Day 25 “Rain” day in Port Rowan
Late last night, the CLIME forecast for today showed a map of green and yellow covering Port Rowan and Port Stanley, the next destination. I therefore concluded that it was wise to stay here and avoid biking in what was predicted as heavy rain.
I woke up at 7 and the sun was shining through the windows of the B&B. So much for weather forecasts. I could have ridden, but re-checking the forecast again showed rain in Port Stanley. I’m not sure that was correct either. So today was spent in Port Rowan, and tomorrow I’ll head to Port Stanley, rain or no rain.
Port Rowan is a cute town (I may have said that yesterday). The Long Point peninsula (sand spit?) is a defining characteristic of the area and attracts tourists because of its natural beauty. Navigation near and around Long Point must be difficult. Since the 18t century, there have been hundreds of shipwrecks due to sudden storms and shallow waters. It’s also a unique area for biological species of all types (Lindsey told me that), including some that are endangered. And, it’s a stopover point for migrating birds - the area in general appears to be a big birding hotspot. Birds Canada, a national bird research organization, has a local institute and banding site down the road.
The Front Porch B&B right outside of “downtown” Port Rowan is an excellent place to stay. I have my own ground floor space separate from the main house, in a converted day care that the owners used to run.
Phil is the host and is a kind and gentle man, who takes great pride in his home and grounds. He built several additions to the home himself and showed me a photo album of what the house used to look like. Architecturally everything looks like it was built as part of the original construction and the whole house and garden and yard feels like a nature preserve. It’s very peaceful and a good place to relax.
Phil and his wife started the B&B in 2009. Sadly, his wife passed three years ago, and he mentions her frequently when describing what they did to improve the property, grow the garden and run the B&B. You can sense how much he misses her. He weeds the garden because she built it, but does not enjoy it as much since he does not share in the task with her or his daughters, who are now grown with their own families. Fortunately one of his daughters lives closer by and is visiting tomorrow, and he’s looking forward to that. He says he needs another pair of hands to put the wire fence in his vegetable patch to protect against the rabbits.
Phil has many feeders on the property and while not technically a birder, he spends a lot of time observing and maintaining the feeders. I, of course, enjoyed it too. When he talks about the various species, I think he’s more of a birder than he realizes. In the backyard, he has two groups of Purple Martin feeders, just like the ones you’d see at a nature preserve. Phil said 30 Purple Matins have showed up this year; last year it was 26. I think he spends a good part of his day observing all of the nature happening around him and listening to the frogs that hang out in his lily ponds in the garden, which he of course built.
I told Phil I wanted to get moving by 7 tomorrow. He said he would set his alarm so he could say goodbye. What a guy.
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