Wallpapers

And I thought last month’s photo would be tough to identify. Not so, it would seem. Several correct answers with good stories again makes the decision the tough part. I seem to have put myself into something of a hot seat trying to select winners, judging by all the complaining I’m hearing from the “non-chosen”. My further role as sensor at least allows me to shield our winners from the intense jealousy and verbal abuse of all these sore losers. In truth, it’s all very much tongue in cheek and I appreciate that so many of you seem to enjoy these monthly postings sufficiently to want to participate.

Last Month's Wallpaper

I’m hoping that those of you who didn’t win last month’s photo ID won’t be discouraged from trying again. There were many worthy stories which made the call unusually difficult, but I thought this one from Jack Patterson of Axeman Island which salutes a departed and special friend of the River, deserved the laurels:

"Could I not know the land of my birth, having come to the river every year since that event in 1938? NO!! And while I had to ponder the scene for perhaps ten or so minutes, it eventually came clear.

Last Month's Wallpaper:

Last month’s scene was an incredibly difficult one and as I suspected, no one correctly identified it, despite the fact that several were convinced they knew exactly where it was. That’s precisely why I picked it. It is so very obviously the 1000 Islands that it could be almost any one of them, but no place else. 

Why is it so immediately recognizable as here? I guess for the simple reason that most of the islands are the granite roots of ancient mountains that make up the Frontenac Arch and each has been carved and polished in much the same way by the glaciers of numerous ice ages.

I’ve often noted when exploring islands that each seems completely different with its own unique character, as is the view of the River from each, as though it's an entirely different place, yet in many ways they are all very similar. Don Ross’ book “St. Lawrence Islands National Park” describes a typical 1000 island. When I first read it, I was convinced he’d written it while sitting on mine, but the description applies to most of them.

As it happens, this one is Savage Island, one of a group of seven near the mouth of Jones Creek and roughly opposite Crossover Island Lighthouse. Out for a morning row in my skiff, I couldn’t resist landing and capturing the calm as the sun burned its way through the fog.

Last Month's Wallpaper:

Fellow 1000 Islanders,

December’s “Christmas tree” was a tough one for most 1000 Islanders.   

This determined willow sits on a microscopic island (with only its trunk showing in high water) locally known as Toniata, the original name of Jones Creek and also of an Indian village located here (or nearby) when Father Simon Lemoyne, a French missionary became the first white man to visit the area early in the 17th century.

The island sits in the middle of a very pretty bay, visible from near the eastern end of the 1000 Islands Parkway but hard to spot from the River unless you make an effort to explore the intricacies of the Canadian shoreline.  The bay also provides access to the extensive Jones Creek wetland/wilderness area, which is now protected forever as part of the Thousand Islands Biosphere Reserve.

Last month's wallpaper:

Fellow 1000 Islanders,

Last month’s photo ID was a close run affair between Jason Stock of Glen Cove, NY and Shayne Sage of Charlotte, NC, with Shayne (just) taking the laurels (and six 8 x 10 prints) for this response: