Across the Canada-US Border

Fitch Bay is so close to the border, you can enter Vermont after only a 15-minute drive. The US border patrols were unsurprisingly strict, but perhaps the sight of an Asian woman, a young white man, and an older white man, all with unrelated names, triggered their suspicion.

The town was as quaint and compact as you would expect a New England town to be. The houses were lovingly tended to, and the main street seemed to have all of the stores you would need to live, albeit on a smaller scale than in the city.

At the pier, where boats dock from Canada.

The boats were docked on Lake Memphremagog, which extends all the way to Magog.

The US, Canada, and Vermont flags.

The local gas station, getting into the Halloween spirit.

I felt very much the urban dweller when I wondered out loud, "Why is it three dollars for a single worm?" Of course you buy by the bucket.

The local mill, across the street from the gas station.

A farmhouse that I passed on the way back to the Canada border with so many baby clothes on the line, I swear there must be triplets in the family.

Fitch Bay Farms

Aside from vacation homes, the Fitch Bay area seemed to be made up of farms. To my eyes, the farmlands, houses, and barns looked picturesque, but it's most likely the sort of thing people living in the area don't particularly notice. Many of the properties looked lovingly tended to, with flowers and children's toys in the yard, but even the delapidated areas had an almost poetic look to them. It was impossible to capture these houses from a moving car, so most of these images exist in my mind only.

Cows grazing.

Wheat silos. I innocently asked if they contained milk.

The sunset proving too much for the camera.

Great rolls of hay.

Fitch Bay's main depanneur (convenience store), replete with a meat section selling homemade sausages.

 Sausage with white wine and shallots, and on the right, sausages with blueberries!

On a nearby street: Château Witch Bay, a house originally built in 1880. There are guided tours inside the house!

Even from the outside, you can see that the house is full of witchy touches.

Surprisingly, the house doesn't descend into camp.

Kayaking through Swamp Water

The houses in Fitch Bay stand in front of the river that feeds into Lake Memphremagog. There are a surprising amount of water plants in the river, and the long weeds turn to grass and lily pads as you kayak down the river.

The roots are visible like this.

In the mornings, the lilies in bloom can be seen. They were small and white...

...but I found a lone yellow one.

... 

There were also many different types of dragonflies. I particularly liked this one, with the pretty wings.

Red dragonfly.

Turtles on a log. They were mighty quick to disperse when they sensed the boat coming near.

A water helicopter, tethered like a dog on a leash.

 Found in the water.

 Trapped for a moment, and then set back into water.

A Walk in Fitch Bay

One of the more morbid "be careful" signs I've seen in my life: "Be careful with our children. It could be yours."

Signs of fall already.

Puffin the dog, oblivious to the caterpillar in front of her.

 

They come in white...

...but more or less seem to alternate in yellowness, whiteness, and furriness.

The best yard on the street.

Perfect little dahlia.

The beetle looks almost ornamental.

Bee colonies are said to be disappearing in North America, but I saw so many of them on my walk.

Spiderweb spun like cotton candy.

Super-sour berries.

Raspberries that were more seed than berry.

Woodpecker holes.

Moss overgrown on a tree stump.

Sunrise Times Two, and Twilight

Sunrise in Fitch Bay, a village thirty minutes' drive away from Magog.

It would have been sunrise hour, except for the huge blanket of fog that obscured everything.

Mid-September and it must have been only 8 degrees Celsius.

After-dinner marshmallow roast on the same exact spot, with a fire going.

We could hear coyotes around us, which became increasingly chilling.

Better luck finding the sun two days later, when it was much warmer as well.

Waiting for it to come up over the forest meant it took about an hour after the actual sunrise.