Avoiding the Subject

Blog 33

It was time to make the important decision about where we wanted to continue our life. I had done a lot of brooding over the question of whether to stay in Canada, or to return to Germany. I was torn and felt overwhelmed. When Ingo finally got the offer, he asked me for my decision. I told him about about my struggles.

At first, he was pulling away and went for a lonely trip in the canoe. I was shocked about his reaction. I thought we would sit together to talk about our doubts and make the decision together. I assumed that he had already figured out by our several discussions that I was not too thrilled about the idea of staying in Canada.

While he was gone, I threw myself into washing the dishes. When I suddenly saw the beautiful sunset, I dropped the dish cloth, grabbed my painting equipment and hurried to the deck to capture the sunset. I was quite happy with the result which just shows that painting is a great stress reliever.

When Ingo returned, he wanted to discuss the move to Ottawa, but I put him off because I was afraid that the discussion would get me so upset that I would brood over all the challenges throughout the night. Instead we played a round of “Mensch ärgere Dich nicht“ (a German board game similar to “Sorry”) which Ingo won as always.

The next morning, we were up early, as we had heard that power would be cut for a couple of hours. We continued to avoid the necessary discussion. Instead, we went canoeing on the Muskoka river, followed by a drive on the “Lady Muskoka”, a passenger boat that takes tourists along the Muskoka river and lake. When we passed the “millionaires row”, I could hardly keep my eyes from bulging. Most of the cottages at Lake Muskoka were quite a good size but those millionaires' cottages looked like palaces. Even more important than the actual size of the building were the number of boat houses a family owned. Some families owned their own islands including a guest house and a house for the housekeeper. This house alone was often at least twice as big as the cottage of Ingo's parents. I was hard to comprehend all this wealth.

It goes without saying that we passed Santa's Village, which is indeed only an amusement park for small kids. We not only saw one of Santa's Village boats with Christmas songs blasting from the sound system, but also Santa with his long white beard. However, instead of his red robe, he wore a black swim trunk and dark sunglasses when he passed us in a motor boat.

In the afternoon, we were lounging on the cottage's patio. What a luxury! I appreciated our time off. How many people could have afforded such a long vacation?

While all this helped to distract us from the important decision we had to make, and I even managed to postpone our discussion for another day. We still could not avoid talking about the big challenge in front of us. It was time to take a clear step, and get out of the doubtfulness.

You are probably wondering why I always get away from the topic of our decision of whether Ingo should accept or reject the job offer in Ottawa. I was thinking about just writing the blog with the facts of how we finally came to a decision, but decided to write it in chronological order instead to show how reluctant we both were to commit. I hope you will return next week to find out how we finally made up our minds.

Cottage Adventures

Blog 30

After our visit to Ottawa in early July 1995, we went back to the cottage in Muskoka to enjoy some lazy summer days. When we reached the cottage, we were greeted with a not so pleasant surprise. The floor of the living room was trembling, and a horrible booming noise could be heard in the whole cottage until Ingo turned off the water pump. However, that meant no water. Luckily, early the next morning the handyman came and fixed the problem.

On this second visit to the cottage, the weather was fantastic. It was very hot. We enjoyed the time on the patio and swimming in the lake. It was the middle of the week, and I could hardly believe our luck of being able to enjoy life with crafts, books, and games while everyone else was at work. Actually not everyone, as we would find out when we went to the “33rd Muskoka Arts & Crafts Summer Show” that started on a Friday at 10 am. It was about half an hour later when we reached Bracebridge, and it was hard to find a parking spot. I had wondered who would visit such an event on a Friday morning, and was totally surprised to see so many people.

There were 204 booths. You could buy anything from clothes, jewelry, pottery, paintings, wood works, sculptures, glass pieces, and even boats. Unfortunately, nobody sold teddy bears, so I could not compare my furry friends to others. It was wonderful to see all the goods in this beautiful setting, among huge trees that provided shade in this heat. We were very thankful for the cooling relief these trees brought in this boiling heat.

We continued to the old core of the town, and I was enchanted by the old buildings. However, I found it rather strange that all stores were decorated for the Christmas season. Ingo told me that this was not unusual: many stores offered Christmas items in July as promotions. I had already noticed that every town seemed to have a shop that sold Christmas decorations throughout the year. Weird! How can you think about Christmas in the middle of summer?

However, I was intrigued, and wanted to see what Santa's Village was all about. I expected an idyllic Christmas town, and was understandably disappointed when I found out that it was just an amusement park. We did not visit it, but returned to the cottage. We did not go swimming again as the water of the lake, which is created due to a dam, was very low and dirty. The many motorboats had churned up the sand of the lake and left oil traces on the water surface and the sand. As much as motorboats look like fun for water skiers, they also are a big noise and water pollutant.

