DAY AT THE BEACH LIKE NO OTHER NOW
Mark Clairmont | MuskokaTODAY.com
GRAVENHURST — A day at the beach is nothing like last year, says Jon Hagan.
Not at Gull Lake Rotary Park Beach, for sure, where he and his lovely yellow lab Simon were wading in the water.
He noted not only the absence of large crowd that a year ago would have had the beach teeming with sun worshippers and swimmer.
But there were no docks out to act as diving platforms — no lifeguards as the signs posted reminded — and “no Barge concerts,” lamented Hagan.
For Simon, it was about keeping his body temperature down. The three-year-old guide dog trainee, whose twisted toes kept him out of his trained-for career, was happy to putter around contentedly in the water with a white coat that made him look like a cool polar bear.
But there were a handful of people, a couple of lawn chairs — one with a large umbrella — and some happy kids.
None had masks handy.
Mary McCone, who was sitting all by herself had, hers nearby in her car.
She was up from Puslinch Township to her Bala cottage and sought what little shelter there was under the canopy of the closed life guards’ shack.
She had just visited the farmers’ market and was seeking relief for her and her kids who found theirs in the warm water on a 30+ degree day.
Overseeing it all was Kenny Myers, a PSW taking a lunch break nestled away up on the hill beneath a shady tree.
He works with Closing the Gap Healthcare out of Huntsville and covering all of Muskoka.
He was between clients and appreciating a few minutes of break from the heat.
A welcome respite in an unusual summer.
He says with COVID-19 there’s a lot of work, preparation, pre-testing and screening that go along with his job helping clients.
So a look at life at the beach was a pleasant way to wile away a lunch hour and ponder what comes next.
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