January 5 ... It is Twelfth Night, one final excuse for merry making before the dead of winter settles in. It’s an ancient Celtic tradition to mark the end of the 12-day winter solstice celebration and it is customary for assembled company to toast one another from the wassail bowl. So ... let’s get ‘er done! We’ve enjoyed a very gradual warming trend over the past 24 hours thanks to a light southerly airflow. Yesterday’s promised snowfall ended up being a nonevent with only very light accumulations. The next ‘dumping’ is expected to arrive on Wednesday. It promises to be a busy week out on our OFSC trail system - not for sleds - but for the grooming crews. I’m told they’ve finally made some progress fixing up Trail A-108 south of Kirkland Lake and Trail A-110-Q out towards Larder Lake where the worst of the flooding occurred during our rain storm over the holidays. We should get some reopening announcements this week.

I have one observation to pass along from what I witnessed over the Christmas rush. I did not see a single ‘after-market’ wiper blade over 17 inches doing its job properly. For years, here in Canada, motorists counted on winter wiper blades which were regular blades with the back spring assemblies enclosed in a rubber sleeve. They worked just fine. Then the big after-market retailers started promoting ‘flex’ style wipers costing up to 4 times the price. In my humble opinion, they’re crap. It’s hard for people who have paid for them to admit it though. I’m sure they work very well in rain but they just don’t have the girth to push frozen storm slush aside effectively. I note that two of the courier companies who deliver to us have gone back to the old style winter blades after trying out the new ones. Most of their vehicles require blades over 18 inches. *** mac

January 4 ... It’s mid-afternoon with a light but steady snowfall happening. We had a busy morning renewing fishing licences. The ice shack village (above) is beginning to form on Kenogami off of Four Acre Point. Another cluster has begun off of Gilchrist’s Point. Up on Lake Sesekinika the resort’s bay (we used to call it Frenchman’s Bay) is starting to become populated with them as well. The other thing that has kept us hopping today is the return of a virtual mountain of empty bottles to our LCBO agency. The holidays are definitely over now and we’re clearing away all the signs of excess in Kenogami & Sesekinika while gaining a little deposit pocket change for buying coffee on the way back to work next week.

After uploading my 50 year old photo yesterday, I came upon a far better depiction on another disk of what I was attempting to talk about. It’s a black & white snapshot from the same summer but a different weekend and I’ve made a link HERE to it. It clearly shows the sheltered cove to the left of the dock for mooring the rigged sailboats with a log boom for extra protection. It also shows the Merrilla Resort docks further down the shoreline. *** mac

January 3 ... We’ve got sunshine this morning with early day temperatures hovering around the minus 21 degree mark. It never really stopped snowing here all day yesterday, although accumulations were mercifully light. That won’t be the case tomorrow with as much as 4 inches of fresh snow in the forecast. I’m not sure how we faired from an historical view point when it comes to December’s snow. Many records were set across the southern fringe of northeastern Ontario. Click HERE for the full story in the Sudbury Star.

I received a wonder present from my daughter for Christmas. She apparently has conducted a clandestine operation over the past four months, secretly scanning all our old family photos into her computer. I’ve become the custodian of all the old snap shots, some in albums - many in shoe boxes - all housed out in the back of our garage in rubbermaid bins. Anyway, I now own 10 photo CDs with everything on them. Remarkable when you think about it, isn’t it? I thought some of you would appreciate the picture I’ve included below, taken 50 years ago this coming summer. I’m the one sitting....

If you look past my family you’ll see a boat house that once contained one of Kenogami’s racing yachts. By 1959, only 2 boat houses remained. We are on the dock that was the center of the yacht basin. The bridge and Kenogami Garage are far off to the right. By this time the yachts (Buffalo Daysailors) were gone from here although two were still in use on the lake. One of the boathouses still contained the “commodore’s launch”, a vintage cedar stip ‘dispro’ and I remember it’s owner, George Fowke, running it one evening. It made a distinctive sound with its single cylinder inboard motor. *** mac
January 2 ... North Temiskaming experienced a widespread rural power interruption beginning at 7:15 this morning. Thank goodness I was already working on my second cup of coffee. Hydro One’s recorded message said that it affected two thousand of its customers. It also said to expect the outage to last 4 hours but our’s came back on by 9AM. Perhaps there are many that weren’t as lucky. We’ve got a fresh 2 inches of snowfall on the ground this morning with a mild south wind. Highway 11 is busy with southbound travelers, all done their holiday visiting. The roadway is very icy and everyone seems to be in a rush so I’m expecting news of a few calamities up and down the line today. Hopefully none will be any worse than broken plastic grills from the rock-hard snowbanks out there.

We’ve been busy this morning renewing fishing licenses. Here’s the deal. A seasonal sports fishing tag is now $24.25. A conservation tag is $14.00. They’re both up around 10 percent. We are also issuing 2009 dump passes for the Grenfell Township landfill site. They remain the best deal in all of Ontario for residential tipping fees: $50! You can also purchase the passes right at the gate-house but they don’t have interac. Finally, we continue to sell regular Canada Post stamps this morning for 52 cents. Stock up. They’ll rise to 54 cents on January 14th. *** mac

January 1 ... Happy New Year. I can’t remember another start to a year where we’re all so jittery about what might be coming in the months ahead. Caution will temper our business philosophy in 2009. While Valerie and I have always tried to live within our means, the events of last year proved that there were forces at work allowing many - often encouraging them - to not do the same. We will all pay this year for their misfortune. 2008 proved to us that our business can survive without tourist traffic. The recession began early for us. Sky-high gas prices, a strong Canadian dollar and a very wet summer all combined to drive them all away from Highway 11. More than ever we focused on our core business and upped the ante on the customer service we provide to our area’s permanent and seasonal residents. These “basics” are what we’re counting on to survive through 2009.

