For
two years, I lived near the ski resort of Mt Tremblant,
Quebec Canada. My
cabin had a river running through the front yard, and in
spring, when the snows melted, water cascaded down the side
of the mountain in a series of miniature waterfalls.
A few miles down the road began the Tremblant National
Park System.
My
office was located in the upper level of the cabin, with
windows that looked out towards the river. As I sat at my
desk, working on my website, the priorities of my life changed.
The river in front of my cabin became the focal point of
the day’s activities.
Each
morning Violet, my calico cat, would scurry down to the
river in pursuit of chipmunks or wild field mice. All day
long she would hide in the tall grass along the river bank,
watching and waiting for signs of life. She
was always bringing baby animals back to my porch to show
me. Usually; they were still alive, in shock at being plucked
from their natural environment.
In
the fall, the black bears would roam along the river, searching
for food in preparation for hibernation. In the mornings
you could tell when the bears had been in the neighborhood,
the road was littered with overturned garbage cans from
their search. At this point, I decided it was safer to sleep
upstairs, away from the kitchen.
In
the spring, when the snow would start to melt, life forms
that had remained hidden during the winter months suddenly
emerged in celebration of the warmth. . Frogs would scream
their mating songs for hours on end.
Springtime brought huge swarms of lady bugs that
covered my windows and blocked the view of the river. As
the weather got hotter and summer got closer, the “NoSee”
swarmed. This small tiny black bug is almost invisible except
when it swarms. Then it appears as a black cloud that floats
around your face, making it almost impossible to breathe.
In
the middle of winter, my favorite activity was going for
a walk during the full moon. A group of friends would meet
at my house for dinner and after the full moon had started
rising over the trees, we would put on our heavy snow suits
and boots, pour some wine into a plastic cup and take off
either along the river, or through the forest that rose
behind my cabin. The white snow on the ground and the shinning
moon overhead illuminated the landscape. It was almost like
walking in daylight but the light had a different hue We would traipse around in the forest, scaring
each other with tales of bears hibernating just under the
big mound in the middle of our trail.
I
found the Quebequois, or the people from Quebec, to be very
friendly. Many of the families lived in the area for centuries
and were direct descendants of the early French settlers.
But it amazed me that they seemed to identify with American
Blues and Jazz. Each
summer, the village of Tremblant and the surrounding area
would come alive with the annual International Mt Tremblant
Blues Festival. It is an open air concert in which everyone
participates who lives in the Tremblant region. There are
musicians playing along the sidewalks, in restaurants, or
on the big stages in the center of the Tremblant Resort.
One
summer I decided I would make a film about Mt. Tremblant
and their Blues Festival. After I got press passes from
the Mayor of Tremblant, I hired a video person to film the
festival. For three
days, we filmed the musicians, the people at the festival
and the scenery. I would paddle a canoe while the photographer
recorded the scenery and families vacationing. We rented
a small plane and flew over the countryside and numerous
lakes to get a better perspective of the region.
So
if you have never been to Mt Tremblant Canada; this is a
chance for you to experience the culture and scenery of
a wonderful place. .The video is approximately 9 minutes
in length.
If
your computer has a difficult time playing the video in
windows media, then try the youtube version. The quality
is not as good, but it should play.
Mt
Tremblant Video in Windows Media Player
Video
hosted on YouTube
Mt
Tremblant International Blues Festival - July 5- 12, 2008
This
year, Johnny Winter will be headlining the 2008 Mt Tremblant
International Blues Festival.
Over 150 events are free. Mt Trembant is located
1 hour north of Montreal Canada.
Be
sure and visit our friend in Mt Tremblant
.
DO
YOU NEED NEW PHOTOS OF YOUR PROPERTY?
We
are making the following offer. We would be happy to exchange
our photographic services for a one week stay in your rental.
We will take photos of the local scenery and your rental
property. The photos will be in high resolution delivered
to you on a CD. If you would like to use our services for
free, all we ask is that in exchange for the photos, I would
like to stay in your rental property for one week. You will
also get a mention on our blog as the location where the
photos are taken.
I
took the photos of Italy and France found on this page.
If
your interested, just reply to this email with details.
Linda
Jenkins
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