Lake of the Woods
Lake of the Woods has the most islands of any lake in north america. To navigate the lake you need to know where you are headed and when you are returning.
"...out in front of them the wind swept across the lake, the waves rolling in from the west and then away to the east. They looked out onto Storm Bay, to the small unnamed island in front of the cabin and the reef off the far end, to the rise of rocks on the shore to the east and the jack pines standing amidst the granite rubble, and to the distance, to thousands of separate islands and channels and reefs, like a huge mirror had folded in on itself to repeat a reflection over and over."
I started writing about Lake of the Woods when I first started to think of myself as someone writing for an audience. This is an important step for a writer: choosing a reader who will hear their stories and choosing a topic they feel confident in. For me, Lake of the Woods seemed to spring right to mind. I felt like I had something to say. This was the place that I grew up hearing stories about. My dad told me about the time he hooked his good friend in the back of the head while casting a spoon for jackfish. My grandfather told me about the crow that cawed at 5 am every morning ("Caw-caw," he said. "Caw.") until one morning he got up with the shotgun and shot it right through the screen door. No more caw-caw.
Lake of the Woods has always been for me a place full of possibility, a place that lives on in my memory long after I've left. I wrote many parts of Up in Ontario from those memories. I hope you enjoy reading the story as much as I enjoyed writing it.
Author's Note
Up in Ontario is a work of fiction. The setting and plot and characters may resemble real places and real events and real people, but this is only the result of circumstances. Some names have been changed and some have not and I have not kept track of the distinctions. I trust that those who think they know the stories do know the stories, though perhaps they remember them differently and can account for events in their own way. Who is to say what really happened?
Please do not use descriptions of the lakes or countryside for navigational purposes, since I may have forgotten to mention a reef, or a road, or a marker, and since the story may have demanded that a geographic feature be adapted for exactness. If you do go out on Lake of the Woods, use caution and be respectful. They call it God's Country, and if you've read your bible you know how powerful God can be. Make sure you have your oars stowed, a reserve tank of gas onboard, and someone on shore who knows where you have gone and when to expect you back.
All in all, trust yourself to know both the story and the way home.
NEWSLETTER
Sign up for the Up in Ontario email newsletter and receive the latest news, events information and updates. If you're good, I might even throw some stories into it.
