Outside Port Hope. A detour home through Haskill Road, Lakeshore Road, and Willow Beach Road. Out of frame: a mothballed coal-fired hydro plant; the 401 highway; hedgerows.

It was late spring. I met my brother and his son at the end of a lane next to railway tracks. They often park their car here hatch up and enjoy the solitude of a tucked away spot. At the height of summer it is a dense grassy meadow, but this time of year it is still a tangly thatch of new growth and dormant sprig.

A worn tire track path cuts through. It tells of occasional movement by heavy farm equipment or ATVs. The path breaks a fence line and continues down to a creek. Just south of here Lakeshore Road began as a footpath parallel to Lake Ontario’s north shore. Here too are traces of the original railway alignment that was later straightened and chased from the eroding shoreline.