It’s been a very interesting week out here in rural northwestern Ontario!
So last week I was out in Red Lake doing a Mother's Day craft at my son’s school. His class had spent the week prior prepping and painting birdhouses to assemble with the help of their mothers. The day was sunny and perfect for outside crafting.
After some initial struggle with the hammer and nails, some assistance from one of my friends (another mom that was there) we got that beautiful birdhouse done! My boy was so pleased with it. He had painted it with a different scene on each side; which included an outer space scene, polka dots, and a sea monster scene.
My gosh, do I adore him and his wild imagination!
We then spent the night at my mom's place, so that I could attend a fundraising dinner in Red Lake the following evening. But come Saturday afternoon, I found that the roads had been closed.
See Red Lake had been hit with catastrophic waters that had caused major flooding. Both the main road and the little back road leaving town had been completely washed out. This left Red Lake completely cut off; and me, my son, and many others stranded in Red Lake.
We have seen natural disasters in our little community before. Everything from forest fires and blizzards to days long power outages. So given the rapid way the snow was melting combined with the heavy rain, this flooding was no surprise. This did mean that, despite the highway repairers best work, that my son and I spent the week at my mom’s house.
Honestly, I think that my mom was thrilled to have us stay with her. And the timing of it all being over Mother’s Day weekend was just perfect. Though, I didn’t have much to do with my days. Luckily, my son was still able to go to his school.
Natural disaster aside, the time with my family was so nice. It honestly felt more like being stuck at my second home.
Three years ago, when Red Lake was hit with an evacuation due to a major forest fire, my mom and her household, as well as like 15 others had bunked at my house. I’m not exaggerating at all, either. Not to mention the eight pets that were also present.
My son and I actually really loved having the family with us then. We are really close, so we spent that week going to the beach, getting ice cream and making dinner together. In fact, it was more like a big family camping trip, rather than a forest fire evacuation.
Sometimes I feel like I’ve seen it all in my 12 years here in northwestern Ontario. Living out here can be challenging, but I absolutely live for it! I love the wildlife that run carefree through my yard, the beautiful heavy fresh snowfalls, and yes even the natural disasters that pop up from time to time. All of these things make living out here special. They make life interesting, and exciting, and unique.
And I never run out of stuff to write about!
