Blueberries and a bit of History

At the beginning of August we ventured out in search of blueberries.  A successful discovery was found north of Elk Lake.  A 4x4 was necessary to navigate the old logging roads, or I suppose a long hike along those roads.  Equipped with pails, bear bells, bear spray, lunch and lots of water to drink almost nine pounds of blueberries were collected. Mmmmm. Red raspberries were also growing abundantly.

There was also this berry growing but I'm not sure what it was so left it alone.

Recently as I was walking down the driveway to walk with Teaka along the road, two cars pulled over and a bunch of folks got out, first asking me if I spoke French ..... no I don't.  As it turned out the grandmother of the older folks (guessing they were in their 70s) lived in my house in the 1920s and 1930s.  I heard some interesting stories about experiences on this homestead as happened during the earthquake of 1935 and the Great Fire of 1922. 

On November 1, 1935 there was a 6.1 magnitude earthquake that was felt from Thunder Bay to New Brunswick and James Bay to Kentucky. The epicenter was in Témiscaming Quebec, about 140 kms south of here. Apparently there are an average of 6 earthquakes per year in the Temiskaming Shores area, most which can't be felt because they are so small.

On October 4th and 5th 1922 a fire burned through 18 townships in Northern Ontario, completely destroying some of the communities. One of the towns hit hardest was Haileybury which burnt down within 3 to 6 hours. Thick smoke caused panic and confusion. The town's residents were forced to take refuge in the cold waters of Lake Timiskaming and cover themselves with wet blankets. The fire destroyed over 90% of the town. I read a story of siblings who sought shelter in a deep ditch on the roadside and along with them a bear also sought shelter. My visitors told me their relatives and others checked on a family down the road and found the family safe in the basement with rabbits and other little critters that sought safety. Unfortunately their home was burned to the ground and it was never rebuilt.

Toronto sent up 87 old streetcars to help house people as winter was set to come. In fact on Oct 5th a heavy snowfall helped put out the fire. If this house was saved from the fire, it is nice to know it offered shelter to many people throughout that winter.

On the subject of fires. We had an emergency in the way of a field fire. The winter wheat was harvested a week ago and the stalks were being baled for straw. On Aug 20th the baler caught fire and then quickly so did the field. It was the field across the creek from me and luckily it was not a windy day. The volunteer fire department was on its way already by the time I called 911. Interesting, but I guess not surprising, is that Quebec 911 took my initial call and I had to be transferred to an English speaking operator before being transferred to Ontario. The field fire was brought under control fairly quickly and helping the situation was that most of the field had already been baled so there was not much to feed the fire. They did send a helicopter to ensure no sparks had spread to start new fires and the farmers remained for a few hours after the fire was out to spread water on the area with their tractors and sprayers.

I have so much to learn still.  A few interesting updates to the field fire. The helicopter that flew over the field to take stock of the situation had nothing to do with the fire department/fire safety crew.  It was the owner of the field, a big name around here, Mr. Grant (associated with the Grant Mansion from another blog). Also it was him who asked another farmer to bale the rest of the straw to get it off the field as a fire prevention strategy. And my newest neighbour down the road came out to cultivate the field in the area where the fire had been. No services or a lack of resources in some areas of the north means folks living around here need to take many things into their own hands. My neighbour whose house is on the land where that field is (it was originally his land which he cleared of trees before sectioning it off) had his son watch the field for the next week because with north peat land (also known as black muck) the fire gets underground and can burn for days a few feet under the ground. His son put out multiple fire start ups.