#2495 "Path to Paradise"

After completing #2494 "Path Behind the PSW", I moved a few dozen yards to the east along the trail and painted looking up, toward the fork in Long Reach Lane. This is the shortest tractor trail and path to get to Point Paradise at the far western end of our Singleton Lake property. 

The snow was deeper along this portion of the trail due to the thicker forest to the south. You could still see the tractor tracks in the snow from when I drove the Singleton Kubota Portable Studio through the snow drifts to Point Paradise on Tuesday March 9th, 2021. I painted #2481 "Singleton Shagbark Hickory Point" and #2482 "Hickory Point in March" that day in early March. What a change in the snow cover as predicted by Singleton Philly on February 2nd. 

It was getting windy as the ridge of high pressure pushed further to the east. The rain with the approaching frontal system was still four days away. 

The birds were getting ready for spring. The great blue heron even arrived back home to the provincially significant wetland (PSW) while I painted. 

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#2494 "Path Behind the PSW"

This is the tractor path behind the Provincially Significant Wetland (PSW). The provincially significant wetland north of our home is about 5 acres in extent. It may be small but it is still a very special place full of wildlife. 

I have placed nesting boxes and platforms all around and within the wetland and maintain a thick forest between us and the swamp on all sides. I have also placed branches in the shallow water to give minnows some cover and shelter as well. The Canada geese enjoy the floating, nesting platform even though the resident bald eagles continue to predate their nest every few years. The trumpeter swans were showing an interesting in the floating platform in the spring of 2021. Wood ducks use most of the duck boxes but flying squirrels like them too. Blue birds and tree swallows compete for the Peterson Blue Bird houses which I clean every winter. Trees that fall into the wetland roughly perpendicular to the shore are great for everything from the turtles to the several varieties of frogs that live there. Everything needs a place to live. Interlaced piles of brush placed on top of wood palettes line the wetland perimeter. These brush piles provide shelter opportunities for all kinds of critters. A piece of metal roofing on top of the palette gives those critters a dry place to survive as well. 

Everything was coming alive again. The spring peepers were hopefully getting ready to sing. The spring birds were certainly active staking out their territories. The bird songs provided the musical backdrop for my art but I could only really positively identify the blue bird. There were interesting songs that sounded exotic and I wished I knew the type of bird doing the singing. The great blue heron also arrived back home while I painted. 

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#2493 "Singleton Spring Ice 2021"

After completing #2492 "Snow in the Shade at Jim Day Rapids", I still had some time and energy to paint. The sun felt good and the sounds of spring inspired me to paint on. 

The Singleton ice still dominated the western basin of the lake. The ice in the shallow eastern basin had melted in early March. Sometimes the thicker ice of the west basin break up into large chunks and pile through Jim Day Rapids in jostling, tumbles. This type of breakup is typically preceded by a heavy rain or rapid melt that raises the water level and floats the large ice chunks free from their shoreline anchor. 

In other years like 2020, the ice simply melted in place. The water level of the lake stayed the same or lower as when the ice formed. The ice remained anchored to the shoreline in 2020 and melted in place. The grey ice would just one day be gone as the water of Singleton Lake did the vertical, density flip with a mean temperature of 3.7 Celsius or thereabouts. 

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#2492 "Snow in the Shade at Jim Day Rapids"

The clear skies in the middle of the blocking ridge of high pressure, allowed the temperatures to drop overnight and create a thick hoar frost. The turkeys were on the run to see if there was any corn to be found for their Sunday morning brunch. 

There was not much snow left. I headed to Jim Day Rapids with my Guerrilla Painter Plein Air Pochade Box. Some patches of snow lingered on the north side of the marble ridge in the shade of the coniferous trees. The was also a bit of ice on the northern shore of Long Reach. 

I did not want to go far and I enjoyed the sounds of the rapids. The excited chatter of the migrating Canada geese filled the air. The wing beats of hooded mergansers and the tapping of woodpeckers provided the beat to the music. I tried to immerse myself in the nature of Jim Day Rapids. It was easy to do. 

British Surveyors almost certainly camped at this very spot back in 1783. Lieutenant Gershom French, led by Native guides scouted the possibilities for settlement along the Gananoque River. His conclusion was as equally bleak as his fellow officer, Captain Justus Sherwood, both sent by governor Frederick Haldimand of Quebec: "From our entrance in the River Gananoncoui to its fall into the St. Lawrence, I did not discover as much good land Conveniently situated as would serve one Farmer." In some reference that I can't place at the moment, there is a accurate description of camping a point near the rapids of Singleton and then paddling the zigzag path into Red Horse Lake. 

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#2477 "Three Amigo Canoes at Sunset"

A couple of Boston really liked #2065 "Summer Cirrus" which was based on a photo taken from my kayak at 8:45 pm on Friday July 28th, 2017 Singleton Lake. I featured that painting on a recent Science Blog. The gravity waves and lines of cirrus are what attracted me to this painting. My new friends from Boston inspired me to paint this alternative version of that summer sky and I decided to feature some canoes. 

