To Ease the Passing of Time

In the middle of the river, in front of our cottage, between Québec and Ontario[1], there is an island called Mohr Island. Actually, it’s two islands very close to each other. The two islands are divided by a shallow creek which flows into the U-shaped bay. We call the area on each side of the creek Zimbabwe. We call it Zimbabwe because it looks so different from what we are used to see around here. It’s like being in a different country. One of our neighbours told me that they call this area The Amazon. I find it interesting that they also found a name for that place.

In the summer, three or four times a week, we go kayaking there. It takes us about half an hour to go to and come back from Zimbabwe. We usually go at night, after supper, when the sun is setting on the river. Most of the time, we are alone in Zimbabwe. The water is too shallow at places for motor boats to adventure between the two islands.

In our own little Zimbabwe, there are no hippopotamus and no crocodiles. There are only beavers and muskrats swimming quietly in the water. When they hear or see us coming, they dive into the water with a loud splashing noise that sometimes startle us. There are flowers growing in the water, and there are all kinds of birds in the trees and the sky. At sunset, the trees reflect on the water like in a painting. A few weeks ago, when we were kayaking in Zimbabwe, Maria said to me, “How can you not be happy in a place like this? It’s so peaceful and quiet.”

How can you not be happy in a place like this? I found the answer to that question last night while smoking a cigar. I was looking at the island from the cottage at sunset and I thought to myself that if I were alone in Zimbabwe, I wouldn’t be so happy. We, as human beings, have that need to share the beauties that we see around us with someone. That’s why, I think, poets and painters want so much to share with us all the beauties they see in nature.

I’m sure it wouldn’t be the same, in our own little Zimbabwe and everywhere else we go, I f we didn’t have each other to say things like, “It is so beautiful and peaceful here! Look at the hummingbirds; they are so cute and tiny! Look at the colours of the butterfly! Look at the eagle in the sky! Look at how beautiful nature is!”