Yonge (pronounced "Young") St. North York Center a couple of blocks from Lake Ontario
Arrived in Muskoka at 9:10 p.m. yesterday. We took an hour and a half detour through the heart of Toronto, Yonge St. The ride would have been a record 14.5 hour drive but instead lasted 16 hours, but the trip up Yonge St., so cosmo, so multi-ethnic, so many bikes was worth it. I’ll have pictures we took from the car as we passed by large plate glass windows where our reflection stood out from the cosmo look. The mini van with an 18.5′ canoe on top was hilarious in the window. And yes, we got lost twice on the way up. We took a little detour onto the PA Turnpike looking for a bathroom for Jim. Ask him who Chi Chi is. My fault on the bad directions. And then in Buffalo, we went through Lackawanna to hook up with the Fort Erie bridge and got a little turned around but saw downtown Buffalo for the first time. Tim says Lackawanna is a great name for Presbyterians.
Rain pelted us as we emptied the car. The pump worked after sitting idle for two months. We have one working heater, but the wood stove cranked out maximum heat when we got it going. It’s not that cold. I think it was about 48 degrees last night. Sleeping was great. Beds have been fitted with new egg shell mattresses so they aren’t rock hard. Tim slept on the porch to get maximum exposure. Tim and Jim snored like elephants but they were two rooms away!
View from the Cottage
Danny shared his journey of faith this morning. Awesome! I wish he could tell it like that in front of a bunch of people. He’s become a Warrior for Christ, a rock of faith, in the five years I’ve known him. Jim and I went for a two mile walk up the road. We saw five deer who peered at us through the bushes, less than fifty feet away, as we walked by. I talked to them the whole way, but they didn’t want to go get coffee and talk.
I took a quickie swim this morning. Air temp was about 50. Water temp felt warmer, but chilly. Jim got it on film. All I can say is, “Refreshing!”
The guys played along with me and went to Knox Presbyterian Church in Port Carling to the prayer service and soup lunch. We had a liturgical prayer and worship then prayed for people’s needs. I prayed for Rhonda’s tests back home as she is totally stressed with history right now. The folks are Knox are wonderful and totally accommodated our usurping of their
Summer worship at Knox Pres., Port Carling, Ontario
prayer group. Soups were fantastic as usual. I had the corn chowder and the pureed squash, red pepper and some other zingy spices. Steven, the pastor, doesn’t know the recipe because he made it up as he found ingredients in the fridge. I sat at the end table with Toni, Steven’s wife, who was still excited from the excellent sermon (in Canadian “reading”) she gave at Knox on Sunday. Steven was preaching in Bracebridge as their moderator. He says stated supply is hard to get in the winter in these churches. I think we should give them some of our Commissioned Lay Pastors to help out!
The only doctor in town came to lunch and sat next to me. She immediately took up with the conversation about health care started by Jim when he asked what everyone thought of the Ontario health system. The response people had give was, “satisfied.” The doc asked how such a generous country could allow so many people to remain unvaccinated and under-served, and why our infant mortality rate is almost to third world proportions? she believes that the middle man and the lawyers are creating a selfish system. She mentioned that dentists make much more than doctors in Ontario because it is privatized. Toni concurred since she writes the paychecks for the doc and used to work for a dentist. But the payments and the services are working great according to the doc. She would like an appointment with Obama to help him understand the system. Canadian Health is all about cutting costs by keeping people healthy.
So, I’m at the Library while the guys do a little souvenier shopping and get a fishing license. Jim has to bring some moose antlers home for his granddaughter. I think Danny is going to bring something home with “Aye” on it since that has become his favorite word. Tim hopes to catch some fish. So out we go on the clear glassy piece of heaven, Lake Rosseau, before the rain starts in a few hours.
