in the neighbourhood | Mama Cormier

…..it’s Good Friday and most places of business are closed today

As I sit here I wonder how many people are going to church today. It’s miserable outside, grey and raining. I suppose that’s fitting for Good Friday. It’s suppose to be the most important holiday on the Christian calendar but most people confuse it with Easter bunnies and eggs and forget why they have the day off. Perhaps people are living in a bubble today; happy to have the day off but not really knowing the significance of the day.

My writing this post, however, has nothing to do with Good Friday. Recently on one of my walks I was reminded how a few brave souls literally choose to live inside a ‘bubble’ all winter long. These people are called liveaboards and they actually live on their boats, moored in a marina, all year long. I call it living in a bubble because the boats are literally surrounded with a big bubble of plastic to keep the wind, cold and snow at bay. It requires having a special aerator going 24/7 to keep the ice from forming around the boat and of course they need generators to keep the lights on and heat the place.

I was surprised at the cost of doing this. It isn’t cheap. In fact it costs more in the winter to moor your boat than in the summer. To learn more about living on your boat year round you might find this article by the CBC of interest.

This is what the marina looks like during the winter after all the boats have been put ashore for the season…..

….and here are the brave souls who winter here

…more photos from my daily walks

Now that the weather is warming up I’m seeing more and more birds. Living next to the lake has always given me lots of opportunities to photograph the waterfowl, even in the winter but now that the weather is finally warming up (for a day or so and then it gets cold again) the number of birds is definitely increasing and their activity level is on the rise as they get ready to mate and build nests. Here are a few more birds that I’ve witnessed on my walks.

Another critter that I discovered this evening was a beaver that resides in the pond over at Col. Sam Smith Park. I knew that there were beavers there but I’d never seen one before today. At first is just looked like a rock sticking out of the water but I knew it had to be more than that based on the excitement of two other onlookers.