This name came to me while I was painting away. I still had a long way to go but the canoes spoke to me. This is Canadiana to the core. The name is also reminiscent of a silly 1986 movie that I have yet to see. The movie was very popular. I appreciate the humour of Steve Martin and Chevy Chase and Martin Short is a Canadian who can hold his own in that crowd. I was coaching the kid's soccer in Schomberg at the time the movie was released. The boys on Keith's team thought I looked like Steve Martin because of my premature, white hair. Steve Martin's character was apparently "Lucky Day" - appropriate. Steve Martin would later promote the art of Lawren Harris. 

I often use more than the one large studio palette so that I can keep my oils clean. I actually used three palettes at one time on this large canvas. Yellow is one of those colours that can turn other oils instantly grey - and not typically in a good way. The blues of the sky and clouds also deserved special attention. I had all of my shades of blue out to capture the nuances of the weather. 

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#2491 "Singleton Fence Line"

The first day of spring was spectacular. After completing #2490 "Singleton Wetland Headwater", I headed along the trail to the remains of the old page wire fence. The fence was strung along this line of trees when they were very much smaller.

The fence was designed to keep the cattle out of the provincially significant wetland. The previous owner had told me that he had pushed a lot of cattle through the forest on their way to market. The forest was just recovering from the decades (or century) of those countess cattle. The scars on the trees were evident everywhere if you knew where to look. The fence wire was deeply embedded inches into the trunk of these trees on the downside of the marble ridge. 

The shadows from the large sugar maples played across the ridge line. The red shouldered hawks screeched at me while I painted. I also saw the first turkey vulture of the season. 

I painted  fast and loose and had lots of fun. For this and much more art, click on Pixels. Thank you. 

#2490 "Singleton Wetland Headwater"

In 2021, the spring equinox occurred on Saturday, March 20. More precisely, spring arrived at 5:37 am EDT. This event marks the astronomical first day of spring in the Northern Hemisphere. The word equinox comes from the Latin words for "equal night"—aequus (equal) and nox (night). On the equinox, the length of day and night is nearly equal in all parts of the world. After this date, the Northern Hemisphere begins to be tilted more toward the Sun, resulting in increasing daylight hours and warming temperatures. 

The blocking ridge of high pressure provided an absolutely cloud free sky so I needed to raise the horizon in my painting. Water from melting snow drained across the field and I thought that I might be able to turn this simple trickle into a painting. I turned the small panel from landscape into a vertical portrait. The sun felt warm on my back. With no biting bugs, it was a beautiful day for plein air painting. 

This is another interchange at the head of the smaller Provincially Significant Wetland. It is very well used by nature - even the bears. The Singleton ridges run northeast to southwest as remnants of the Laurentian Mountain Belt. This ridge of mountains resulted from the collision between the supercontinent Rodinia (1.1 billion years ago) and the ancient continent of Laurentia. The roots of this former mountain belt are known geologically as the Grenville Province which partially explains the name of our county. The deer rely on the red cedars in the painting for meagre winter sustenance. 

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#2489 "Long Reach White Pine Windy Day"

I grabbed another panel after completing #2488 "Singleton Ice Edge Cattails" but wanted to get out of the developing northerly winds. The wind occasionally threaded through Jim Day rapids and created a river of ripples. The lines of ripples appeared brighter since they reflected the clouds above. Otherwise the calm waters of the Jim Day exit into Long Reach was dark due to the reflected shadows of the white pines on the far shore. 

The wind was whipping the tops of the white pines around. The rain touched the south shore of Lake Ontario but only the overcast altostratus made it as far north as Singleton. 

The geese rode the current of Jim Day Rapids and paddled in front of me repeatedly as I painted. 

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#2488 "Singleton Ice Edge Cattails"

 

After finishing #2487 "March Morning Jim Day Rapids", I simply went and got another panel and stood looking toward the north at the edge of the cattails. The provincially significant wetland is certainly important and is just full of life. 

The geese staked their chunk of ice. The otter came by and inspected my work before diving under the ice and coming up again deeper within the wetland. I look after that important piece of geography. I provide all kinds of nesting opportunities and habitat. Everyone needs a place to live. Surround yourself with nature and please be stewards for the environment. 

The Singleton Sanctuary has a long history. 

Here is an image from around 1922. Some campers were on the spot where our home is now - it may be the nicest spot along the entire waterway. They were probably tenting under the huge shagbark hickory that shades our home. The photographer entered this photo in a contest and won first prize. It was made into a postcard entitled "Noon on the Rideau", which was sold in the Rideau Lakes area. He returned and gave a copy to Charlie Tye - the same one that I saw in John Tye's home in Lyndhurst. Although the waterway does link into the Rideau, this view is of the eastern basin of Singleton Lake and the provincially significant wetland. 

Charlie Tye (at right) and his sons Ford (left) and Fred (Fred was John Tye's father, born in 1910) after working hard in the morning, went at noon to water the horses at Jim Day Rapids. John Tye sold us the land for our Singleton Sanctuary. I was painting just a few feet from where Charlie was holding his horse. 