January began on a slightly cooler than normal note with a low last night of minus 29. Today’s forecasted high of minus 11 is also slightly below the norm but Environment Canada says that the month ahead will be typical. Click HERE to be linked to the January long-range. We are closed today, one of our four days on the LCBO calendar when we can not sell through our agency. We opted long ago to close on these days (Christmas, Easter, Good Friday, New Years) after finding out just how much people want to argue over the relevancy of Ontario’s retail alcohol vending statutes with us. It’s not enough to tell them that we’re merely following the rules that we promised to follow when we signed on to provide the service for the Kenogami/Sesekinika area. *** mac

December 31 ... 3PM (second entry) .... Here’s an update on our local OFSC trail system. Where it’s good it’s very good BUT where it’s bad its HORRID. For that reason, they have been temporarily closed. The problem is running water which has flooded some prolonged stretches of both the A-Trail and especially A-110-Q and A-108. There are also some wild sink holes and base collapses from the under minding of Sunday’s heavy rain waters. The safety thresholds are just too significant to let loose a torrent of visiting sledders out there. Grooming operations continue today with another cold night in the forecast. Each and every of these major hazzard areas will have to be fixed up over the next little while. I mentioned this morning that the tent has been pitched on Lake Kenogami and I caught this glimpse of it near noon time.
It has become a tradition of mine to get a shot of it every year ... the Kenogami New Years Eve “M*A*S*H hospital” on the lake. I note that an orange tarp has been added this year as I hear some of it went missing. My neighbors put a lot of effort into it. The furnishings are fabulous. *** mac
December 31 ... A full round of local trail grooming yesterday has brought our OFSC trails back up to shape after Sunday’s storm. Attached above is a shot of the Golden Corridor Snow Drifter’s enormous machine crossing Highway 11 into our yard yesterday afternoon. You can see how icy the highway still is. Temperatures bottomed out at minus 29 degrees last evening ahead of some cloud cover and slightly moderating temperatures overnight. Minus 21 was our daybreak thermometer reading. It’s going to be another cool one tonight which will make for some nippy New Years gatherings around the lakes. Once again this year a huge tent has been pitched out on the ice at the north end of Kenogami and the whole lake is invited out tonight to ring in 2009.

Environment Canada published the annual ‘top ten list’ of weather stories for 2008 yesterday. I’ve made a link HERE to the highlights. Click the “more details” link at the bottom of this highlight page for all the awful low-down. The wet summer we all shared was number one. The early arrival of winter this December is ranked as number five. All in all, the forlorn look of the gargoyle on our garden’s trellis sums it all up........

In Scotland, December 31 is known as Hogmanay, the word children use to ask for their traditional present of an oatmeal cake (which is why this is also called Cake Day). The first person to cross the threshold into one's home, called the first footer, is an indication of the year to come. Although the tradition varies, if the first footer is tall and dark, the year will be a good one. *** mac
December 30 ... We’re back on-line here at the store after absolutely wild weather over the last 3 days. A freak wind storm on Sunday sent us some wild surges on our power grid which blew out the power supply on my computer. Thanks to the gang at Northern Lights Computing in Kirkland Lake for squeezing me in to get my machine up and operating again. Over the past 3 days we’ve had highs of plus 10 and lows of minus 18. Highway 11 was closed for 5 hours on Sunday. Some dedicated volunteers are spending their holiday time removing downed trees from our OFSC trail system. Anyway. It’s been a very stormy time. *** mac
December 26 ... It’s a much milder morning with a gradual warming trend coming overnight on a south wind. Today’s forecasted high is minus 4. Tomorrow’s - believe it or not - is plus 11! A trough line extending from Texas all the way up to Hudson Bay will bust a hole right through our blanket of cold Canadian air. Later today, I’m going to have to climb up on the south end of our roof and clear some snowdrifts away. Things are going to get VERY heavy with a little rain in the mix over the next 30 hours. We’re open for just 4 hours today, from 11 until 3. *** mac
December 25 ... Merry Christmas. We’ve awoken to a fresh 5 inches of snow, clear skies and a minus 21 degrees Celsius daybreak thermometer reading. It got as mild as minus 3 on Christmas Eve. I don’t have to stand out next to the gas pumps today. We’re closed. Our daughter has just arrived. She worked last evening and when she pulled into her driveway at home, just before midnight, she discovered that someone had shoveled out the whole thing for her. I guess there were a lot of busy Santas last night! ..... Highway 11 is very icy this morning, despite the night-long efforts of our local highway crews. Do be careful if you’re traveling today. *** mac
December 24 ... Christmas Eve. It’s a very mild morning with the promise of a good dumping of snow later today. It’s a time for many to remember the wonder of the season. On the other hand, if you’re like me, it’s a more wondrous day than usual in the Great White North. The difference is the goodwill extended between people. It’s very special and you can’t but help but wish that it would last forever. *** mac
December 23 ... It was minus 20 degrees Celsius at daybreak and it felt mild! We’re on our way to minus 8 today which is spot-on seasonal for this point in December. Of course, there’s a downside. There’s always a downside to a warming trend in December. Snow is on the way .. 4 to 6 inches over the next 36 hours. Environment Canada has posted winter storm watches and warnings for most areas in the lee of Lake Superior’s and Georgian Bay’s north shores. It’s a shame the storm’s timing coincides with a very busy time for passenger-vehicle traffic on Highway11. Hopefully, people will slow down on Christmas Eve and deliver themselves and their families to their northern destinations in one piece.

