Great Expectations 9 - good in everything
"And this, our life, exempt from public haunt,
finds tongues in trees,
books in the running brooks,
sermons in stones,
and good in everything.”*
The town of Cobourg and the municipality of Kingsville are very similar in size (population-wise) but in reality, the town of Kingsville is much smaller. The municipality is primarily agricultural and is both quieter and very much more rural than Cobourg. The beautiful simplicity of country life may seem like purgatory to some folks, but to me it has been paradisal and there is indeed good in everything.
Essex County is new and unfamiliar to me, so I am intentionally exploring as many of its nooks and crannies as I can before the snow falls, making sure to savour each and every new experience, including today’s adventure.
Today I drove west along CR50, a narrow, little-used road that meanders along the lakeshore from Kingsville to Amherstburg and my destination, Holiday Beach Conservation Area. The 50 crosses this softly undulating county (none of Northumberland’s dramatic hills here), through orchards where apples are being gathered and vineyards where the harvest continues, and vast swaths of agricultural land, with some very attractive old barns.
One of my pie-in-the-sky dreams is converting a characterful barn into a photo studio cum gallery where I’d exhibit the work of local photographers. Nestled in the trees on the lakefront, wouldn’t this beauty work a treat?
Holiday Beach Conservation Area is a vast property at the west end of Lake Erie. Its attraction at this time of year is the multitude of hawks that gather in the woods and marsh of the Holiday Beach sanctuary prior to their long flight south for the winter. Me? I had aspirations of becoming an autumnal auceps, ‘though only with my camera, promise!
Observing these majestic creatures is made easy and enjoyable by the conservation authority - there is a purpose-built tower. A Hawk Tower. (Who knew?) I eagerly climbed to the top, was warmly welcomed by other Hawk enthusiasts and three “counters” from MNR. It was everything I’d hoped for and more. Hawks galore soaring above us, Egrets and Herons filling the marsh below us, bright sunshine warming us and a wildlife sanctuary stretching as far as the eye can see.
Now, in the words of The Friendly Giant, now, look up, wa-a-a-a-a-ay up:
The experience was like no other. High atop the Hawk Tower, I felt like I was standing on the peak of a mountain, enjoying expansive views of Holiday Beach Conservation Area and the swooping and soaring of an entire population of hawks. There was a numinous quality to the experience, all of us silently watching, all of us moved, all of us in awe. It was a transcendent moment, to be sure.
Anxious to get home, upload my photo files and see what I’d captured, the Essex countryside fair flashed by in an artistic splash of shapes (triangular barns, round silos) and colours (green vines, blue sky, purple and yellow asters and ripe red apples).
There is nothing quite so nice as a drive through the countryside. With my sunroof and windows open, the sights, sounds and smells aroused deep gratitude for this pretty fall day, and the beauty of the Essex paysage where there truly is good in everything.
’Til next time, y’all…
*William Shakespeare: Act II, Scene 1, As You Like It.