UPDATE: FOUND AND DELIVERED HOME!
A Sugar Lake cottager is missing a large 5’X 8’ dock segment which broke away in the spring.
Please keep an eye out if you are boating.
If it has washed up on your shoreline please contact dbrannan09@gmail.com or call 416-579-2175.
We have a bunk bed – double on bottom and single on top. Easy to put together. White metal frame (including mattress bases, ladder and top railing). Picture shows bed with twin mattress (mattress not included). BED FRAME only. Picture shows ladder with pool foam wrapped on steps – this makes it more comfortable to use but noodles can easily be removed.
Bunk bed is FREE – Pick up only from cottage on Christie Court. (Don’t deliver)
Email – colin.smith2@sympatico.ca
Nancy Pleich, and Joanne and Bob Thompson attended the Fall FOCA meeting. Click here for their report of the meeting.
Nancy Pleich along with Bob and Joanne Thompson attended the FOCA March 6, 2021 AGM Meeting. Click here for a copy of their report.
The January 2021 eLert from FOCA is all about Winter Safety. Check it out here:
Does anyone use the Bell mobility wireless internet service which uses a small outside dish rather than the inside ‘hub’? Can you offer any advice to Cyd??
From Cyd: “I’m told this is their best internet for us but “technically” it’s not available for Sugar Lake area yet BUT if I saw any dishes mounted out here it might be possible….
“So hopefully someone is lucky enough to have it and could tell me the address so they will assess my situation and may reconsider?
“Thank you.”
Cyd Rutledge
145 Sugar Lake Rd
cydner@icloud.com
| Wherever you will be this holiday season, FOCA reminds you to stay safe and follow public health guidelines. The Canada-US border remains closed, and within the province public health organizations continue to discourage non-essential travel for everyone; however, if you will be relocating to your cottage country property, consider the following: bring everything you need to avoid stops along the way, and so you can self-isolate for 14 days once you arrive there remain only with your own household; this is not the time for family gatherings if you are staying longer, contact local shops to find out about touchless, curbside or delivery options keep in touch with your community through calls or social media (or even the dreaded Zoom!) to share stories about how you are doing, to talk about the good times at the waterfront, and to make plans for the season that include active, outdoor, COVID-appropriate activities. Here is an example of several practical tips for seasonal property owners, from our colleagues at Peterborough Public Health. (PDF, 1 page) Additionally, Seguin Fire Department has posted important fire safety information for those who may be wintering in their cottage for the first time. |
How to find Comet NEOWISE this weekend
Comet NEOWISE has a weird name and it’s not as spectacular as photos might lead you to believe. But if you haven’t seen a comet before, this is your chance
IVAN SEMENIUKSCIENCE REPORTER
PUBLISHED JULY 17, 2020
UPDATED 6 HOURS AGO
“Comets are like cats,” Canadian comet hunter and author David Levy once wrote. “They have tails and they do precisely what they want.”
Fortunately for backyard stargazers, Comet NEOWISE, a giant ball of ice and gas that is currently hurtling through our planetary neighbourhood, seems to want to put on a show. It is not as easy to spot as some of the great comets of the past. However, it is one of the best in years and makes an easy target for observers with clear, dark skies or even under city lights when helped out with a good pair of binoculars.
The comet was discovered in late March by NASA’s Near-Earth Object Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer, an earth-orbiting satellite whose acronym, NEOWISE, gives the comet its name. Since then, the comet has been racing through the inner solar system, reaching its closest point to the sun on July 3. It is now on the outward leg of its brief visit and for the next week or so will be well-placed for viewing at twilight in the Northern Hemisphere.
Comets are icy fragments left over from the formation of the solar system. They range from less than a kilometre to tens of kilometres in diameter and spend most of their time far from the sun where they are too small and too faint to observe.
It’s only when a comet draws near to the sun’s warmth that the celestial magic happens. Frozen gasses, including water vapour and carbon dioxide, which make up the bulk of the comet’s mass, are released, forming a glowing ball, or coma. Dust particles freed up by the vaporizing ice trail away from the comet, catching the sunlight and forming a tail that grows longer and brighter the closer the comet is to the sun.
All of this looks far better in a photo, where a long exposure can reveal the full extent and colour of the tail in all its glory. In most cases, what the eye sees, is only the diffuse glow of the coma, which may appear as a tiny fuzzball in the sky, sometimes with a stubby tail sticking out to one side.
That’s essentially how Comet NEOWISE appears now and this weekend is prime viewing time across most of Canada. The comet is low in the sky, skirting the northwestern horizon at dusk. To find it, start looking about one hour after sunset – roughly 10 p.m. You need a good view to the northwest that is free from obstructions and preferably as dark as possible (I found it by observing from my local schoolyard in Toronto.)
For city dwellers, there are no bright stars in this part of the sky, but the familiar pattern of the Big Dipper can be found by looking higher up, where the dipper’s handle reaches nearly overhead. The dipper can serve as a guide for where to sweep the sky with binoculars.
If you’ve seen a comet before, you’ll know exactly when you’ve found it. If not, be patient. As long at the northwestern sky is cloud free and you are looking where the map indicates, the comet’s distinct glow should pop into view.
If you are underwhelmed by what you see, consider that Comet NEOWISE will be about 103 million kilometres away when it’s at its closest to Earth next week. But by the time it reaches the farthest extent of its elongated orbit, it will be more than 100 billion kilometres away. The comet will not be seen in our skies again till sometime around the 89th century.
Dear Friends,
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