PS8j - Maple Sugar Trip

This is the story of a day I spent with "Jim & the kids" around Cambridge.

Jim picked me up in Kitchener at Uncle Bill's in his Toyota TrailBlazer. It should be noted that the Collishaws are related through my father's side of my family, whereas the Johnstons are related through my mother, so they didn't know each other or anything. I think we're about to cross the 7/8 here, but I'm not sure.

Curiously, Natasha actually drove from Cambridge to Kitchener using her learner's permit, but for some reason Jim drove the whole time I was with them. I guess he values my life, huh? =)

This is just one of those obligatory "here we are" photos, because if I didn't take it, I wouldn't have remembered that we were in - Mountsberg? Where the heck is that? Were we still in Hamilton county? Where's the 6 or the 7 or the 401? We came and went on county roads as opposed to the King's Highway - much fun! From left to right: Nassim Collishaw, Natasha Collishaw, Anissa Collishaw, Skye Collishaw.

Making syrup the old-fashioned way. Yum!

Making syrup with actual machines. Now we're talking! This SugarMax 5000LT even comes with a guide permanently teathered to the side of the machine, protected from the spectators by a guardrail.

At some point we decided to get in line and go for a wagon ride. Nothing like high-speed thrills at the maple sugar bush.

Eventually we made it back to Cambridge, and we popped in a tape of family movies.

Digression: Apology

I would like to apologize to the Ross and Steele children for an inidence in the summer of '92 where I subjected them to a Nancy White tape that I was deeply interested in during one of their rare visits to my house. I am reminded of this, because here it is caught on videotape, and it's one of the most insensitive things I've ever done. To have to see the bored and tired expressions on their faces ("let me out of here!"), and then see me dancing around and thinking that this album of political songs is the greatest thing ever to have been recorded, completely unaware of the fact that they HATE this - then again, I should also give them a shout-out for being the kind of people that are very slow to actually complain about anything I've ever done. =)

Jim and Ladan fixed us a very nice dinner. The one lone fish remaining in the tank belongs to Nassim.

After dinner, us kids went back to the "game room" and pitted our wits against each other in games of strategy and skill. Here Anissa has challenged me to a game of checkers. She eventually won. =) After that I played Skye, and even though I did win, it is not an exaggeration to say that our checkers skills were well matched.

return to the Photo Journal I: February - March 2002 menu page