I was hoping to tell everyone today that our local OFSC trail system is fully open. It’s not. Our water crossings are still not safe. I’ve made a link HERE to the OFSC’s trail status page to keep you updated. *** mac

December 22 ... It’s a sunny but very nasty morning. Our daybreak temperature was minus 27 but you can subtract - at times- up to15 degrees or more when you factor in the windchill from a gusting northwesterly wind. I’m huddled up inside next to the phone waiting for my call from the Prime Minister. He’s scheduled to appoint up to 18 Canadians to the Senate today. I’m hoping I made the short list. I bought a membership in the Reform Party when it was first established because I bought into Preston Manning’s call for a Canadian ‘triple-e’ upper chamber. The guy that is making the Senate appointments today has also made a career out of senate reform promises. So ..you would think that I’d be of the opinion that this all stinks. Well ..it does ...unless, of course... I get a call today asking me to become a cash-for-life senator. Then I’ll be singing the praises of ‘The Canadian Dream’. *** mac
December 21 ... Winter has officially arrived. Let the games begin. We are expecting a dusting of snow today as another storm strikes the southern half of the province. It got very cold again last night with our low of minus 34 (Earlton airport) coming at 3AM. It has been gradually warming since then with increasing cloud cover. Today’s forecasted high is minus 18 degrees which is what is normally our night-time low at this point in December. This cold snap is expected to finally break on Tuesday. Most of North America has been sharing in it. ............ We had a very busy afternoon yesterday, here at the store. I guess you can tell from the tone of my occasional comments that we share in the financial concerns that are gripping our nation. We’ll just keep doing what we do and hopefully we’ll ride out whatever coming storms are on the horizon. *** mac
December 20 ... It’s the last day of Fall and we opened the store at minus 33 degrees this morning. Kenogami made ice last night and you could hear the lake groaning all the way up the hill here at the store. I caught this view just before 9AM. Like any good cottage lake, it seems that from every nook and cranny you can find an interesting view to muse over.
The highway is unusually quiet this morning. We were expecting a noticeable flow of Timmins bound shoppers. Perhaps they’re waiting for Sunday. Perhaps they’ve decided to support the shops in their own home towns for a change and not give it all to the big-box corporate merchants. Dream on! *** mac
December 19 ... Our daybreak temperature was minus 33 as a dome of Arctic high pressure sits over northeastern Ontario. It’s going to shield us from a nasty little snowstorm hitting southern Ontario this morning .. so .. I guess .. life is good in Kenogami this morning. *** mac
December 18 ... Minus 6 was our high yesterday afternoon. Minus 17 was our low last night. We’ve got a partly cloudy sky this morning as we get ready for a cold snap over the next few days. Minus 26 is tonight’s forecasted low which should make some ice out on the lakes now that there is less ‘fluff’ out there for insulation. ............The ‘sizing fun’ has begun here at the store as we get ever closer to Christmas. Last year we didn’t have enough small fur hats. This year we ran out of extra large early. Moccasins are the exact opposite; lots of big sizes while quickly dwindling stock for smaller feet. SO ... it is the year of the alien! It’s tough outfitting the bourgeoning numbers of big-headed , tiny-footed beings that roam our planet. :-) *** mac
December 17 ... It is mid-afternoon and there are still some lingering light flurries from a light snowfall that came in the night. It was just enough to cover over the icy sheen left on things from Monday’s brief thaw. The grooming tractor came through Kenogami this morning, complete with a drag making trail behind it. Give it a couple of days for the frost to get into that freshly groomed base and our OFSC trails will be ‘near’ ready. The water crossings are still a big problem and all the signage, bridges and road crossings will have to be inspected for safety before the trails are declared open. All in all though ... confidence is high we’ll have open trails for the Christmas break. ....... We’re closing at 6:30 tonight for our annual Christmas staff party. Many of you know us more by our staff than by us and we’re very grateful to our mighty little gang for representing our little venture so well. *** mac
December 16 ... I gave up trying to add to this journal yesterday after numerous power surges and interruptions. It was a very windy day which began with rain and plus 6 degree temperatures and ended with clear skies and minus 23 degrees overnight. The downside is that our yard was a skating rink this morning until I got some sand shoveled around. There are plenty of upsides! The early season snows which had bent many branches to the breaking point has finally fallen out of the trees. And the big plus .. The snow out on the lakes has been knocked down so that we can get some real ice production going underneath. There was no ice fog over Kenogami this morning when I captures the image I’ve attached above. Environment Canada is forecasting a colder than normal end to the year. Click your mouse HERE for a look-see at their mid-month prognostications. *** mac
December 14 ... It has been a busy day so far here at the store with lots of Christmas browsers. It’s now approaching 2PM and it’s very mild with temperatures venturing above the melting point. So far, anything falling out of the clouds has been frozen but we could get rain tonight. The inbound storm is going to dump a pile of snow through the Timmins-Cochrane area. They’re welcome to it! I’ve just finished up plowing out the back of the store. We got just under 2 inches of snow over the past 30 hours. I’ve been quizzing my neighbours about ice conditions on Kenogami and Sesekinika. The general consensus is that there is 3 to 5 inches of lower ice covered by up to 8 inches of water with another 2 inches of either slush of ice on top. Not good! I’ve heard of only one ice shack that has been put out on the lake and it is on Sesekinika. Kenogami’s bait shop, The Minnow Trapp, has reopened for the winter business. *** mac
December 13 .. UPDATE .. Stand easy. The winter storm warnings have been cancelled, locally. The storm is expected to track to the north of us, through Timmins & Iroquois Falls. *** mac
December 13 ... Well ... here we go again. Environment Canada has issued a Winter Storm Watch for our area this morning. Click HERE for details. ‘Watches’ are upgraded to ‘warnings’ once they figure out exactly where the storm will track but it’s a sure bet that Kenogami is sitting right smack dead-center in the way of this one. *** mac
December 12 ... It will remain cold today with temperatures probably not climbing above minus 18 which is zero on the old Fahrenheit scale. More snow is coming tomorrow. Yesterday’s snowfall tallied in at around 5 inches. All this early snow has weighed down the branches on the jackpines at the south end of our yard to the point where you can now only barely see the eight foot high fence that encloses our tile beds. It’s a winter wonderland! *** mac
December 11 ... Christmas Day is two weeks away and now it’s nail biting time around here at the store. We’ve got two more weekends of gift shoppers to go but the one ahead is going to be a stormy one. I’m sure every proprietor of a little shop like our’s is going through the same angst at the moment. As a matter of fact ... I recall feeling the same uncertain confidence at this point a year ago .. and it all worked out. The difference this year is that all the experts are telling us that our customer’s confidence is in a free-fall. ............ It’s snowing and blowing this morning with the promise of as much as two inches of accumulations as a weak but none-the-less nasty little disturbance blows through from across Lake Superior. Last night’s low of minus 23 came just ahead of midnight. We’ll top out at minus 4 this afternoon before another blast of Arctic air arrives tonight. That means sunny skies tomorrow and a chance for me to capture some cheery shots with my camera. *** mac
December 10 ... Yesterday’s storm was a non-event with only very light snowfall. We’re back in the freezer this morning with a daybreak temperature of minus 25, accentuated by bitter chills from a northwesterly breeze. As you might have noticed over the years, I have a rule about not talking about my visits to our local funeral home ..but ..I’ve dealt with the loss of two people recently that were well known in the Kirkland Lake area ... Jack Allaire and Eddie Duke. The Northern News has on-line articles on both men posted this morning. I’ve made a link HERE to them. *** mac
December 9 ... We awoke to a light snowfall this morning and MUCH milder temperatures. It’s a ‘wait & see’ kind of a day as a major storm system pushes northward into the province from the south. At this point it is projected that Kenogami will remain at the northern limits of its path with only a couple of inches of accumulation forecasted. The southern half of Temiskaming District won’t be as lucky and I’ve created a link HERE to Environment Canada’s advisory for that area. One way or the other, the winds will turn to northerly by this evening and we’ll all return to an early winter deap freeze tomorrow. *** mac
December 8 ... We hit minus 30 in many areas overnight, according to Environment Canada. My thermometer read minus 28 when I opened the store. It was several degrees colder down by the lake and I caught this view of Lake Kenogami about 90 minutes after sunrise. That’s fog coming off the ice and is forming along a line running parallel and about 150 yards off the shoreline served by the south fork of the Grenfell Road. That patch of ice is always very slush-prone and my theory is that the cause is linked to a series of lake-bed springs that begin on-shore near the bottom of the big hill on the north fork of the Grenfell Road.