At night, we enjoyed being able to prepare a nice dinner by ourselves. Ingo made the main course and I the dessert. At twilight, I finally started a painting, sitting on the dock. The fast approaching darkness prevented me from finishing my piece, but I was quite happy with the beginnings, especially the water. I am pretty sure that I would think differently if I looked at the painting right now, even though I like to look at my older artworks, especially when I am struggling with a current one. They show me that I have indeed come a far way. I just wish I could find those pieces from that time. I usually hang on to more than I should keep, but I have not been able to find much from the early days in Canada. Maybe, I considered them not worth saving once I had done my first courses with the Ottawa School of Art.

old photo of one of my early acrylic paintings of the photo above

At night, a severe thunderstorm awakened us. The lightning was so strong that everything was as bright as day, however the light was surreal white. The storm howled, and in no time the windows were totally fogged up due to the big difference in temperature outside and inside. I had never experienced such a spectacle. Next, we lost power, another first for me.

When we woke up in the morning, the power was still gone, and even the phone was dead.

Ingo had never experienced the lack of phone service. All around the cottage there were lots of broken branches, but all the trees were still standing. Luckily, the cottage and our car were undamaged.

We decided to pack our stuff together with the help of a flashlight, and head home early. On our way back to Mississauga, we heard the first reports of the major storm. A tornado had even hit Orillia where it cleared the roofs of several houses and damaged cars. Trees were blocking roads everywhere. The whole Muskoka region was without power, some areas even for a couple of days. We were certainly happy to have come out of the storm without harm.

When we reached Mississauga, the weather was fantastic. The sun was shining brightly. It was not before the evening that a rather small storm reached the Greater Toronto Area. At the time, we were just biking along the Waterfront Trail towards Oakville, where we saw some of the biggest mansions I had ever seen. Each one looked like a palace. I could not believe the number of very rich people in Canada. In Germany, hardly anyone could afford living like this. Nowadays, I know some of the reasons, like the lack of space and the difference in construction materials and regulations. However, this is another topic in itself.

Thank you for following my journey of discovering Canada. I hope you will continue to follow my blog. If you know anyone who might be interested in my story, I would appreciate it if you would share my blog. Thank you in advance for helping me to increase my audience.

Cottage Country

Blog 28


At the beginning of July 1995, I was finally introduced to the cottage country. However, the day of our trip was not one of my best days. Ingo and I had a couple of fights – living with Ingo's family without a place to retreat, and the increasing pressure of not finding a job made us more and more irritable. I felt trapped. There was nobody but Ingo around with whom I could have talked. I was ready to take the next flight and leave for Germany.

At the end, we decided that a couple of days at the Peters Cottage would be good for us. On the way, we stopped at the famous “Webers” restaurant where people are lining up for the burgers, especially on the weekends. The restaurant was so successful that they built a footbridge over the highway to make it possible for people coming from the opposite direction to access the restaurant. I was not too impressed with the burgers, but I guess the restaurant is such an institution that the quality of the food does not matter anymore.

When we reached the cottage, it was about 10:30 pm. Everything was pitch black, and the pouring rain did not make it very inviting. Even though Ingo turned on the light at the cottage, I did not see very much. We had to go down a steep set of stairs. I was packed with all kinds of stuff, including a glass bottle of water, a beauty case, a craft bag, and a teddy bear, and cursed for stepping into a puddle, when I suddenly slipped and slide down on my back and arms. My cry did probably scare away all wildlife in the area. Ingo came running. Fortunately, I had dropped everything and avoided even more injuries. Plus, nothing got damaged, not even the brand new pants I was wearing. Ingo treated me with ice packages while he tried to console me. Once the shock wore off, the pain increased even more. Ingo tried his best to distract me with old comics and a game of “Mensch ärgere dich nicht”, a German board game similar to Trouble”. It could all have been worse. I could have broken some bones, but for the next couple of weeks, I was in so much pain that I could neither walk nor sit or sleep properly.

Despite the wet and cold weather, we went to Bracebridge to visit the flea market, then the “Arts and Craft Show” where local painters and sculptors showed their creations. I was inspired to pick up my brushes again. There was lots to paint, if the weather had improved.

Instead, we visited the “16th Antique and Classic Boat Show” in Gravenhurst, where we saw everything from luxury yacht made out of mahogany to racing boats. According to what I heard from Ingo about the people owning cottages in the Muskoka region, I was not surprised to see such luxury.

I was not able to see much of these monster cottages, but I would get another chance during one of our next trips to the cottage. However, before I was able to see more of Muskoka, Ingo's job search brought us to Ottawa where he had his first interesting job interview.

Thank you for following my journey. While I will relax for at the cottage this week, my blog for next week is already scheduled. I hope you will return to read about my first discoveries in Ottawa.