Cabin by the Pond

By George J. Gabauer

BOOK DESCRIPTION

Cabin by the Pond takes the reader on a wilderness journey through the seasons.
The main mode of travel is the canoe, but the reader will find the occasional footpath
or roadway leads to a journey of discovery and enjoyment. Winter is a time of bitter cold amid the frozen beauty of a snowfall. But city snow is no fun to play in. Spring brings the time of snowmelt and renewal. Night paddling on a northern lake, watching the auroras, braving the hoards of mosquitoes are the pleasures of summer. While autumn offers time for reflection and the changing season prepares one for the new winter.

The chapter Urban Interlude plays counterpoint to the beauty of wilderness. A brief prose piece, An Old Log Cabin in Quetico, introduces the inspiration for the books title. Several photographs illustrate poems in the book.

While one can be enthralled by the beauty of the natural world the author gives balance
with descriptions of the winter and summer storms and the predator/prey relationship.
And as George can ooh and awe with the spectacle of the auroras, he is an experienced woodsman who has survived the full brunt of several wild country storms, three most recently, that with seventy mile an hour winds nearly took him and his tent to Oz.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris US
• Release date: Dec 18, 2006
• ISBN: 9781469114422

George J. Gabauer

I began my outdoor adventures as a youth visiting the Chicago shores of Lake Michigan. As a college cross country runner I did much of my training along those same shores. I began taking wilderness canoe trips in the early 1970’s. My hobby of outdoor photography began at the same time. I began writing poetry about canoe country during a June trip in 1975 on the Poets chain of lakes in Quetico. That first piece was a frivolous bit, ”Ode to Pierre’s Fish Mix”, inspired by a seasonal ritual. My first serious venture, The Last Portage”, came a few weeks later.

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Copyright © 2006 by George J. Gabauer.

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Contents

Beginnings

AN OLD LOG CABIN

IN QUETICO

Winter

CABIN BY THE POND

FIRST SNOW

CITY SNOW

A WINTER DAY

CANADIAN CUP

BOUNTY

WINTER NIGHT

HOLIDAY VERSES

HIVERNANT

WILMETTE BEACH

SUNRISE

WINTER SONG

AN ELEGY

TRACKS

PREDATOR

NO WORDS

MUSIC OF THE NORTH

MY LOVE

UN HOMME DU NORD

Spring

MARCH 20TH—11:43 AM

SNOW MELT

MIGRATION

NORTH TO MC KENZIE

THE NORTH WOODS

DEW POINT

SNAPSHOTS

FOGGY ROAD

A Haiku Journey

QUETICO

HERON

LOGGERS

Summer

BIRCH BARK CANOE

SOLITUDE

NIGHT

REMINISCES

NO SUN?

FOG

GO GENTLE

A PAEAN TO DYLAN THOMAS

BREAKING CAMP

PORTAGE

QUETICO TRIP

WIND

THE ROMANCE OF

SHOOTING RAPIDS

SPIRIT

ELAN

STORM

NIGHT PADDLE

NIGHT STORM

END OF THE TRIP

A Sense OF Humor

SHARKEY MEMORIAL SWAMP

IF IT WERE DONE T’WERE WELL IT WERE DONE QUICKLY

WAKING

ODE TO PIERRE’S FISH MIX

Backwoods Philosophy

PRAIRIE SONG

TO SIG OLSEN

PSALM 2006

A CHINESE PROVERB

FUTURE

Urban Interlude

ABOVE

JOHN BARLEYCORN

URBAN RENEWAL

THE WIDOW CLARK HOUSE

ZOO: 1

TELLICO DAM

THE LOOP

GHOSTS OF LINCOLN AVENUE

DERELICT

TOURISTS NEVER SEE

CITY/WILDERNESS

Autumn

SEPTEMBER 23, 1975, 7:09 AM

AUTUMN’S SPORT:

CROSS COUNTRY

CITY AUTUMN

OLD HIGHWAY 9

MOONLESS NIGHT

AN AUTUMN RAIN

SENSES

GALE

DANCERS

NATURE WALK

NIGHT SONG

THE CHANGING SEASON

THE LAST PORTAGE

TOUCHED BY THE WILD

DEDICATION

The inspiration for this volume of poetry has been canoe country and the occasional wild place in the urban scenery. There are a special few to whom I owe the special thanks. First and foremost are my parents George and Anna Gabauer. William Drennan, my frequent canoe partner and fellow track coach, introduced me to canoeing and to that special bit of wilderness called Quetico. The late Jean Goff and the late Charlie Erickson gave me the opportunity to take many a trip through their Voyageur Wilderness Programme. The Savoie family, who continue the mission of Jean and Charlie, support and inspired me through many of my adventures. A final note of thanks to all who occupied the bow seat of my canoe and trusted me.

Beginnings

Chatterton Lake, the start of the Poets’ chain of lakes in Quetico, that is where these scribblings began their journey. My group and I had just finished the portage around Chatterton Falls. A parody of Poe’s The Raven began playing on mind. A few weeks earlier at the end of May Nym Lake witnessed an arcane ritual that marked the opening of the canoe season. A group of guides, old voyageurs and hangers on gathered for the sort of annual Fish Mix Party. So it was that there on Chatterton Lake the Ode to Pierre’s Fish Mix was penned.

Later that summer—I had become a canoe groupie—I was hanging out between trips. One group of canoeist had just returned from a week long trip. I was enjoying a brief respite after supper and found myself on the dock of Voyageur Island. A young lady was sitting on the dock gazing out across Nym Lake back towards the portage trail on the opposite shore. I