Another patch of fog is evident across the lake’s narrows and that also is a very slush-prone area of the lake during the winter. Pressure cracks seem to be the culprit there. It’s as if there’s a winter long tug-a-war going on in the icepack between the upper and main sections of the lake. Kenogami is far from an ideal lake for snowmobiling and a marked trail (of any length) hasn’t been maintained on the lake since the early 70's when the Red Pines Lodge was still standing.

Anyway. The winds are stirring from the south and temperatures will moderate today ahead of our next snowfall - due tomorrow. This weather system is driving in from the south towards the lower Great Lakes and it is unclear at this point how much snow it will bring to the north half of Temiskaming. Worst case scenario is 5 inches by tomorrow night. *** mac

December 7 ... It has been a bitterly cold morning with a thermometer reading of minus 27 when I opened the store. The OPP shut down Highway 11 last night from Kenogami to Cochrane after a string of accidents coming from black ice conditions as the thermometer went into a free-fall. I’m scurrying around this morning getting ready for a scheduled power outage from 1 to 4 this afternoon. Hydro One’s timing is terrible but they’ve got a lot of upgrades planned for our grid during the 3 hour window and a little pain today for some long-term gain will be worth it. *** mac
December 6 ... A light snowfall is in progress this morning with negligible accumulations so far. We had our first visit of the season from one of our snowmobile club’s trail maintenance tractors yesterday and - in keeping with tradition - I’ve posted a picture of the occasion. It is their “Tucker Snocat" which was in the process of simply packing down a base for a future pass by one of their grooming tractors. We are likely still at least a couple of weeks away from open OFSC trails, locally. ...... Today marks the end of the ninth year of this journal. To mark the occasion, my long standing e-mail account at Canoe is inoperable. If you are trying to communicate with me, please use this address for the time being ....northon11.com@gmail.com *** mac
December 5 ... It was chilly this morning with a daybreak temperature on my thermometer of minus 21. Things will moderate today with the arrival of a south wind this afternoon. Another Alberta Clipper weather system will scoot through tomorrow bringing a couple more inches of snowfall. .............. Here’s what’s going on if you are one of our snowbirds, reading this almanac, off somewhere warm. We are witnessing extraordinary times in Canadian national politics. The Prime Minister shut down our parliament yesterday before facing an unwinnable vote of confidence in his minority held House of Commons. The opposition parties had come up with a deal amongst themselves to take over power. You may recall that we had a national election less than two months ago. The Prime Minster called that election seeking a majority which we refused to give him. In the process , however, we also sent a collective message to his challengers that we thought even less of them. The House will reconvene at the end of January with the tabling of a federal budget that will hopefully address the needs of the Canadians hardest hit by the world recession. Any head start Canada had in dealing with the world’s economic woes has been blown. Here in Ontario alone, we lost 66 thousand jobs last month. Anyway. It looks like we’re going to spend our Christmas being bombarded with rehashed partisan rhetoric from all quarters.... a far cry from our American cousins who clearly chose a ‘fresh start’ for 2009 in their November vote.*** mac
December 4 ... Well .... mercifully ... last night’s forecasted snowstorm was a tame affair with just a dusting of snow coming and lighter than expected winds. It has cooled down and the breeze has a bite to it this morning. We’ll see a little sunshine today but another Alberta Clipper is due to arrive here on Saturday and it will push some clouds up ahead of it tomorrow. It was on this day in 1902 that Ontario went dry with a referendum vote bringing in prohibition. It lasted for about 20 years and there were a few people around Temiskaming who made a fortune supplying the demand. A lot of it was produced locally. The alternative was smuggling it in by rail but the ‘government railroad’ was heavily policed. I’ve made a link HERE to the famous picture of the Elk Lake ‘blind-pig bust’ where the police drained 160 kegs of locally distilled hooch into the Montreal River. Little has been written about this era of our history. The moonshiners of Temiskaming were never romanticized into legend. Seems a little odd, doesn’t it? *** mac
December 3 ... I’m kicking myself for not sneaking away yesterday afternoon to get some cheery, postcard pictures in the sunshine. It clouded over by late afternoon with another dusting of snow through the night. It’s a dreary and very mild morning. I caught the image of Lake Sesekinika attached above at 10AM. The light was very flat but you can still make out the big swath of slush that has formed off the last western point on the entrance to the lake’s South Bay. That patch will likely come back to haunt a lot of sledders right through the winter ahead. Later today, the wind is going to swap around to the northwest as a sharp cold front sweeps through Northeastern Ontario. It will be packing a lot of snow and blowing snow and this morning’s calm will be a pleasant memory, despite the dreariness. *** mac
December 2 ... All said and done, I’m figuring we got about 6 inches of fresh snowfall over the past 24 hours. It was a wild and woolly day out there on Highway 11 yesterday. We’ll see some sunshine today but there’s another system brewing over Manitoba that should arrive over Temiskaming sometime tonight. This one will track in on us from directly across Lake Superior and could be packing a punch. The weight of all this snow has turned Sesekinika and Kenogami into a slushy quagmire and we’ll need some sustained cold weather to make our lakes ‘ice-shack ready’. *** mac
