The Brown Knowser

It's one of my favourite routes on which to cycle. I leave my neighbourhood, in Barrhaven, and head south, on Longfields Drive, until I reach the neighbourhood of Stonebridge. A quick jaunt on Cambrian, until I reach the Minto Recreation Complex, and then I continue south, on Greenbank, until I reach its end, Prince of Wales Drive. Suburbia fades to farm fields, but only for a bit. The most-treacherous stretch of my ride comes along Prince of Wales, where I use the uneven but paved shoulder until the right-turn lane for Bankfield Road begins, and I move into the left-most part of this lane, where cars tend to travel at 80 kph or faster. Where the left-turn lane begins, I make a shoulder check before I take the lane. I make sure that I have plenty of room to cross over into the left-turn lane, but that still won't help me if, once I'm in that lane, a distracted driver doesn't see me. I can't continue to look behind me as I approach the intersection. I relax once I...

I honestly thought that chips would be the first thing that would break me down and tempt me into eating. I'm a savoury sort of fellow and chips will draw me in every time. But no, I've resisted the mighty crunch of a potato chip. I had no fear that I would be drawn into cracking open a can of beer, even though I was still ordering from local breweries. The cans were simply placed in my mini-fridge, chilling until August 1. Even when DW tried a new cider, made with added Pinot Noir wine, and held her glass out for me to have a sip, I stayed true to my commitment. "Buy more and I'll have some in August. But it sure smells good." The truth is I don't often crave anything sweet. I like baked goods and the occasional soda, and love chocolate, but I typically have them only when they are offered. I don't go looking for sweet things when I want a treat. I broke down, the first time, in my Dry July challenge, after one lunch, when I was looking for something to ...

Warning: If you don't want to see my bare, 56-year-old ass, don't read to the end of this post. When I was a young kid, I used to love camping. I have fond memories of Lake St. Peter Provincial Park, just to the east of the southern point of the more massive Algonquin Provincial Park, where we went a couple of times. There were many other times that my older mind remembers, though the names of the campgrounds are forgotten. Perhaps I enjoyed camping as a kid because my parents would tend to setting up and tearing down, as well as cooking and cleaning. My sisters and I would simply play on the beach or explore the woods. As a family, we'd also hike some short trails. As a teen, I went camping at Mosport, a motor racetrack south of Lindsay, Ontario, but that was a weekend in Hell that nearly cost me some friendships. From bouts of drunken mayhem, a stabbing, lost items, and a storm that reduced our tent to a mound of twisted metal and canvas, it's best that I forget that...

For me, no matter how long or short a camping trip is, it seems an eternity. Just this past weekend, DW and I packed up the car and drove to Algonquin Provincial Park for a one-night getaway, and I feel as though I've been away from home for more than a week. Perhaps this is because we gathered all of our gear and food together on Thursday evening, and made sure that everything would fit in both of our kayaks, as we were leaving our car behind and paddling to our site. We arose early on Friday morning and packed the back of the car, and secured our kayaks to the roof. It takes about three hours to drive to the Achray Campground office, where we left our car and paddled out on Grand Lake. Having camped here more than a year ago , and having paddled all over this area, we were familiar with our surroundings. From the campground office, it was about another hour of paddling across Grand Lake, following a short channel that includes a 30-metre portage—our kayaks weighed about double wi...

We're off, again. I promised DW that I would go camping a maximum of four times, this year. Our first weekend getaway was cancelled, due to pandemic restrictions, but I still count that as one of the trips because we had booked it. We recently went for a two-night stay at Samuel de Champlain Provincial Park , and we had gorgeous weather, though I still don't like sleeping on the ground, in a tent. Today, we're heading out at the crack of dawn to Algonquin Provincial Park, where we're doing some interior camping. We're leaving our car at a parking lot, loading up our kayaks with equipment, provisions, and camera gear, and we're paddling to our camp site. Not only will I have to sleep on the ground, there is no comfort station. This is what I dislike the most about camping. Mercifully, it's only for one night, and I think I can survive it. I'll let you know, on Monday. Happy Friday (send me positive vibes, please)!

