Monday, September 5, 2016

Labour Day on the Bay

It was a perfect last day of summer here for Labour Day.  We thought briefly of all those students heading back to school, and those cottagers heading back to work.  But not for long, we were out on Georgian Bay having a beautiful paddle on very calm waters and knowing that there's no going back to work for us!.

I've never paddled right out on the bay before.  With just a bit of breeze it can get rough quickly, and waves rolling in make it difficult, sometimes treacherous.  But today was the perfect day to try it, almost completely calm, and what breeze there was was an offshore wind, so no waves rolling in.

We put in at the west end of Meaford, and headed north, past quite a motley collection of cottages, from new monsters to very small old cabins.

We saw only a few birds, here some gulls and Canada Geese resting in the shallows.

And a few Common Mergansers, all adult females, probably the remains of this year's family.

By the time we turned around after an hour and headed south about noon, a stronger breeze had come up.  We actually had to paddle a bit.

The breeze was just enough to tempt a few sailboats out from the harbour, one of which sailed our direction. Looked pretty idyllic out there today!


One thing we always notice around Georgian Bay is how clear the water is.  You could clearly watch the rocks on the bottom even if they were 8-10 feet down.

 Did you know that Labour Day in Canada and Labor Day in the U.S. is the only national holiday that we share which happens on the same day, (first Monday in Sept.) and shares the same name and purpose, other than Christmas and Easter?

The holiday emerged out of strikes during the 1870s and 1880s when unions were first getting organized, and both countries passed legislation establishing it as a national holiday in the summer of 1894.  And we are the only countries, along with Australia and new Zealand, which don't celebrate it on May 1st, widely known as International Workers' Day.  While you're out in a boat savouring the last day of summer, or heading down the crowded expressway to get home, I'm not sure that many people remember the original purpose of the day.






15 comments:

  1. Nothing quite like calm waters on Georgian bay (which are rare) but sure do love the clear clean views below after so many years east of Collingwood on the Bay years ago, this really brings back memories. Thanks for the great pics.

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  2. The blues in the photos are incredible. It sounds and looks like a piece of heaven.

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  3. I love to see that clear water. At first glance, I thought it was a coral reef!!

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  4. What clear water to paddle in, truly beautiful scenes in every photo.

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  5. Hello, pretty views of the bay. I love the mergansers and the sailboat. Happy Tuesday, enjoy your day!

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  6. What a fine Labour Day you had. So did I, but I went for a nice walk to gain some steps on my counter and then binge-watched Mr. Robot! :-)

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  7. My Dad was a union man, so I remember the purpose well. I also love the clarity of the waters and hope that is not due to Zebra mussels, but due to good environmental quality.

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  8. What a beautiful place for a paddle. Love your first photo!

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  9. Lovely day for a paddle. Wonderful photos of your day.
    Interesting facts about the holiday.

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  10. Wonderful photos! Stew, thanks for sharing your wbeautiful area for all to enjoy.

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  11. That was such a beautiful day yesterday! We were out paddling too, and the waters were calm, but not quite as calm as your bay. Georgian Bay is so vast. Wasn't it nice to enjoy the quiet with no sea doos and other motor boats around? You have some beautiful photos to remember a perfect day.
    Wendy

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  12. Oh, what a lovely, lovely day.
    Your photo's are so good to look at.

    All the best Jan

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  13. Well that is interesting about the shared holiday - and the photos are absolutely fabulous - looks like the perfect day indeed.

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  14. How interesting!
    What a lovely sight. I was Mother's Helper on a family island in 1975 in Parry Sound. It's such a beautiful spot. And I taught in Parry Sound in 2006. (Long story!)

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