December 1 ... I’ve just noticed that I’ve incorrectly dated my journal entries over the past 3 days. They were busy ones for me and I guess I lost track of what month it was! ANYWAY. Welcome to December. We’ve got the makings of a blizzard stewing outside this morning and they’ve pulled all the school busses off the roads. Two weather systems, one from the south and a clipper from the west, are colliding over the province today. Our local snow accumulations might only total 5 inches today but the wind is expected to really start gusting out of the northeast and visibility is already very poor. I’ve created a link HERE to Environment Canada’s fresh December temperature prognostications for the country. Cooler than normal air is predicted for Ontario this month and that means more lake-effect snowfall for a lot of areas. The Great Lakes will eventually cool down enough to not be a factor but it’s a slow old process. .............. And a reminder. Today is the last day for OFSC trial pass pre-season prices. *** mac
September 30 ... The natives are restless. There are sled tracks out on Kenogami. I doubt there is even an inch of solid ice out there after our recent mild spell and snow turned it to slush. So ... you have to have an excessive amount of faith in your equipment ... much more than I have. Anyway. Sales of OFSC trail passes have been brisk this weekend. They provide access to FAR safer places to go sledding! The deadline is tomorrow for the early bird price. More snow is on the way tonight. *** mac
September 29 ... Well, Jamie Taylor’s bi-annual “Home Again” Christmas variety show went off without a hitch last night to a sold out crowd at the Northern College auditorium in Kirkland Lake. One more show tonight and it’s also a sell out. It’s been such a treat to be a part of it once again. After a 16 year retirement from stage performing, Jamie coaxed me out of hibernation in 2006 to be his MC for the last one. I let the cat out the bag last night and did a ‘bit’ with a little hobby I’ve taken up with a passion over the past 20 months ... story telling on the banjo....
It seemed to be well received and I wasn’t charged with assault! Anyway. It’s a mild and cheery day and hopefully it will hold until tomorrow so I can get out and pursue my other hobby, picture taking. *** mac
September 27 ... A VERY hard fought day yesterday with a heavy snowfall that caught all of us by surprise. Even I forgot the tried and true weather maxim, “November storms are fickle things!”. Our forecasted 3 inch snowfall turned into an 8 incher and it was heavy. I’ve included an image I took this morning of our sundial out in our backyard that serves as my snow-gauge through the winter. The face is 12 inches across.
My neighbour, who has been plowing us out for the past 17 years had his plow-truck clipped by a passing transport yesterday, down the road from us. He’s okay but his truck is a tad scrambled and will be out of action for a couple of weeks. So ... I faced the storm yesterday with our little 20 year old Suzuki jeep with a five-foot blade. It’s fine for pushing snow around at the back and keeping our driveway open but it was no match for our one acre yard out front. I’ll try again this morning, clearing it off in small zones, one at a time. Anyway ... with that problem and a thousand other things on my plate at the moment ... I’ll likely miss updating this journal tomorrow. *** mac
November 26 ... Heavy snowfall right now (1PM). Very poor viability out there on the highway. Stay put! *** Mac
November 25 ... Christmas is exactly one month away and with our cousins south of the border celebrating their Thanksgiving tomorrow, the countdown has begun. Mother Nature has been doing her part with near non-stop light snow over the past 24 hours. It’s another sloppy and greasy morning out there on Highway 11. The crews plowed off the shoulders overnight which should help get rid of the flow. Here in Northeastern Ontario our major highways do not have paved shoulders and clearing snow from them is a treacherous process until we get some frost down into the gravel. The blade can dig down, pushing the plow truck out across the highway into the opposite lane. ........A reminder that after December 1st the early-bird deal on OFSC trail passes ends. The early fee is 180 dollars and it would appear that we’re all going to get our money’s worth this year. Our local club’s work program has been underway for quite some time on an inventory of over 350 kilometers of prescribed trails - clearing deadfalls, replanking bridges and eliminating beaver flooding. A new problem I’ve really begun to notice this year is the mounting damage from four-wheeler traffic. They invade our trails in the off season. A lot of old roadways are really taking a beating from them and my fear is that private land owners will begin restricting access to their properties year round. Time will tell. *** mac
November 24 ... Highway 11 has been very greasy this morning with a steady light snow beginning overnight that was preceded by a bout of freezing rain. It’s been a little scary watching vehicles sliding by our entrances, trying but unable to turn in. Then, when they backup and do pull in, the rants begin on how terrible the highway crews are. After all, nobody seems willing to take responsibility for what they do any more. I guess that’s why the courts are jammed up with lawsuits. ........ Today, I begin a long week leading up to a special event I’ve been asked to MC on Friday and Saturday evening. Rehearsals begin this evening for Jamie Taylor & Friends - Home Again for Christmas. It’s a Christmas music and variety show which raises money for a major regional Christmas aid program. I’m was absolutely delighted to be asked again to be Jamie’s front-man for a presentation that was very well accepted the first time we all got together with him a couple of years ago.

