When I Grow Old and Wear the Bottom of My Trousers Rolled: Point Pelee

I grow old… I grow old…

I shall wear the bottom of my trousers rolled

~ T.S. Eliot, The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock

Hmmm, when I grow old and wear the bottom of my trousers rolled, and I yearn for freedoms lost, I will find my way to Pelee in the treasure trove of memories I have stored for such a time.

Passing through the gate in the awakening hours of a crisp May morning. Car window down to welcome in the chattering and warbling of the latest wave of birds to make the arduous, nighttime crossing of the lake. The half risen sun over Sanctuary Pond slicing through the lush canopy of trees. Rush of anticipation and the awakening of joy.

Straight on past the Cattail Café, Sleepy Hollow, Black Willow Beach, DeLaurier Homestead and Chinquapin Oak Trial. (These are for later in this day of unbridled self-indulgence.) Out of the car at the parking lot at kilometre 6. A rainbow of warblers already in abundance – Yellow, Black-throated Green, Magnolia, Black and White, Redstart… Is that a Hooded?

The obligatory tram ride to the tip. (No cars beyond this point.) The day count already gathering momentum – industrious woodpeckers, flitting flycatchers, cavorting sparrows and warblers by the bushel. Binoculars at the ready for the first aha! sighting of the day.

The legendary tip where rarities await. Hang back a bit to let the crowd disperse. Straight up the middle boardwalk as the rapture of the day unfolds. Orange splash of an Oriole. Exuberant red of a Tanager. Deep blue of a Bunting. And there – Golden-winged Warbler!

Emerging from the trees, the boardwalk ends. The most southern tip of mainland Canada a full nine kilometres from the gate. Counting off the terns as the sand shifts underfoot – Common, Foresters, could that be a Royal? Scanning the waves for Mergansers – slender, long-bodied, shaggy crests and red spike bills.

Working back down the east beach. The warbler bonanza continues – nondescript Tennessee, sprightly Nashville, regal Black-throated Blue, fire-throat Blackburnian. Overhead an Osprey soars with long, crooked wings half white, half black.

Back onto the tram for the trip back but jumping off at the Woodland Nature Trial. Winding through the wooded swamps. Thrushes by ear – their ethereal fluted notes. The nasal ank ank ank of Nuthatches. Quick

glimpse of a skulking Waterthrush. And there, a Pelee specialty – the glowing yellow of a Prothonotary!

Arriving at Tilden Woods by late morning. Slowing the pace now as the endless treasures of spring Pelee quiet the spirit. Overhead, a Yellow-throated Vireo looks down curiously. A Northern Parula announces its presence with its trademark zeeeeeeeeeee-up. Scanning from the beach brings its own reward – a noble Peregrine.

On the Chinquapin, the beee-bzzzz of the Blue-winged Warbler is almost guaranteed but still a delight. The day list of warblers continues to swell – trilling Pine, striking male Bay-breasted, elusive Blackpoll. Strident tea-kettle, tea-kettle, tea-kettle of a Carolina Wren.

On to the history-steeped DeLaurier Homestead Trail which always holds a surprise or two. A reclusive Chat working a thicket, a Green Heron dead still only feet away, a gorgeously coloured Cape May, a lone Olive-sided Flycatcher in its telltale perch on a dead tree.

The day winds down with a stroll around the Marsh Boardwalk. Tallying Great Blue Heron, Coot, Swamp Sparrow and Moorhen for the day list. Marsh Wrens pop up for quick look. A Harrier glides out over the cattails.

Pelee is a truly magical place in the burgeoning days of mid-May. Migrating birds of every size, shape and wondrous colour funnel there on route to their breeding grounds. It is a living metaphor of abundance, harmony and the rejuvenating powers of nature.

When I grow old and wear my trousers rolled, and my legs no longer find the strength to carry me beyond my door, I will call upon the treasure trove of Pelee memories to free my spirit from the confines of old age. Ever will it be my land of dreams.

~ Michael Robert Dyet is the author of "Until the Deep Water Stills – An Internet-enhanced Novel" – double winner in the Reader Views Literary Awards 2009. Visit Michael's website at www.mdyetmetaphor.com  or the novel online companion at www.mdyetmetaphor.com/blog .

Follow Michael's Metaphors of Life Journal aka Things That Make Me Go Hmmm regularly at this site. Categories: Shifting Winds, Sudden Light, Deep Dive, Songs of Nature, Random Acts of Metaphor. Originating at www.mdyetmetaphor.com/blog2 .

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