The Last Night (and next morning) in Killarney - Part X

(scroll down to start with Part One)

After a day of inconsequential rambling (still immensely enjoyable, my bumper sticker would say “A day of inconsequential rambling in Killarney is better than a day spent doing almost anything else anywhere else” or something like that), I return to the campsite for The Last night in Killarney. I’m celebrating five wonderful days spent here with a blazing campfire, a bottle of wine and crackers, cheese and pepperoni.

There is a saying when sitting around a campfire that ‘smoke follows beauty’ – I don’t know where this saying came from but, if it’s true, I must be friggin' gorgeous tonight. No matter where I move, the smoke follows! But nothing other than the fact that I must leave tomorrow can bother me, smoke or no smoke, I love it here so (gee, can you tell?)

Parting is such sweet sorrow – but, while the fire dies out and I finish the wine, I’m already plotting my next trip here – next fall, a little earlier to catch more fall leaves. I hit the sack. I wake up to a clear day and decide not to head out until early afternoon for two reasons: (1) I don’t want to leave and (2) I do want to avoid the crazy daytime traffic of Toronto on the way back.

I decide to visit the Killarney graveyard for the first time ever. I had driven past Cemetery Road many times but had never checked it out. I like cemeteries, especially old ones, so I decide to explore it. Given that people have been living in the town of Killarney for many years, I am surprised to find that most of the graves are newer. I suspect there is an older graveyard somewhere else that has run out of room, maybe next to one of the churches in town. However, what really catches my eye is the birth date on a headstone at the foot of a fresh grave –it’s the same as mine. Whoa! That puts me in mind to express gratitude for my life - he’s already gone. I doubly resolve to get back here next fall.

After my cemetery visit, I go for my third hike of the week to the Georgian Bay shoreline– it’s just so incredibly beautiful here, the sexy pink granite, sculpted by weather and waves, the myriad small islands dotting the bay with their charmingly crooked trees
and the horizon that doesn’t end – blue bay as far as I can see.


As I am gazing out into the bay I suddenly sense a presence - a deer has come to visit. She seem as struck by the scenery as me, she just stands and looks out. Then she turns and fixes her big, beautiful eyes on me; I see no trace of fear. We both enjoy the view for a while then head back from where we came – her to the woods, me to my vehicle.

I finally decide to start the loooooong drive back, it’s always seems to take much longer than the drive here. The worst part is the section through the bustling city of Toronto – it will be a rude awakening after five and a half quiet days spent communing with nature. I stop at a few shops along the main highway, not wanting to leave the area. But eventually I can delay no more.

Soon all the signs that civilization is not far start to appear – the highway widens from two lanes to four, then to six. A McDonalds appears on the horizon, then a shopping mall and finally endless houses and development. I wish to get through Toronto as quickly as possible but I am not in luck – the traffic ahead of me turns into a sea of red brake lights and soon we come to a dead stop. We crawl along for about an hour covering barely a mile. We finally reach an exit where everyone is being shuttled off the highway, a sign says some about “emergency repairs.” In all three lanes? Must be one heck of an emergency.

I eventually make it through Toronto and then home, it just take three hours longer than usual. But nothing, not even gigantic traffic jams can take anything away from this wonderful Killarney visit - these memories are untouchable and the best part is, I can recall them any time I choose.