Hank tells Robbie of his plan to quit school at age fourteen and work odd jobs, either in Toronto or along the Bay. His goal is to match the life-style of local models that his mother calls “our royalty around here.” But Robbie needs convincing… “‘A regular job might be safer. Don’t you think so,..
Tag: R.C. Highcroft
“Christie’s Bluff was on the horizon as we got under way… Bella headed straight out. The boat was surprisingly swift… This journey to the Bluff would be very different from the first I had made. The lapstrake hull kept spray to a minimum, and there was a canopy we could raise if the sun grew..
“August began to feel a little different as the years passed. I discovered a glimmer of the liberation that increasing detachment could provide. But Hank was right. Change came at a cost. I was forced to imagine him vanishing into wretched city districts where I knew we could never meet. Meanwhile, Josée was entangling Rex..
Mooching was a subtle method of deep-water fishing in midsummer. It called for drifting slowly “while raising and lowering [one’s] … line to probe random depths along the way… The strategy explored varying depths, temperatures, and currents. Strikes might occur at any time, though fish were most often expected when the lure began either fleeing..
For your signed copy of ‘Providence Point’ visit me this weekend (September 27-8) at the Tellwell Publishing booth, Word on the Street – David Pecaut Square, Toronto. (Computer-generated images)
Hank, Rex and I “always knew that August’s parade of lazy days must finally come to an end. For Granny, as well… the conclusion of summer aroused powerful emotions.” For as she watched our late-summer exploits, “the freedom we enjoyed must have reflected opportunities totally beyond reach for even the most intrepid of Victorian daughters…
Granny recalled that at the Reigate summer festival, a pugnacious bully had mocked a young girl’s singing, but Great-Grandpa Barnaby would not stand for it. From the front row, “he glared down to the back of the tent” in which the performances were taking place. “He very deliberately took off his blazer. Then he rolled..
“If the weather cleared, the barometer would rise. In that case, the fishing would pick up …” “But half an hour without strikes confirmed what the gradually darkening skies suggested. The air pressure was dropping. Soon, the rain would return. And worse, there would be few if any fish. Already, no other anglers were in..
“Christie’s Bluff was a towering island almost ten miles out from our side of the Bay. Its peak was a beacon for anyone who ventured onto the open water. It watched over us all year long… In return we never disregarded it. All whose plans required fair weather commenced their day with a nod to..
Reminiscing about earlier years on the Bay, Mrs. Birmingham tells Rob how his grandparents spent their evenings with his Auntie Lou and Uncle Harry. “What a crew those four made! Harry and Lou built their cottage just across from the Point… It had a nice lookout over the water, but the whole place was crammed..
Robbie and Uncle Harry were fishing a few hundred yards off the shoreline of Évariste Leduc’s farmstead. As they watched the patriarch’s elderly spouse working in the sizeable garden, Harry broke the silence: “Here’s a thought, Robbie. What if, in fact, we were living our lives almost the same as the folks in that house?…..
“As traditional as it might be, Thanksgiving was not the autumn highlight. For Granny and Grandpa, it paled in comparison with Harvest Festival, a kind of lower-key English Thanksgiving three weeks before its Canadian counterpart…. [but] it did have a drawback. Its September date frequently coincided with early frosts that shockingly nipped less hardy vegetables..