An announcement came on Friday that Kirkland Lake will be a host community for the cross-Canada journey of the Olympic flame on it’s way to the 2010 Vancouver games. I’ve created a link HERE to the Northern News with all the details. Twenty years ago the flame made a trek to Calgary. We were a Petro Canada dealer back then and they sponsored a torch run from coast to coast. One of our neighbours won a birth to carry the torch. The run never came within 150 miles of Kenogami and her run happened on Highway 17 near Massey. This time, we’ll all get to share in the experience thanks to RBC, Coke and (I suspect) some skillful arm twisting from the gang at Kirkland Lake’s town hall. *** mac

November 23 ... Temperatures bottomed out at minus 20 overnight but it clouded over early this morning with fast rising temperatures on a south wind. Here comes another dusting of snow. I’ve just returned from a second session of learning how to erect a steel building and have a fresh-found appreciation for those who work outside with steel, year round. It was tolerable today but my fingers felt like they were going to snap off in the cold yesterday afternoon. Spinning on a nut and bolt every 8 inches on one of these structures is a tedious business. It will give my neighbour the room he needs for his stuff ... but I’ve got a feeling that it won’t take long to become like every other Kenogami garage ... just not quite big enough! *** mac
November 22 ... The lakes made ice last night with a sustained low of minus 17. If you haven’t taken your boat out yet, it’s not going anywhere now! The sun finally broke out by the mid-morning today and it’s cool. I’m going to help a friend this afternoon who is in the middle of a major project, erecting a steel garage. He doesn’t know I’m coming yet but I think he’s in need of a little help. November’s weather turned on him a little quicker than he expected. I might learn something about steel buildings in the process. *** mac
November 21 ... Although the solstice is still 30 days away, we’re starting to get a full dose of Winter around here now. Tonight’s forecasted low is minus 18. (zero on the old Fahrenheit scale) We might get some sunny periods today and tomorrow ahead of the next snow-bearing frontal system which is due on Sunday. I hope so. I want to get some cheery shots from around the lake(s) to share with you. I really love this time of the year although it takes a little time to get acclimatized. It will be a relatively quite weekend on the highway. The Christmas rush to Timmins will get underway next weekend with the arrival of month-end pay cheques. *** mac
November 20 ... Like I was trying to warn you a couple of days ago ... “November storms are fickle things”. Our promised dusting of snow is almost 3 inches deep out there and we had to do a little plowing in the yard this morning. Last year it was the 17th when we needed a plow job. Now I’ve got some snow to bank up around the footings of the building to get rid of the drafts. It has been my experience that the first snow I bank up never lasts. I guess time will tell whether I’m embarking on what is usually an exercise in futility! .... The Canadian parliament re-opened yesterday after the break for our October federal election. As is our tradition, our ceremonial head of state, the Governor General, delivered a speech on behalf of our Prime Minister outlining a general agenda of the coming parliamentary session. It was all about preparing for the effects of a world economic recession. Fair enough. We’ve got to keep the auto-workers collecting pay cheques. I guess all those promises about rural Canadians one day having a family doctor again have already been long forgotten. *** mac
November 19 ... We bottomed out at minus 14 overnight and .. that did the trick! Both Kenogami and Sesekinika have a mirror finish of ice on top of them this morning. It should hold with a forecasted high today of minus 4. Snow is coming tonight and confidence is high that accumulations will total no more than an inch. The approaching ‘clipper’ weather system will track along the jet stream which is pointing to the south of us today. I’ve made a link HERE to Environment Canada’s Northern Ontario weather warning page which you may want to bookmark for future reference. Today it shows warning for only Lake Superior’s north-east shoreline where the clipper will bounce before tracking southward. *** mac
November 18 ... Our low was minus 7 overnight and I took a quick jaunt down to the river after daybreak this morning to see if it had frozen over. It hadn’t but I arrived just in time to watch an otter enjoy his perch breakfast. Tonight’s forecasted low is minus 17 and he’ll have a far bigger breakfast table to haul his catch on to tomorrow. An Alberta Clipper weather system is expected to zip through here tomorrow, the first of the season. How much snow it will be packing for us will depend on whether it tracks directly at us from across Lake Superior. At this point, it appears that it will be a ‘near-miss’ meaning we’ll only get an inch or so of snow tomorrow.... but ... you and I both know ... November storms are fickle things! *** mac
November 17 ... There’s a raw wind from the northwest this morning. Cool days and downright cold nights are forecasted for the week ahead. We are entering a critical period in the cycle of the season with freeze-up coming. It looks like it could be a good one. Environment Canada’s mid-month temperature model is projecting cooler than normal temperatures from now through mid-December. Click HERE for a look-see. A solid and lasting freeze-up would bring far fewer complications for the winter ahead. I don’t have to tell you this if you’re a sledder. It means our OFSC trail system would open on time and stay open ... but all winter travel hinges on how the freeze-up goes, from hauling logs out of the bush to hauling mineral exploration equipment in.

