Granite Expires in Parry Sound 33 Fire
My parents live close to where the Parry Sound 33 Fire started this summer.
Still
moss clings to my
spaces toured by ants and even
spiders.
Motionless days pass
solid and sound in all seasons,
even this one, until my senses blistered.
Organized signals for help
unseen as my sedentary
service in subterranean
bass tones even
eluded that fir and birch and spruce and pine
who once stood beside me night and day.
Knowing boots rested on my back, even as I slept
as choked branches lay across my face, as I ate
but rain
soaked dreams drank my lineage
hardening the horizon–
Even until smouldering spells
struck nine and I waited to exhale.
© Jessica OutramGereaux Island Lighthouse Gallery
Photo collection of Gereaux Island Lighthouse, near Britt/Byng Inlet, Ontario. My grandfather grew up in this lighthouse.
Click here to read more about its history.
August 2006 
August 2015 
August 2015 
August 2015 
July 2018 
Late 1800s/Early 1900s. Family photo. 
July 2019 
July 2019
Georgian Bay Rocks Gallery
Most pictures were taken on the south shore, Britt/Byng Inlet.
July 2018 
July 2018 
July 2018 
July 2018 
July 2018 
July 2018 
South Shore, July 2018 
South Shore, July 2018 
South Shore, July 2018 
South Shore, July 2018 
South Shore, July 2018 
South Shore, July 2018 
South Shore, July 2018 
South Shore, July 2018 
August 2016 
August 2016. McNab Rocks, Britt. 
August 2016. McNab Rocks, Britt 
South Shore, August 2015. 
South Shore, August, 2016. 
August 2015 Parry Sound Fire 33: July 2018
There are much more interesting photos out there of the fire. It is a sad news story that I can’t stop following this summer. Each time we went out in the boat, we could see smoke rising up out of the bush. It’s heartbreaking to imagine the landscape I love so much in flames.
Family Picnic Magic
Georgian Bay: July, 1988. The clouds feather high in the cobalt sky. When Evergreen floats near the shore, I climb out the nose and jump to the rock holding the rope. My feet splash into the water. I stumble. My cousin Michael laughs.
Dad Finds a Peavey Log Roller
When Dad was dragging his kayak away from the shore to store it at the end of the summer his foot twisted a bit on this rusty old metal piece hidden below some juniper branches. He said:
Thanksgiving Tradition: Hike in the Bush on Georgian Bay
Some people might call it the woods, but our family has always called it the bush. Rolling granite, moss, and long grasses topped with juniper bushes, birches, maples, and pines extend for many kilometres from my parents’ place across Crown land.
