Leaving the nest...

It was September of 1971 that I started at the University of Guelph. And unknown to me at the time, it was in one of the first of my classes in Physics where I saw someone who very definitely caught my eye and that would eventually be an incredible blessing in my life! This is not a photo of her at Guelph, but close enough :-).

I didn't get to know her for awhile, as the class was in a large auditorium of probably around 200 students and it just wasn't in me to take that first step. But I definitely kept an eye out for her in this class, and as it turned out, she was also a regular participant at the Inter Varsity Christian Fellowship (IVCF) group that I had joined. 

Guelph was run on a 13 week semester system, and at the time was known to be a more intensive approach to the scholastic system than most other universities. By about the second week of classes, there was already preparation for mid-terms! Needless to say, it was a steep learning curve for me to get adjusted to this system, and by about mid-October, I was getting really overwhelmed. At one point I even thought about quitting, but in my heart I knew that wasn't the solution, and with the support and prayers of my parents, I kept on. I might mention that I had joined the university cross-country team, which at the time was quite competitive in the Ontario university realm. Although I was supported by the others on the team, and the faculty leader, I was not at the level I wanted to be for the overall team's benefit. It was already quite demanding to even keep on with it, so given the way I was feeling about the academic reasons I was at university, I felt it was necessary to stop with the team, and concentrate on my studies.  

Involvement with the IVCF group was very instrumental in being able to adapt to university life. It was a fairly large group, with probably 40-50 students of various backgrounds participating at most meetings, and the leaders exhibited strong Christian leadership, which I really needed at the time. The group met one evening a week, and there were a few small group Bible study groups. Some of those I met at IVCF have continued to be important and close friends, even now. 

I was always interested in music, and in my quite youthful years, took piano lessons, but that didn't appeal to me much. Once I got to university, I took an interest in guitar, and got one (and still have it, although I haven't played it for quite awhile). 

 And one of the ways I benefited from this was there was a group of 4-5 others playing guitar to help out with the singing that was always a part of the  IVCF meetings. Practicing with them ahead of time, and playing at the meetings, was great for both socializing and contributing to the group. And as time went on, I got to know Marie a little better, although I knew she had a boyfriend. This wasn't all that surprising, as quite a bit later a very good friend of hers in the high school years told me that she was always very popular with the guys!

My academic focus started off in the Fish & Wildlife Biology program, and that is what I did for the first year or two. But as it went on, I realized I wanted to do something a little broader than what it allowed, so I opted for the Unspecialized Biology program. The main benefit of this was that I could select from a much broader array of biological programs, and since by 1973 I was starting to work as a seasonal naturalist program at Rondeau Prov Park, I wanted to learn about so many other aspects of biology. So I was able to take things like Aquatic Vascular Plants, Ornithology, Insects, Mammalogy, Advanced Plant Taxonomy, Mycology (the study of fungus), and Geomorphology among others. It was a huge benefit, and made learning and future prospects much more promising.

During the three summers I was at Rondeau, I learned a lot from my fellow naturalists on staff, and spent a lot of time beyond the actual job, out exploring and learning about the magnificent diversity of God's creation at Rondeau. Wildflowers, frogs, snakes, turtles, birds, butterflies, trees...it was just an incredible learning opportunity, and although my parents and I had spent time in previous years exploring on our own, doing it with others who had a broad knowledge of many things made it a lot more rewarding. 

Blanding's Turtle

Eastern Foxsnake

Pale-spiked Lobelia

The iconic Prothonotary Warbler

Wood Lily

My university time was coming to a close by the end of 1975, with my convocation in early 1976. I had had a couple of casual girl friends over the years I was there, but I knew at the time that neither were likely who God had intended for me. No question that I continued to have a strong interest in Marie. She had graduated a semester before me, but was still in Guelph as she was an editor for a University newsletter, so I still got to connect with her. She even was a room-mate of a girl I had been casually dating for several months. But as my time at Guelph was about over, Marie and I connected even more closely. And over the course of early 1976, the connection was getting stronger! In the meantime, beginning in January of 1976, I landed a contract to coordinate the naturalist program at Rondeau. I could mention that in previous years, I had a seasonal job offer for Lake Superior Prov Park, which I declined, and also had gotten some interest from those who were hiring for seasonal naturalist positions at Algonquin PP, but when they heard that Rondeau had wanted me back, did not offer me a position. So sticking around Rondeau from 1973-75 enabled me to start in 1976, running the Visitor Services/Naturalist program which I then did for 10 years. It was a great opportunity to do so many things, including gathering data for the overall park's biological records and hiring some very qualified and capable seasonal staff for the VS program which at that point, ran from late April to Labour Day. It was busy, no question, but a lot of fun and highly rewarding working with so many excellent staff, some of whom remain as friends.