Gordie Lightfoot turns 70 today. Sing a couple of words of one of his tunes and it will be stuck in your head all day. I could write quite a tribute to him but there are already dozens of them out there on the net this morning. Click HERE for the one on Canoe. *** mac

November 16 ... A crazy day at the store yesterday as we hosted our Christmas unveiling and open house. We’re up early getting things ready for day two. Kenogami was a busy place yesterday with the Christmas Craft show at the community hall another big success. The ‘Kitchen’ and the ‘Bridge’ were also hot spots and it was like the glory days of old for our little community. *** mac
November 14 ... Rain! Lots of it came overnight and the thought occurred to me as I opened this morning - with it still coming down by the bucket full - that it might be time to start building an ark. I’d put a pair of everything on it.(except maybe mother-in-laws) Anyway. There’s not a flake of last Sunday’s snowfall left on the ground now with temperatures rising to plus 7 through the night. We could get an inch of it tomorrow night with the arrival of a cold front pushing in from the prairies. Our annual Christmas craft show happens tomorrow at our community hall, here in Kenogami. The bake table is usually sold out first. Also tomorrow, the Kirkland Lake area edition of the “Santa Clause Express”. It’s a train ride for children provided by Ontario Northland Railway and is an annual series of community events unique (I think) in North America. I’ve made a link HERE to more information, if you’ve never heard of it. *** mac
November 13 ... Rain came in the night and - sure enough - it froze on contact. A steady southerly airflow will warm things up quickly today and other than a little salt on our front steps, our yard is more slushy than icy this morning. We are two days away from our Christmas unveiling, here at the store, and Val is busy putting the final touch on things. We’ll dress our window tomorrow. I sure wish I had a toy train to put in it! *** mac
November 12 ... For the first time this November, we never reached the melting point yesterday with a high of only minus 3. Lows were in the minus 8 degree range overnight and there is likely at least a little frost in the ground now. So ... I’m going to sneak into the gravel pit across the road today and load up my bins with some sand. Tonight will bring a warm up with rain forecasted for tomorrow. It’s the in-between time tomorrow morning that could turn our yard into a skating rink as it freezes on contact. You got to love November .... never a dull moment! *** mac
November 11 ... Remembrance Day ... A cruel breeze from the northwest will greet us this morning at cenotaph ceremonies across Temiskaming. Regardless, they will be well attended. Our corner of Canada - like so many others - paid a heavy price for the freedoms we enjoy and we’ll never forget. I’ve got a date with our daughter who will meet me there this morning. While both of her grandfathers will be on her mind, she’s of a new generation with colleague in harms way right now, trying to maintain a fragile stability in a volatile world. We are so very grateful. *** mac
November 10 ... We’ve got a good covering of white out there on the landscape this morning and things look a lot brighter around here despite a cloudy sky. Perhaps a half an inch of snow landed overnight .. not much .. but enough to raise a little hell with motorists on Highway 11. I’m told a vehicle landed in the rhubarb north of the White Clay River bridge, likely the victim of black ice that seems to be a constant threat up there through the moose pastures south of Butler Lake. I’m also hearing of a serious early morning two-vehicle accident in the Sanddam valley north of North Bay. It’s a tricky time of the year for highway driving in Northeastern Ontario with a lot of fast freeze-thaw swings in temperatures. *** mac
November 9 ... A light rain arrived late last night and turned to flurries overnight. It was dismal when I captured the attached image of Lake Kenogami early this morning but the sun is trying to make a cameo appearance now through the overcast. We might wake up to an inch of snow tomorrow morning, depending on how an incoming cold front treats us. Yesterday’s high was 9 degrees. Our historic average high at this point of November is plus 2 and we’ll be hard pressed to reach it tomorrow. *** mac
November 8 ... A light but steady rain came through the night. There’s the lingering threat of more showers today with gradually falling temperatures. We are centered on the trail of a deep depression moving northeastward today across the province. That’s a good thing, believe it or not. If it weren’t for it, we’d be fully exposed to the wrath of a wintery blast that has slapped around Winnipeg. The remnants of that system will hit us late tomorrow or early Monday.

