This past weekend in Canada was “Thanksgiving Weekend.” Many of my American friends and clients find it odd when I tell them I’ll be out of the office on the second Monday of October for Thanksgiving, but it is the time when Canadians celebrate it. Perhaps it’s because our harvest season ends in many parts of the country sooner than our neighbours to the south.

I decided to forgo the turkey and trimmings this year, but I did prepare chicken drumsticks. In my cast iron pan on my Coleman stove on a picnic table beside my tent in the company of my six year old “wee man.” It was a beautiful weekend in Southern Ontario, unseasonably warm temperatures during the day with bright sunshine.  So warm it was, the wee fellow and I hiked, fished, and explored the campground in shorts and often without a shirt! The evenings and nights were cool but we kept warm beside a campfire before crawling into very warm sleeping bags.


Every night, right on schedule at about 10:30PM, a fairly tame skunk would visit the campsite. The first occurence of this, I have to admit that I was a bit nervous about the white striped animal with the potential of creating the most noxious odour being so close to me.  He did not seem to mind me banging and making noise to try to scare him off - he just kept wandering around the campsite, even coming within 6 feet of me, nonchalantly looking for crumbs that he might find in the grass.

After the first night, the skunk and I seemed to become acquainted to the degree he let me take his portrait from the other side of the picnic table.

 skunk.jpg

My son and I had some wonderful moments together! Precious moments where we talked about all kinds of things; how wood burns, what smoke consists of, beautiful butterflies, and even some deeper questions about life and living.

Not only the skunk, but we were fortunate enough to see a majestic Osprey fly from it’s perch on top of a utility pole about 40 feet away, a snake slithering along a trail, cute chipmunks, dragonflies of assorted colours, irritating wasps, and of course the beauty of a Southern Ontario autumn as the leaves change colour - bright yellows and crimson reds mixed in with green coniferous trees.

While others probably spent their weekend working - and there is nothing wrong with that, my son and I enjoyed the accomodations of nature at her best. Well, almost - the fish weren’t biting much this past weekend.

In May of this year, I asked the question “Live To Work, Or Work To Live?“  For me, it the moments I experienced this past weekend are why I work. Moments that will live on in the minds of my son and me. And now it is time to get back to work so that I can experience even more wonderful and memorable moments with those that are the most important to me.

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