend had been killed in an accident.  He was the best friend of a work mate of hers.  Of course she was shocked and saddened. 

I faffed around the cottage for the rest of the day, trying out settings on my camera for pictures.  At lunch I went off to buy some sugar to make jam.  I had picked up berries from a farm on the way up.

On the way to the grocery store I passed an old guy hobbling down the street and thought how difficult this looked for him.  He was walking quickly though, and I wondered where he was going.

 

I went home and spent the afternoon making jam.  I love making jam and could spend the whole day in the kitchen with the music going and jam bubbling.  My favorite part is listening to the tops snap as they cool and seal.  I have always said I should have been a Farmer's Wife! 

Later in the afternoon, an OPP helicopter started circling and continued for hours.  The police boat is in the water right in front of our cottage.  They came and put it on the trailer and removed it.  I wondered if there was a sailor missing somewhere.  The marina was busy and nothing seemed out of place.  At around 8:30 I went off for a little bike ride to discover the whole town crawling with police.  They were looking for a man who had wandered away from the nursing home.  Apparently, it was the old hobbling fellow I had seen over 8 hours ago.  I was the last and only one to have seen him.  I had to give a statement.  I felt awful as we had no idea they were looking for him.

I lay awake for hours thinking of these 2 families and the poor old fellow happy it was a warm night at least,  and the bears.....So we sit here this morning hoping that a family will get good news today.  It is a wierd and erie feeling here.  It is so quiet and everyone is sad and concerned.  We pray this poor fellow is found safe today.