Table Talk with Dee Lysak

I so hope you enjoy this mix of fiction and fact, wrapped around the idea of telling stories around the campfire. The very idea of gathering dry wood, lighting a campfire and watching the flames dance in the dark of the night sky is synonymous with summertime in rural and remote northwestern Ontario!

In every effort to be a responsible citizen and not light a campfire - as wildfires burn in our region and across much of western Canada… this episode of TABLE TALK with Dee Lysak is bittersweet. There is joy in the memories of campfires from summers past. And, at present an enduring gratefulness for the safety of shelter and surrounding woodlands – free from burning fires and acrid smoke.  Growing up, the iconic image of Smokey the Bear pouring a bucket of water on a campfire comes to mind as does the famous saying “Only YOU can prevent forest fires.”

Our future rests in the hands and hearts of those who make this conscientious choice!

Here are a few fire & rescue numbers and links that may be good to have at your fingertips…

Fire, Ambulance & Police - 9-1-1

 Forest Fire (Ministry of Natural Resources) - 310-FIRE (3473)

 ON FACEBOOK, https://www.facebook.com/snnffiredepartment

Ministry of Northern Development, Mines, Natural Resources, and Forestry

Natural Resources Canada

The KITCHEN PARTY returns in 2021. Although we cannot gather at Caliper Lake Provincial Park in Nestor Falls, Ontario, Canada – we can still enjoy the sights and sounds of “this cool little festival at the lake”!  A few summers ago… Roots Music Canada joined us at the Moose n’ Fiddle Music Festival on Saturday, August 19, 2019 and they had this to say in Dispatch #2:

“4:04 p.m. – The festival is kicking off today with a performance they call the Kitchen Party. Really, it’s a giant jam featuring some of the non-marquee acts – you might say. Namely, Siouxperboat, the Fu Fu Chi Chi Choir, and the Black River Drifters, who will play their own set later tonight. It’s the closest this festival gets to a workshop. And what a jam it is. Black River Drifters are currently leading the audience in a rockin’ cover of “Midnight Special,” and it’s a ton o’ fun.

4:30 p.m. – “How are we for time?” asks one of the members of the Fu Fu Chi Chi Choir.“You’re doing great!” yells a voice from the audience followed by several more voices from the audience concurring. Nobody wants this to end. With that they break into a cover of “Northwest Passage.” Covers aren’t Fu Fu Chi Chi’s strong suit, I’ve noticed, but does anyone really care if you’re singing a classic like this?

4:58 p.m. – Whew! That was fantastic. Really every festival mainstage should open with a sing-a-long jam like that. Black River Drifters were the stars of this one, I think. Not only did they choose some great material — “Ring of Fire,” “Up on Cripple Creek” — they also rocked out on everyone else’s numbers, including Siouxperboat’s cover of the White Stripes’ “Hotel Yorba.” The final number was a cover of “Log Driver’s Waltz” at the request of the audience. It was a crazy good time.” Heather Kitching – Roots Music Canada 

For 2021, we have curated a musical revue that is second to none.  We have included some of your favourite musical acts from past Moose n’ Fiddle Music Festivals and invited a couple new friends to the table as well. Hands up if you remember the big, green school bus and Woody Holler & His Orchestra?  This year, the Kitchen Party line-up also includes: Pharis & Jason Romero; Pierre Schryer & Adam Dobres; Fu Fu Chi Chi Choir; and, Red Moon Road.  

Find us on YouTube on August 28th at 8pm, as 89.5 The Lake, our media hosts and sponsor broadcast the Kitchen Party far and wide.  

This podcast might be the most personal one that I have written and recorded to date.  You will hear references to my childhood and times spent picking berries with my Baba & Gido.  If there is one memory, forever etched in time, it is the imagery that surrounds any blueberry hill on any summer day.  And for me, this only happened with the loving and caring arms of my Baba & Gido wrapped around me, as I grew up on a farm in southeastern Manitoba.  

Now here in the wilds of northwestern Ontario, blueberry patches are synonymous with finding and foraging for a food – that is not only bursting with flavour but packed with anti-oxidants, so they are good for you, too!

BLUEBERRY HILL invites you, the listener, to a part of the world that is largely untouched, still rustic and raw.  The next time you are out adventure seeking be sure to save some time, to do just that in late July/ early August so that you can find your own blueberry hill.  Pick enough to make a berry crisp or a berry pie – and, I think it is safe to say that friends and family will not be far away.  

I Am A Settler is a story that looks at the past, the present and the future. 

In this story, we discover Turtle Island and how everything is interconnected! And, to illustrate the power of story we share a personal recollection of a short road trip, a few blue moons ago, and the tale of a turtle heading east. 

Here in Ontario, Canada, the very early days of spring have been marked by a crushing wave of COVID-19 and in that same span of time, the idea of looking back - way, way back took root.  

I Am A Settler takes us down pathways to the past, to ancient art forms and the makings of pictographs and petroglyphs. If you are from northwestern Ontario, you might already know or will soon learn - that pictographs are right here in our own backyard. And, if you are from away: A road trip might soon be in order. 

There is much to see and to do in the wilds and woodlands and we cannot wait to welcome you to the Township of Sioux Narrows-Nestor Falls on the eastern shores of Lake of the Woods!

This is a story of how one whitetail deer caught the attention of the human race and in so doing, catapulted one deer, just one deer from Anywhere, Ontario, Canada into the hearts and minds of many.  CUPID the deer created an ecosphere; of faith, hope and love. In the telling of this tale, I have taken liberties to imagine how CUPID came to be.  I have also carved out space for the ecology of a whitetail deer and its natural environs. Whitetail deer are not native to this region. They arrived in the late 1800s – pushed further North from their natural habitats. 

The story weaves in and out of fact and fiction. Let your imagination soar as we invite mythology and the folklore of elves, fairy folk, and others to the table. There are truths and hardships surrounding the animal kingdom embedded throughout the telling of this tale: Loss of habitat, urbanization, poaching, and capture myopathy. 

This story, a memoir of CUPID the deer would never have been told, were it not for the inspiration of a photographer who lives, works and plays in CUPIDs hometown.  CUPIDs story is based on real life events. But that is another story. Follow me, let’s journey together to the forest edgelands, to the Whiskey Jack Forest. CUPIDs woodland friends are walking for miles and they are on a mission - calling upon those seldom heard and not always seen. 

How do you measure a year?  This seemed like a conversation that might happen while sipping on a hot toddy, warming up in a fireside den après ski or in a fishing boat on a sun-filled autumn day in the heart of cottage country. The song from RENT, the musical inspired this episode. I encourage you to have a listen and here is the link to the song on YouTube: Rent, The Musical - 525,600 Minutes

Thank you for listening and sharing your time with me. You can find Table Talk with Dee Lysak on your favourite listening sites – like Spotify and Google Podcasts.

Welcome to Table Talk with Dee Lysak. I believe in the power of words and that WORDS matter. With this hope podcast, I will paint pictures with words creating a roadmap to rural and remote northwestern Ontario. Table Talk leans to active participation on all levels, from you the listener. Discourse is healthy. Conversations are encouraged. I welcome you to go on this season long journey with me.