And while Rondeau was occupying a lot of my time, Marie and I kept in close contact via letters or phone calls, or even personal visits since this was well before cell phones and email. By about the end of June as we were helping out some university friends with a youth program at a Christian camp near Orillia, I popped the question and she said yes! Hallelujah! Certainly in the previous few months, I was so incredibly surprised that someone of her smarts, attractiveness and personality, including being of a very strong Christian character, was still available! So we decided rather than wait another year, to get married in October!

The season kept progressing, and by Labour Day, the other staff were gone. And this is when another, even more serious, devastating event occurred. I had still been getting out doing field work as well as I could manage while running the program and 7-8 seasonal staff, and typically spent a lot of time away from the trails. However by early September, I came down with what was thought to be the flu. This was surprising, as no one I knew had been dealing with the flu, and it was certainly in a non-flu season. But I was more or less flat on my back for most of a week, and finally had the energy to go and see the doctor. He figured it was the flu, didn't give me anything for it, but told me to take it easy and go back to work when I felt up to it.

While it was never conclusive at the time, in some of my follow-up searches, I am unquestionably 100% certain that I had encountered Lyme Disease. I was enlightened quite a bit via the Canadian Lyme Disease Foundation, found at canlyme.com. There are many things that one can be impacted by. Certainly one of the main factors that most people have to deal with is ongoing fatigue. Fatigue for me was not something I was used to. I was very physically fit and healthy, and had kept on with some running. But fatigue was definitely a factor, among various other things, that I never really got over, and even after Marie and I were married, I had mentioned to her that I never felt I had ever recovered from that 'flu'. The fatigue factor continues today. Even after almost 50 years, fatigue is 'normal' and somewhat unpredictable, unfortunately, which is part of the reason I started my Nature Nuggets blog after I retired. Of course encountering Lyme Disease on at least 4 other occasions (all from Rondeau) since that time in 1976 hasn't helped, but at least following those times, I received some antibiotics to counter the LD.

Lyme Disease is caused by the bite of a Deer Tick. Wood Ticks are common, but are not believed to transmit the disease.

While at the time, ticks were not believed to be present at Rondeau, and the Long Point area was considered the most likely place to encounter LD, the ticks move around and are transferred by birds and other animals. Certainly since that time in the mid 1970s, both species have been found regularly at Rondeau. They can occur in various vegetated habitats, and certainly grassy habitats are where they are most frequently found.

Typical shrubby/grassy habitat for ticks

Wood Tick

One of the more common things people may initially experience after having been bitten by a deer tick is the presence of a bull's-eye type of rash, as this one on my arm illustrates from one of my subsequent encounters.

 As time goes by, I hear of more and more people encountering LD. Although fatigue and some other minor things are always something I have to contend with, others have had some extremely serious complications. Some have been bed-ridden, or confined to a wheel chair. Others have had some serious heart related issues. It definitely will change one's life. In recent months I have been made aware of a young Christian singer/songwriter from Ontario, who has been battling some serious health issues as a result of LD, and has had some success in receiving some treatment from the USA. Her name is Samantha Ebert, and has written and sung a song about her struggles, called Flowers. Here is a link to her song.

Although the month of May is past for this year, it is generally considered the month to pay more attention to Lyme Disease. I have written about LD several times in my Nature Nuggets blog, and the one I called Tick Talk...It's Lyme Tyme, is probably my most detailed one, and it has been viewed almost 9000 times. You can read it here. 

To end this post on a more positive note, Marie and I were married on Oct 16, 1976!

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