There’s not much going on out there on the highway this morning. We’re between seasons now. The bright spot for us has been the early browsers through Val’s gift shop. One week from today we unveil her Christmas offering with an open house that we’ll begin promoting through a radio advertizing blitz beginning on Monday. But ... her sales were unusually strong through October as well as this past week and that has eased, at least, some our worries. This year’s Christmas inventory buying began at the shows at the end of January and was augmented with our attendance at the CTGA national giftshow in August. We bought heavy. Then . our economy turned .. as you well know ..early last month. It was a downturn, a sharp downturn, and without warning or at least without a warning that was widely shared with a lot of retailers across North America like us. So ... time will tell. How wisely did we buy? Will we be having a sale at cost-prices before Christmas? Will we have a below cost sale after? I guess a lot will depend on how panicked the major chains become. *** mac

November 7 ... A murky sky this morning with an east wind. Something’s coming and as an old and very wise lady once old me, “An east wind is an ill wind.” Temiskaming’s official high yesterday, recorded at the Earlton airport, was 20 degrees. That’s a new record for November 6th. The record low for that day is safe. It was 20 below in 1993. Our low was plus 3 overnight.

I got away for a quick jaunt down to Temiskaming Shores yesterday. I forgot to bring my camera. There isn’t a single leaf left on a tree between here and there. The bridge construction at Aidie Creek is still underway with single lane traffic controlled by stop lights. The whole stretch from the Highway 112 intersection southward to Englehart has been prepared for resurfacing but I fear they’ll run out of weather before they can lay down the new asphalt. Incidentally, they’ve been replacing a culvert under Highway 11 here in Kenogami over the past couple of days. A two day job has turned into a full week’s work because of an unexpected discovery. Normally, the pavement along the highway is 6 inches thick. Just north of the Highway 66 intersection, where the culvert is being replaced, the depth of the pavement is 18 inches! I guess the crew’s portable, gas powered circular saw didn’t stand a chance of cutting through it and they’ve had to wait for the heavy artillery to arrive. That intersection area has been revamped numerous times over the years and I guess they just kept paving over and over that stretch of roadway. *** mac

November 6 ... Last evening’s sunset over Kenogami says it all. It was a glorious day yesterday. Our high was 19 degrees. Just one more day of mild temperatures in the cards ahead of the arrival tomorrow of a massive weather system which is going to deliver the old ‘one-two’ punch to Ontario.... a wet warm front tomorrow - a frigid cold front on Sunday. It’s overdue, I guess. Our local gasoline market has finally slid down to our national average price of 98.9. That was also long overdue. *** mac
November 5 ... Another day of early September weather is expected today. We’ll likely match yesterday’s high of 16 degrees. The gang at Environment Canada has finally posted their November country-wide temperature model this morning and I’ve created a link HERE to it. The trend is for a continuation of milder than normal conditions. A watershed moment in American history yesterday and we all watched it unfold around the world. Thank you America. It’s given us all a boost. *** mac
November 4 ... It’s Howie Meeker’s 86th birthday today. If you’re Canadian and my age, you’ll know who Howie is. He’s a much kinder and gentler Don Cherry. The weather has been kind with an expected high this afternoon of 15C this afternoon. Today’s early morning fog was as thick as clam chowder. A southerly breeze overnight kept temperatures at around plus 6 but I guess the water temperatures on Kenogami and Sesekinika are cooler ... and ... presto .... fog city!

They’re electing a new President today, south of the border. Apparently they’ve been polling in Canada and our overwhelming preference is for Obama. I have my reservations about him, only because of the social turmoil we went through here in Canada with a similar leader elected on a big ‘change’ platform. His name was Pierre Trudeau. No one would argue that change is not needed south of the border but I wonder just how well (and non-violently) our American cousins will adapt to it. Patience has never been a commodity in huge supply, south of the border. I’d also like to say how much I’ve come to admire Mr. Obama’s challenger, Mr. McCain. I hope I have even half the drive and stamina he has at 72. *** mac

November 3 ... The North American jetstream has migrated all the way north to mid-way through James Bay this morning. That means the barndoor has been left wide open for warm southern air to flood into Temiskaming. Get ready for Indian Summer this week with temperatures tomorrow through Thursday running up to 12 degrees Celsius (26F) above our usual highs for early November. It’s far milder this morning than the frosty awakening I told you abut yesterday. In fact, after I uploaded yesterday’s almanac entry I started hearing that a lot of bays on both Kenogami and Sesekinika had frozen over on Saturday night. Go figure! *** mac
November 2 ... A very thick layer of frost covered everything this morning with a low of minus 9 and elevated humidity overnight. Temperatures will start to ramp up a bit today with a true mild spell in the wings for next week. I hope you remembered to turn your clock back last night to enjoy an extra hour of sleep. I just had my bi-annual visit to Peter Russell’s world clock website to adjust my trust old Timex wrist watch. It seems to only loose about 3 seconds in six months and “takes a licking but keeps on ticking”. Click HERE for a link to Peter’s clock which keeps track of just about everything. I’ve included another overhead image this morning, this time of Sesekinika which I recently re-discovered in my file. November tends to be the ‘countdown to freeze-up’ for all our lake’s permanent residents. There is so much to do once they turn solid! *** mac
November 1 ... It’s a sunny and cool morning with a light frost coming overnight. I was busy for a while upon opening the store this morning. It was all ‘hockey parents’ on the road, driving very Halloween-tired kids off to games to the north of us. One group’s game was in Kapuskasing which should give them 3 hours to sleep off a little of their trick or treating excesses. We go back to Standard Time tonight and we’ll all gain an extra hour of sleep. I looked for a fresh 30 day temperature forecast from Environment Canada this morning but it had not yet been posted. I’ve made a link HERE to it anyway for when it does show the new November climatic model. Try it tomorrow. I’ve got a whole list of yard chores to get done this afternoon, from putting away flower planters to moving traffic bumpers. It’s all about getting things ready for plowing snow and it’s a lot easier to move things out of the way before they become frozen solid to the ground. Last year we needed a little plowing at our entrances on November 17. It has been my experience that you’ve got to be ready for a good dumping around here anytime after Remembrance Day. *** mac <