trip up north

     Sharon and I went for a drive up north. I keep hearing how wonderful the crops are this year. 

     We drove east through Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, and up through Michigan. When we were in Michigan the crops started looking like they were in trouble. Now for all I know they may never harvest much corn in Michigan. I have never seen what I would call a good field of corn there.

    We traveled on and crossed the border into Canada. It looked like decent farm ground and the corn was only 6 inches tall. We traveled across Ontario and back down into upstate New York, through part of Pennsylvania and back through Ohio. It was not until we were into Indiana again that we saw corn over 8 inches tall. The third week of June, the corn was short and there were fields that were planted but nothing was up yet. I am no expert but we drove past 1000 miles of corn that I would not put in the good to excellent category and the tall soybeans were 2 inches. 

     When we crossed the border into Canada, we were asked why we were going to Toronto and if we had any weapons or guns with us. I am assuming most people transporting guns across the border illegally do not answer "yes we have a trunk full of guns." Coming back from Canada into the US there was a drug sniffing dog being walked between the cars. The dog was checking each vehicle at least twice. There was a local police officer walking through the cars in line continually also. When we got to the border we had to shut off the car, and open the back so an officer could go through our luggage. (you could watch him doing it to the cars in front of us and it looked like a total waste of time. He would push the suitcases around a little and occasionally open one and move the top piece of clothing.) I am going to guess they catch absolutely nothing and if they were serious they would have the drug dog right there when they open the trucks of the cars. This looked more like an exercise of trying to make everyone just a little on edge and belittling them.

     We stopped at a beach along lake Huron. Beautiful scenery but the cold wind off the lake made you think of a fan blowing over a tub of ice. Looks can be deceiving.

     Sharon wondered along the beach just in the water's edge. I found a right nice log in the sun and absorbed the warmth while the waves crashed into the sand. I don't know that I could live on the beach if it is that noisy part of the time. 

     We met Matthew on Friday (he is in Toronto for 6 weeks working with a mission to the Somali population)  and went to down town Toronto. 6 million people in the Greater Toronto area. I soon was very tired of driving on the 401. Busiest highway in North America. 16 lanes of traffic at times. We paid $18.95 to park in this space ( it was a good thing Matthew was with us or Sharon and I might still be looking for our car and we had both taken pictures of where we parked). I met the director of Toronto Parks on Sunday. He is responsible for 22,000 acres inside the city of Toronto. Told me he pays $3,000 a year for a parking place at his office. I think if I was the director of Parks there would be one park that was about 10 foot by 20 foot that would provide free parking for the director of Parks.

     We took the ferry out to the Islands in Lake Ontario right off Toronto. When we arrived there was a sign that pointed toward the clothing optional beach. As cold as it was we were quite safe from any unwanted sights if we happened to wander in the wrong direction. The sailing ship above went past the Islands while we were walking the trails. We could hear the music being played loudly where we were on land. I think I am too used to silence in my life. I would not sign up for a cruise on a sailing ship if I felt I would need ear plugs for the voyage. I also think, I would have found the party on board perhaps not to my liking. From a great distance it looked like an idyllic sail on Lake Ontario, but close up it appeared to be a raucous party of dubious morals at best. 

    The Cliffs are also right in Toronto. They look like sand from a distance but they are a strange type of soil. They stand as cliffs and then in areas some of the soil has given away as though it turned to liquid in a heavy rain. When you walked over to the pile it was hard enough you could not leave a foot print or even dent it by kicking at it. The soil washing down must not happen often because the cliffs are still standing. Someone had carried in a table with food and drinks to the bottom of this cliff, eaten and then just left everything, table included. I am guessing they were not of Dutch heritage, who leaves a table behind?? 

     On Monday morning I had had enough of the 401 and it's crazy drivers. Our hotel was only 1 block north of the lake so we drove down Lake Shore Drive all the way out of Toronto. Everyone must have been on the expressways because we had a lovely lonely drive along the lake.

     We drove east below lake Ontario until we came to a place where a lot of people had gathered up to see a river drop a couple of hundred feet. There were even people paying to ride on a boat to get wet from all the spray and mist at the bottom of the water fall. We only paid $19.95 to park there. ( I see on my credit card that every day the exchange rate is different. Ah, the fun of international finance, you never know just how much your money is worth.)

    The waves were larger and much quieter on Lake Erie. The water was warmer also. That is until we went further out on the peninsula. We had spent some time on a beach where there were just a couple of others wondering along. When we drove further out to where the life guard was on duty the wind was ferocious and there were people trying to hold down their food and picnic paraphernalia. A few brave souls were actually trying to play in the water. I was thinking I needed a sweatshirt or a coat. 

     Having driven along Lake Erie for a while we stopped at a park, which was really just a Parking lot, a boat ramp and a cement pier to fish from. There was a crane (I think a crane, but some bird with a long neck and long legs anyway) walking sedately around the pier.

     He might have been eyeing the free fish lying everywhere. There had been a really nasty rain down pour the night before and fish had gotten left high and dry.

     I don't enjoy fishing. I know nothing about it and do not have the patience to wait for a fish to come to a line and hook. Here I could have just picked the fish up. Although a dead fish is very soon a decomposing fish and these were already starting to stink. A free fish just for the picking up is not a bargain. Maybe not even for the crane.

     Met friendly people, saw people from different cultures (Toronto is 51% nonnative), heard many languages spoken. There were 2 young men who had breakfast in the hotel at the same time we did every day. They didn't say anything the first 2 days. The third day they met another guest and the 3 of them had a long conversation. They spoke Italian. I wonder if they even knew much English. We were in Toronto and I won't share what I thought of 2 young men staying in a hotel together (saw guys walking along holding hands) until I heard them speak. Sometimes what we think we see is not what is fact.

     The lake may look beautiful and the water is frigid. The border guards may look like they are searching but they are only going through the motions. The sail boat without the motor may be the noisiest place for miles around. The place no one goes may be the best beach instead of the well marked beach with the life guard. The fish may look free and easy but who wants them already dead?

      Much of life is like that. Nothing is as it seems at first glance. That is true of a lot of people too. We have a tenant who had become a concern. Her life seemed to fall apart around her unbelievably fast. The house went from clean and well cared for to a terrible mess. Today I saw her with a man. He looked like what I call a weed. Thin, tattooed, dressed strangely. I am thinking, Oh great I am trying to get her to move out and she is moving in trouble. Later in the day the door to the house was open and they were carrying out a couch. Then they threw a bed out onto the lawn. I walked up to find out what was going on. The man had on a pair of rubber gloves and was bagging up garbage and junk. He had washed the floors and was cleaning the place up. She told me she had been in a "bad place" but was better now. She was sorry there was some damage to the house. 

    I had never seen her without long sleeves before, now I saw all the scars on her arms. They were old scars but they told me she had been a serious cutter when she was younger. She was all cleaned up for several months after she moved in, but her demons came back to visit. The man I thought looked like trouble was helping her get back in a "better place". Looks can be deceiving.

     She thanked me for caring today. The truth was I had just wanted her gone for the last couple of weeks. Looks can be deceiving both ways. I looked like the good guy, but my heart was not in it. (We had been praying for her though, that she would come to know God and see a need for salvation, and get her life fixed.)

     Don't just see the surface. Get involved with the people God puts in your life. You never know what you may find. Looks can be deceiving.