My Watermark is Lake Ontario.

My earliest memories of water as a child were mixed in with family outings to the beach at the bottom of Courtice Road in Courtice,Ontario. I remember the anticipation sitting in the back seat of the car while my father would honk the car horn as we drove through the narrow railway tunnel leading to the beach.

We couldn't wait to get out of the car to climb over the grassy embankment down to our playground dreaming of finding a rare fossil or a cache of hidden treasures buried in the sand. We would walk for hours along the beach finding flat stones to skip along the water or just sit on a large washed up piece of driftwood and watch the waves lapping at the shore. It was mesmerizing hearing the sound of the waves rhythmically washing up on land. We would count the waves to see if there was a pattern and guess which would be the largest wave.

Sometimes we would gather iron laden sand and take it home in pails. My Mom would dry it out and put handfuls on paper. We would then get our magnets and pull out the iron filings by running the magnet on the underside of the paper. We would then create beautiful magnetic patterns.

Years later when I became a Mom I began the same tradition with my children, although, as a working mom the outings were much rarer. I like to think that this love of water and outdoor activities are part of my son Dylan's passion for helping to keep our waterways pristine and safe for everyone to enjoy.