- The first song sounds like it's background/transitional music that would be playing while I'm doing something in the house. I went to a cottage during the winter break near Burks Falls, and it was like a work/relaxing trip with my friends. We would play a more calm/soothing instrumental like this while we were working during the day. The cottage was right next to a fairly large river, and it was snowing most of the time. The music paired with the environment really set the mood and made everything feel slower and more peaceful.
- I live pretty close to Lake Ontario, every weekend or whenever the weather is nice out, I take a 5 min walk to the cliff near my house, which overlooks Lake Ontario, that's my go-to spot to clear my head and enjoy hearing the water hit the shore.
- The third instrumental made me think about the past summer when my friends went to another cottage, which was next to a lake in Bancroft, and it brought back memories of all of us out on the water, on our kayaks, paddle boards, and canoes. During this trip, one of my friends and I were on the water during sunset, and we were just hanging out on the water without realizing we drifted pretty far away from our dock. On our way back, I fell off the paddleboard. My friend was in a kayak, so I quickly held onto that as I tried to flip my paddle board over so I could get back on it, but the current was too strong, so I decided I could tie the string attached to the paddle board to the kayak, and I'll just swim along with it. All is well until I look back and see that the paddleboard got unattached, and it was drifting even further away from us. After 30 mins of fighting for my life, we got the paddleboard and made it back to land. (I had my phone, glasses, and watch on...didn't lose or break anything).
- Even though Lake Ontario is not the nicest lake, it has a special place in my heart, I've always had a view of it, from when I lived in an apartment to now living in a house.
- I have spent a lot of time around lakes but I realized as much as I do enjoy being out in the water, I find myself more connected when I'm standing on land and taking in the view and enjoying the breeze coming in.
- One of my biggest fears is like deep water, because we know so little about what's actually in the ocean and that kind of carries over to whenever I'm in any sort of natural body of water.
Monday, January 12, 2026
Blog 1
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
-
Blog Post 1: Reflections on the Rheostatics album, The Great Lakes Suite (2025) During the first class of the term, we collectively listen... -
While listening to The Great Lakes Suite, I was reminded of my annual hockey team camping trips when I was younger. Every year, the hockey...
-
Listening to Rheostatics - The Great Lakes Suite without distractions felt calm and immersive. Each track created different images and emot...
The music surprisingly didn’t make me think of Lake Ontario, but I actually live really close to it too and I’ve always found it really beautiful. I’m honestly a bit jealous that you have a view of it. I also had a view of Lake Ontario from my high school, but only from my fourth floor math class, which I always thought was pretty cool.
ReplyDeleteI also agree with you about deep water being scary. The fact that it’s so vast and that humans know so little about it is honestly wild to think about. Kind of a funny and stupid side note, but over the break I was watching an alien documentary with my dad and they were saying how aliens could easily hide themselves or their ships in our oceans and we would have no idea. I don’t know why, but I found that really funny, but also kind of crazy at the same time.
I like how you connect the instrumentals to everyday routines and specific places, especially the idea of the music slowing time and shaping the mood of work and relaxation. Your paddleboard story really stood out because it shows how water can shift from peaceful to threatening very quickly, which adds a lot of depth to your reflection. It also ties nicely to your point about feeling more grounded and connected when you are on land rather than in the water itself. Do you think the music helped you feel calmer while remembering that stressful moment, or did it make the fear and intensity stand out more?
ReplyDeleteThanks, I appreciate that. I think the music actually helped soften the memory rather than intensify it. Remembering it alongside the music made it feel less like a panic and more like a moment of reflection. The music helped on how I felt after everything settled, rather than just the fear in the moment.
DeleteYour post is a really interesting connection to the music with your own life. All the tracks really allow for a lot of interpretation that opens up so much space for memories of our own. I appreciate the addition of your story on the paddleboard which is not only a really candid personal story but also builds really well on the Drop Off. I really appreciated your post and interpretation, it adds a lot.
ReplyDeleteI really like how specific your memories were especially the cottage trip and paddle board story. I was genuinely stressed just reading it, I couldn't image living through it (LOL). I relate a lot to what you said about using water as a way to clear your head. My family's cottage has also been a place for me where everything feels just a bit calmer. I also understand the fear of deep water, I hate when it's not clear and I can't see to the floor. You never know what's happening underneath which honestly is a bit unsettling! It is interesting how the music brought out other calm and uneasy feelings!
ReplyDelete