Homesick on Canada Day

I totally missed Canada Day this year. The combination of being in the weeds at work and this whole pandemic, I was completely distracted and missed one of my favorite holidays. So on the 4th of July, in honor of the young man in this photo I tripped across today, I made blueberry pancakes with maple syrup from Northern Ontario.

I was in my early 20s in this shot and working at a gas station/diner/motel on the north shore of Lake Superior, trying to save money to move to Banff, Alberta to live with some friends I'd met while working at Disney for a year. I didn't have a license, so the owners let me crash in motel rooms if there were any open.

On the nights they had no vacancies, I would sleep in a tent on the property, after skinny dipping in Lake Superior to wash the smell of fried fish off of me.

It was a great summer and there were times when I’d sleep under my canoe instead of my tent, just to enjoy the weather and to look at the stars.