No, it was called a 'grad.' You graduated from high school and you had a big party with your graduating class. I still call it a grad, even though my kids call it a 'prom.' My kid's limo ride. With the pandemic restrictions, our youngest daughter wasn't able to enjoy a large grad, but that didn't stop her and her closest high-school friends from organizing their own special evening. They all dressed to the nines, had a special dinner, and then enjoyed a limousine ride around the city, with a photographer in tow, before being dropped off at a downtown hotel for the evening. (Everybody involved was fully vaxxed, in case you were wondering.) The limo ride reminded me of my grad, in 1984. My school had organized a party in the revolving restaurant atop what is now the Marriott Hotel, and some friends and I had reserved a room, later, at the nearby Delta Suites. To get to the grad, a few friends and I had rented a limo. The only photos that I have of that ride ar...

Did you see the sun through that haze, yesterday, as it began to drop toward sunset? Fires in Northern Ontario have created a haze over Ottawa, casting a filter over the sun and giving it a peachy-orange glow. A cold front is supposed to cut the haze today. But it's funny how something so bad for the environment can create something beautiful at the same time. I like how the effect makes everything appear in greyscale, affording colour only for the sun. Happy Tuesday!

The last time that DW and I paddled the Mississippi River (not that one, the one in Ontario), we took our kayaks only a short way, following the current from Pakenham's Five Span Bridge toward Galetta. Feeling really ambitious, I was hoping that we'd make it all the way to Galetta and turn around before the dam forced us to stop, anyway. Knowing that was going to be about 10 kilometres each way, I thought that we would aim for the Highway 417 overpass, which was about the halfway point, and see how we felt. We didn't even make it to the Upper Dwyer Hill Road overpass, about a half-kilometre before Highway 417. Instead, we turned around about four-and-a-half kilometres downstream from Pakenham. Our total distance for that excursion was just over nine kilometres. We promised ourselves that we'd be back again, wouldn't spend so much time stopping to photograph the birds and turtles, and quit frigging around with my 360-degree video camera. Yesterday, we were back...

When DW and I went camping, last weekend, I gave thought to the cameras that I wanted to take with me. Even though we were car-camping and we had space for all of my camera gear, I was thinking about our next trip, where we won't have our car and will have to carry everything in our kayaks to our camp site, I wanted to give thought to what I needed to carry, versus what I simply wanted to carry. I knew that I wanted to take my 360-degree video camera, to capture all aspects of our trip. I always keep my smartphone on me, so that was another camera with three lenses built in. But I also wanted to bring one of my D-SLRs to capture some high-quality stills. As it turned out, I rarely used my D-SLR. I had packed my Nikon D7200 with my 70–300mm lens, thinking that I would use it to photograph any wildlife we encountered. But I forgot to pack my dry bag and couldn't take my D-SLR in the kayak. I missed out on capturing some birds and several beavers that we came upon as we paddled th...

I feel the weight of July resting heavily upon me. As if the challenges of living under a pandemic isn't enough for all of us, I've somehow layered on more challenges, this year, particularly in July. There are some fun challenges: the virtual challenges that I've signed up for since January have me artificially visiting some beautiful and fascinating countries, such as Spain, England, Scotland, Germany, and now, Iceland. All while getting real-time exercise. As of Tuesday evening, I have covered more than 3,800 kilometres through walking, cycling, and kayaking. I have also signed up for three additional virtual challenges: the next, a 503-km trek from Florence, Italy, to Vatican City. I've been to both places before, but it will be interesting to see the countryside at a slower pace, stopping at various towns and cities, and avoiding the freeway. After finishing this trek, called St. Francis Way, I head to the United States. I've already said that I'll nev...

Nope. I still don't like sleeping on the ground, with nothing but an ultra-thin layer of material separating me from the elements. I don't like cooking meals outdoors, away from steady-flowing water or a drain. I don't like smelling of campfires without easy access to a shower. I don't like pooping where mosquitos and other insects can get at my bottom. I don't like camping. But I love being out in nature, hiking through the woods and paddling on lakes and rivers. I love nature without having to live in it. DW and I have returned from a three-day camping trip in Samuel de Champlain Provincial Park , just 10 minutes east of the town of Mattawa, along Highway 17, between the Ottawa River and North Bay. It's surrounded by some of the most beautiful parts of Ontario. Because we only returned home last night, I'm still going through some of my photos and video of the trip. I'll have more to share in the future but for now, here are a couple of images that hig...