Lady Di and the fish

[August 31, 2017 was the 20th anniversary of the passing of Lady Diana. Here is my story about why, other than for the obvious fact of her untimely and unnecessary death, I remember that day and night so well.]

I’ve created waterfront property in my career–lots of it.

Want to know how?

I dig nature ponds.

Ontario is blessed with one thing–an abundance of water–not just uncountable rivers and lakes but unmeasurable amounts of groundwater that’ll be around until the sun boils this planet in a giant supernova a few billion years from now, an ending that even Elon Musk won’t be able to avoid.

Here’s an aerial photo of a lake I dug in Dunrobin when it was nearly completed; it took 17 years to finish (using a diesel electric shovel) removing 1.1 million tons of sand (which we sold for $1.05 per ton net, FOB Dunrobin for cable laying, back-fill and, later, golf course top dressing and sand traps). We basically uncovered a lake that had been buried by sand at the end of the last glacier period (about 10,000 years ago):

+++

The afteruse of the sandpit was as a residential subdivision. The lake (now called Dunrobin Lake naturally) is fed by an artesian well and underground streams filtered through thousands of meters of sand and sandstone.

Water quality (we test it every year) is better than any brand of bottled water you can buy in a store, trust me, I know.

Here’s what it looks like today:

It’s a great spot for swimming, sailing, kayaking, paddle boarding… everything except no motor-powered craft of any kind are permitted.

I added large mouth bass to Dunrobin Lake, in part, to control mosquitoes and bloodsuckers.

I remember that particular day well–it was the day Princess Di passed, August 31st, 1997.

At 10:30 pm, I stood alone beside my lake on a beautifully clear summer night (having just learned the Princess of Wales was dead) pouring the large mouth bass we had caught earlier in the day into their new boundless (to them) virgin domain. While there, I said a silent prayer for Lady Di and for my fish.

My crew of fellow fishermen had spent an entire day at our favorite fishing hole about 90-minutes south of Dunrobin Lake. Eight of us (eight!) had caught a princely total of just three (three!) largemouth 😊 Hence, I asked the boys if they knew the difference between a girl fish and boy ones. No one knew so I grumbled to myself, Won’t do me much good if I have all boys (or girls) here ☹

That winter I fretted over my fish fate, but not to worry—after the ice melted away in the spring, I spied two spawning circles (the ladies do the hard work—they sweep the lake bottom and lay their eggs there). This was ideal—I had two girl fish and one male. All the guy has to do is swim over each spawning circle and fertilize those eggs! Easy-peasy.

Today, we have 300 mature largemouth bass, and we fish out enough each year of the larger ones to let the little ones grow (otherwise the big fellows will eat the little ones and the whole stock will grow old together and die off…)

I am sure Lady Di is looking out for our fish…

+++

Anyway, here’s Shaun showing off his catch before releasing the princess’ fish back to the lake.

Anyhow, here’re a few more lots where I’ve dug ponds, and, happy news, every time I’ve added one, property values have gone up plus our ponds are natural wonders–providing habitat for bird life and fish as well as watering holes for wildlife.

Here’re two of my kids fishing at Dunrobin Lake:

And more kids swinging on the rope drop I built there:

Here’s the original concept plan I found on one of my computers for Dunrobin Lake:

And look what I found tattooed on the fins of each of our largemouth bass–

Just kidding.

Prof Bruce

FOR REAL ESTATE INVESTMENT AND BUSINESS COACHING THAT’LL HELP YOU PROVIDE FOR YOURSELF AND YOUR FAMILY FOR 3-GENERATIONS, PLEASE CONTACT:

Bruce M Firestone, B Eng (civil), M Eng-Sci, PhD
Real Estate Investment and Business coach
ROYAL LePAGE Performance Realty broker
Ottawa Senators founder
613-762-8884
bruce.firestone@century21.ca
brucemfirestone.com
https://www.linkedin.com/in/profbruce
https://brucemfirestone.com/blog/
profbruce.tumblr.com/archive
https://www.youtube.com/user/ProfBruce/
https://twitter.com/ProfBruce
https://www.facebook.com/groups/reiroi
https://www.facebook.com/ProfBruce
https://bruce-firestone.c21.ca/

BOOK YOUR FREE CLARITY CALL WITH PROF BRUCE NOW, https://brucemfirestone.com/coaching/prof-bruce-real-estate-investment-and-business-coaching/talk/

• MAKING IMPOSSIBLE POSSIBLE
  • FREEDOM VIA REAL ESTATE INVESTMENT AND PB4L, PERSONAL BUSINESS FOR LIFE
  • FEHAJ, FOR EVERY HOME A JOB, FEJAH, FOR EVERY JOB A HOME
  • MAKE YOUR HOME WORK FOR YOU, INSTEAD OF YOU WORKING FOR IT
  • HIGHER ROI NOT JUST FOR OWNERS AND INVESTORS, BUT FOR TENANTS, GUESTS, VISITORS, NEIGHBORHOODS, COMMUNITIES, TOWNS, VILLAGES, CITIES AND THE ENVIRONMENT TOO

+++

[Image source, Jonathunder – Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=9745251]

+++

You can download this in PDF format from, https://www.dropbox.com/s/zum5qllqf72h4rk/history-of-dunrobin-lake-lady-di-and-the-fish-story-2021-bruce-m-firestone.pdf?dl=0.

+++