Kettle Point

Dear Adele,

I am sending you the warmth and light of this late summer day.  This week I spent a few days at a cottage on Lake Huron, at Kettle Point, near Ipperwash (southern end of Lake Huron, toward Sarnia).
I used to spend a lot of time here,when my son was young, but haven't visited for over 25 years -- and it was restful and peaceful to spend some time alone, enjoying how the trees have grown and become shady, seeing how the reeds have grown up along what used to be shore-line, swimming in the lake and feeling the sand-bars under my toes again.  Kettle Point is an ongoing First Nations reserve, which seems to have been doing better in recent years, with a new school, health centre, cultural centre, and shopping plaza, and is recovering from the trauma of the shooting of Dudley George at Ipperwash in 1995.  Non-Natives can own a cottage and lease the land from the reserve -- this arrangement seems to work well.  I was glad to have time to reflect on memories of the past and the goodness and fullness of life in the present.  Here are a few pictures -- I hope they convey the peace and aura of the place, very different from the nearby towns and campsites -- and a couple of  haiku.  Love and take good care,  Ellen

The lake flows on, reeds                                            

and all.  A storm blows in, passes by.                      

Sunlight glimmers.

The spruce we planted
now towers in shade.
Acorns fall like hard rain.
from the oak nearby.

Kettles, ancient geodes,
Mysteries on the lakeshore
Shining in every sunset.