Like they live for a really long time in the soil of the lake and then they come out and so like, anywhere near the water is just covered in shadflies. It's disgusting and so you can't go swimming for like, two weeks because there's dead shadfly bodies in the water and it's like- a curre-- oh, it's so gross. And you have to like wade through them to get out to like actual deep water, it-- so you just don't bother going swimming for like two weeks during shadfly season and then the itch comes- you get like one week grace period and then the itch comes.

Like they live for a really long time in the soil of the lake and then they come out and so like, anywhere near the water is just covered in shadflies. It's disgusting and so you can't go swimming for like, two weeks because there's dead shadfly bodies in the water and it's like- a curre-- oh, it's so gross. And you have to like wade through them to get out to like actual deep water, it-- so you just don't bother going swimming for like two weeks during shadfly-season and then the itch comes- you get like one week grace period and then the itch comes.

Speaker: Mm-hm, like if we leave any of our lights on or our house lights- like if we leave on the living-room lights o-- overnight or-anything, these windows are like, blanketed with shadflies. Yeah, we have like a power sprayer too, like a regular hose doesn't even l-- get them off (laughs). You have to have an intense one. Ah, so the shadfly season sucks. And there's lots of spiders but I don't have a problem with spiders.

I don't know. I'm sure- Lake-Nippising is unique so it's- I'm sure- like shadflies are unique 'cause Lake-Nippising is unique but it's sort-of pr-- it might be something to that extent.

But I can't remember what they're called. Yeah, shad- shadflies are awful, yuck. But if the lake didn't have shadflies the lake would be dead.

Speaker 1: Shadflies are the worst. Speaker 2: Like they're fun to step on. Interviewer: They are- they are (inc) Speaker 1: (whispering) Oh-god. They're fun to drive on. Speaker 2: Crunch, crunch. Interviewer: Well, I remember when they- Speaker 1: Have you ever almost got in a car crash from shadflies? Speaker 2: They're slippery.

Speaker: Millions of shadflies. Interviewer: Smell. Speaker: "Where do they come from?" They don't have mouths! Interviewer: But w-- what's neat about shadflies though is like, that's like a name that people in Northern-Ontario have for these bugs. But like, outside of Northern-Ontario- Speaker: Yeah, are they Mayflies? Interviewer: Like even in Souther-- yeah, like they'll- they'll call them Mayflies or- or they won't know what they're called. Speaker: I've heard them called mayflies, but everybody here calls them shadflies.

And people think you're crazy. I don't know if you ever get this but I got this when I went away to school and people would be like "Oh, you-know, what was North-Bay like?" and I'd try to describe what shadflies were, people would look at me like they didn't know what I was talking about and they're like "Shadflies?" and I'm like "Yeah, they're little bugs that kind of look like dragon-flies. They have no mouth. They only last for twenty-four hours," I'm like "You guys don't know what shadfly-season is?" (laughs).

Yeah, like to me a shadfly is just a- it's a shadfly, it's, you-know, they come every year and that, you-know, that's part of winter. And I think I thought it was all across Ontario. Like I never thought of it just specific to North-Bay.

Yeah at Trout-Lake. I don't go down to the water-front very often because of the shadflies. I don't like them (laugh) even though they don't mouths and they don't bite and-everything-like-that.

No, he brought her with her- with ah, two little boys. One was four year old and the other one I-think is just a baby. Come up in the winter-time and made a shanty and stayed.

Ah not- I don't think there's any real local slang that is really like specific to North-Bay you-know-what-I-mean? Like I-think it's just- like when I was a kid like all the different little groups of kids in school had their little names like the jocks and the preps and, you-know, and the skids. Like I know some places don't use the word "skid" you-know like h-- that's what we- you-know when I was growing up that's- was the word. Like skids and headbangers were sort-of like interchangeable you-know-what-I-mean ...

... I was the first man out of the aircraft and the dropped the second too soon and I had to lift to get over the high tension wires, and when I hit the slew it was in ah spring and it was froze, lost my foot and skidded across with the wind blowing me. No, we dropped in to ah Fort-Norman when I was out in the arctic there too, winter exercise. That was kind of interesting. (laughs) Four weeks, five people in a tent.

Interviewer: Um, is there anything that's like really cool r--right now, like in school like that like-- Speaker: Skinnys. Interviewer: Skinnys? Speaker: Yeah. Interviewer: What are those? Speaker: Like, what you're wearing. Interviewer: Oh, just like, skinny pants?

Interviewer: Are they playing or what's going on? Speaker: No. They're just following. They're very skittish of humans; they won't come near a human. All these stories you hear about wolf attacks and-that: that's a pile of crap. I grew up with them.

People are breaking in their vehicles, they're using these slim-jims to unlock the doors.

Speaker: But we used to fight eh 'cause I used to snitch her. She had beautiful clothes 'cause she was out working eh- she was pa-- Interviewer: She was the older one. Speaker: She was the older one so I'd go and snitch her nice sweater and then bring it home and there'd be a spot on it (laughs) and then she'd get mad at me and (laughs).

Yeah. They weren't even living together at one time I think. I don't know they were some place else, and the parents had to stay in another place, in another house.

I-- saying to my partner Katie here that I'd like to move some place where there's no snow at all because I'm pretty loaded up with arthritis. Go somewhere where it's dry, year-round eh? I don't know if I could handle it. 'Cause I've grown up in the four seasons.

And ah now there's some place going in called Veg-Out, it's like an organic juice bar right?