'sad sad situation.

Ok, so I'm sure you are all aware of the situation that happened overnight at Lake Wilcox. Three men, one 17, one 19, and the other 21, took out a red canoe at roughly 1 am. It was dark and windy, and the canoe tipped, putting all three men in the water. An on-board anchor went down, and held the canoe in the place it capsized. The 17 year old swam to shore, yet the 17 and 19 year old were not found, and are presumed dead.

I heard when I woke up, from a friend on msn. It was a shock, obviously something like this happening so close to home, but also because I paddle on that lake.

I heard that the canoe they had was taken from a nearby club. Nearby club, nearby club....oh, maybe it was Richmond Hill canoe club. Which sucks even more because I had two red canoes over there which I was fixing up, and one of them had recently been stolen. At this point, I'm at home, feeling that 2 guys drowned in one of my canoes.

My mom got home about an hour later, and she took the up to the club. To check it out.




When I got there, the place was a mess. Cops and ambulances everywhere, it was crazy. Crazy in a "this is actually happening" sort of way, but the general feeling was kind of grim and saddening. There was some media there, small people like AM1040, and A-channel news. A few photographers as well. The two photographers were looking at each others pictures, bragging about them and even laughing once and a while, which was weird because I never thought I'd hear a laugh at a death scene.


I took some shots, I felt really uncomfortable because I felt like I didn't belong there.

I asked bob if the canoe was mine, and he said it wasn't, so I was kind of glad. I wanted to take More pictures, but my mom said I shouldn't because it was "too personal and up close." I thought this was ridiculous, because a photo is a photo, and it’s not like I'm sticking my lens in any one's faces or anything.

Then my mom proceeded to giving me the mother's point of view, which was pretty intense, but still didn't answer why I couldn't take pictures. Then I told her about how, as a photographer (I know it sounds weird coming from me, being only a kid with a camera), you aren't there to invade privacy, you're there to convey the emotion that's being felt, and capture what's really going on. that being said, you'll never get a mind blowing picture by staying your distance, you gotta be assertive in a sense, while still showing respect.

My mom finally agreed to take me back to take some more shots. On the way there, I stopped on the beach and found a "park permanently closed" sign, which I found ironic because after an event like this, it’s most likely that the shore would be barren anyways.

I went to the canoe club after this, and just kinda walked around and took shots. I avoided taking pictures of anyone; I wasn't really ready for that on a personal level.

I found some geese with goslings, which I shot with the police-infested dock as a background. I also found this shot to be ironic because the geese had their kids born on the lake, while just hours ago two parents had their kids taken away by the lake.

I took a few more shots there, before heading to a little parkette on the north side of the lake, with a better view of the canoe, which was still anchored in the water. I realized that, as tragic as this was, I didn't really feel that horrible about it. I mean, yeah drowning is awful, but these kids took about a canoe at 1 am on a dark, cloudy, and stormy night, while probably drunk and/or high. You feel bad, but realistically, if you're going to go do that, there not much anyone can do for you. PS they didn't have life-jackets.

At the park, I sat down on a rock, and just shot randomly. I Thought that the canoe I was looking at, the canoe that two people died in, still actually could be mine, because there was no way of telling for sure until it was brought up on shore.



I was kind of just self reflecting, looking at the upside down canoe. It was really awkward, the canoe just staying there. I felt as if the canoe was embarrassed, like a kid being bullied in the middle of a fight circle. it just wanted to leave, and not be related to this mess. its weird to think that in that EXACT place, only a few hours ago, two kids fell out of that boat, completley unaware that they were going to drown. I kiinda felt bad for it.



Finally, a boat with a diver came out, and dropped anchor about 10 feet away from the canoe. The diver went in, yes, one diver. For a search and rescue, which involves 2 bodies, and a recently- expanded search area (since they could have drowned anywhere between the canoe and the shore, on their swim), they only had on diver. Also, you couldn’t see your hand a foot away from your face in that water. The diver, right now, is probably feeling the lakebed, on his hands and knees, hopelessly feeling for a body.

Speaking of inefficiency, I’ll take this opportunity to bring up the fact that there were at least 8 cop cars there. K, I understand that it’s a big event, but what the fuck do you need 10 cop cars for, other than filling space. 10 cops, sure, but 10 cars, no.



Think about the families on the lake (which I saw), who have to live with the fact that someone drowned in their backyard. It’s the kind of thing that makes a responsible person nervous, even though it shouldn’t.

Some guy and girl from A-channel news approached me on my rock, and asked me if I was friend/family. I said no, I just paddle with the canoe club, and they left. I wish they had of interviewed me, because then I could have talked about safety, instead of just how great the guy who took a canoe out at 1 am on a stormy night was. I think the lesson is far more important than the story. But then again, if I had of said that on camera, the family probably would have tried to sue my ass.

Finally, I remembered how the search area had been extended. That is the weediest part of the lake, which means it’s horrible to paddle through, but more importantly harder to swim through and to look for bodies through. It was quite possible that a body was 5 feet away from my rock on the shore, which was really chilling (literally, not slang-wise).




My last thought was of how a pretty place this was... from that little parkette, I'm definitely returning to take some non-dead people related shots.

That’s about all I can think of to write down, I hope you guys like the pictures, in a tragic yet artistic kind of way. I also wish my blog was more read, so then I could get my ideas out there.

Please msn me with any thoughts, because you're too lazy to create an account and reply back.

peace.

Storm - Lifehouse.

One more thing, if it was my canoe, I would want it back, but would you really want to canoe in a boat that has indirectly killed 2 people already? Inviting.