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#2487 "March Morning Jim Day Rapids"

The rain had ended. The northerly winds and colder air were on their way but for a while, the plein air conditions were terrific. The water was calm. The spring birds were playing the background music. Canada geese were landing in a talking up a storm as well. The geese were staking out chunks of ice in anticipation of the nesting season. There were several large flocks of geese flying overhead and they were chattering happily and very pleased to be arriving back home. The nature of Singleton Lake is really quite inspiring. 

The precipitation edge deformation zone was still evident overhead as the storm pulled away slowly to the east. The blue sky on the ridge was on the southwestern horizon. As I painted, the northerly breeze started to develop and shredded streets of turbulent stratocumulus were developing. 

Plein air encourages me to just lay in the facts in terms of shapes and colours. I can see the details but frankly, they are not needed and just get in the way. 

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#2486 "Mid March Long Reach Afternoon"

I felt inspired so I decided to grab my paints and head down to Jim Day Rapids. There was still some snow left to paint. I charged right into the effort. I was distracted by a snuffling noise that seemed out of place amidst the chirps of the spring birds. 

An otter was bristling its whiskers at me as I was obviously in his/her territory. We enjoy watching the otters all winter long. Come summer, they seem to disappear but occasionally we will see them at night. 

The deformation zone of the approaching spring storm had just passed to the east of Singleton. The southwesterly breeze was chilly but the Long Reach Point sheltered me as I painted. The grey overcast was characteristic of the warm frontal surface. It was a great chance to paint en Plein air with no biting bugs. 

I painted fast and very heavy on the oils. Art is supposed to be fun. The blue birds were active and using the Peterson Bluebird Houses that I had just given a spring cleaning to. Every bird houses on the property was clean. It took all day. 

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#2485 "Singleton Private Place"

The snow was melting fast. There was no time to waste so I decided to paint the last snow drifts that were to be found on the shaded, northern flanks of the Singleton marble ridges. I thought that the "intimate, friendly, private place" of the privy would be a great place to paint. The snow would be gone in one more day. There was way less snow than on January 25th, 2021 when I recorded #2473 "Singleton Pioneer Privy". This was a two seater privy but I really can't imagine both spaces being occupied at the same time. 

Every language has euphemisms regarding bathrooms and private places like the privy. We rarely describe them by their given names. For toilets especially, we say cryptic things like: 

• I’m going to see a man about a horse.
• I’m going to the powder room.
• I need a Number 1 (pee) or Number 2 (poo).
• I need to use the little girls’ / little boys’ room.
• I need to use the sand box. 

The flushing toilet was around way before the 15th Century and dates back to at least Ancient Egypt. The first popular indoor toilet was was invented in the late 1500's by Sir John Harrington, a poet who was also Queen Elizabeth I’s Godson (one of 101 god children). Early toilets in England were called Jakes, or sometimes Cousin Johns. When Sir Harrington invented a flush toilet, he named it Ajax, a play on the word "Jacks". He then wrote a satirical book about it called A New Discourse upon a Stale Subject: The Metamorphosis of Ajax. It claimed to be a toilet manual but had political undertones. In particular, the story had veiled references to the Earl of Leicester, so John got exiled or flushed, so to speak. Those early toilets were only flushed after about 20 uses, and consumed 7.5 gallons of water.

The red shouldered hawk kept an eye on me and screeched repeatedly. I heard many bird songs that I did not recognize. The Singleton Sanctuary is a special place. 

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#2484 "Pioneer Sugar Maple"

In mid March I headed out to paint some trees and maybe some snow. 

A pair of large trees on the south side of the Pioneer Homestead had caught my eye years ago. I figured it was time to record them even though the snow had melted the previous day. 

These trees were probably of respectable size when the pioneers started their families in the 1800's. Henry Latimer was the first owner of Lot 4 which he purchased on May 24th, 1824. William Tye bought 100 of the 120 acres on April 15th, 1859. There were several owners after that the the names were generally Tye, Covey or Sheffield up to 1973. The 175 acres of Lot 5 houses the Pioneer Homestead and Privy and it was bought by John Blades on October 13th, 1821. Various Sheffields and a few Tye's owned Lot 5 thereafter.

The twenty foot square pioneer home had a dug basement and maybe interior rooms. It would have been high and dry perched on top of the marble ridge. The barn and shed were just a hundred yards to the northeast. The pioneers were surrounded by the forests and the fields that they worked. These trees would have provided shade from the summer heat while allowing the winter sun to shine through and provide warmth during the colder months. That same sun was warming my back as I painted. The rocks of the old foundation were still to be found. Most of the foundation walls had already tumbled into the dug root cellar. 

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#2482 "Hickory Point in March"

After completing #2481 "Singleton Shagbark Hickory Point". I moved my easel a short way further toward west and looked northward more along the top of the marble ridge. 

The shadows of the trees sundialed across my canvas as I painted and I sometimes had to move the easel in order to see the colours better. The shadows from the brilliant sunshine told me that the morning was passing quickly. I was so absorbed in the process of interpreting the beauty in front of me while surrounded by nature, that the hours and minutes meant nothing to me as they passed. 

The skies had cleared as the high pressure centre moved in. It was a beautiful day and the sounds of nature spoke of spring. 

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