20 Years of Cottage Memories

I'm fighting back tears as I write this post. My Uncle John sold his cottage after 20 years of ownership. My entire family went to the cottage this weekend for one final farewell and it was a lot of fun.

The first time we went to the cottage I was 6 years old. I remember driving the 3 hours to Muskoka, and getting lost on the way there. We encountered a moose crossing a road on the way there, and I was totally fascinated with it (although my mother was totally freaked out). When we finally arrived and entered the cottage we saw a duck in the lake. My brother and I decided we were going to walk out in our shorts and t-shirts and "get" the duck. I remember it so clearly! I was wearing these turquoise shorts and a matching top with turquoise and purple flowers on it (give me a break, it was the 80's). I was trying my best not to get my shorts soaking wet (got soaked any way). Josh and I walked through the mushy lake bottom and I remember thinking it was so gross. Any way, Josh walked on ahead of me and grabbed hold of the duck, only to discover that it was fake and tied down to the water pump to let people know to be careful. We thought it was pretty hilarious. Inside we found 2 blow up, zebra print chairs, which we took out onto the lake with canoe paddles (Uncle John just found out that we did this). It was there at the cottage that my brother and I discovered my Uncle's board game collection. We found the game Risk (which I won - with the PINK army) and we also discovered "Gay" Monopoly, which later revealed that our Uncle John was gay (yes it's true, we found out from a board game haa haa).Each year my family and I would venture to the cottage for a few weeks in the summer. We LOVED it there. I loved the endless swimming, canoeing, and fishing, and listening to my Uncle's CD collections which included Van Morrison, Gloria Estevan, Cat Steven's, Bette Middler, and more. One summer my parents told us that Uncle John took his CD player back to the city and to not bother bringing any of our own cds. When we got there, the CD player was there, and the ONLY cd was Cat Stevens. I can't listen to Cat Steven's without thinking about the cottage. You can imagine my older brother and I canoeing in the middle of the lake, having to go pee, and signing "Oh I can't keep it in, I can't keep it and I gotta let it out..." Oh man, we'd laugh so hard that I'm pretty sure I peed in the canoe at least once (shhh don't tell).Some summers a few of my cousins would come up to the cottage with us and that brought on a whole new set of memories. We'd venture out on the raft in the middle of the night to star gaze. At the cottage was the first time I ever saw stars like that before. I never knew how BEAUTIFUL the night sky could be and how amazing shooting stars looked. I was in total amazement, like "take my breath away" kind of amazement. My older brother, my cousins and I would stare at the sky and talk about all kinds of mysterious stuff like UFOs and black holes and whatever. I wish I could see the night sky like that every night.

My cousins and I would canoe across the lake to the big rock and spend the day there. We'd pack a lunch and swim, fish, collect fire wood, and sun bathe there. Sometimes we'd stand at the very top of the rock and sing Pocahontas songs and yell things to my parents on the deck across the way. I also learned how to make these really realistic loon calls and I'd try to get as many loons on the lake as possible. I'm pretty sure my record is 5! Once while loon calling, while swimming, and loon came and landed RIGHT BESIDE ME! I totally freaked me out and I swam back to the cottage as fast as I could.I remember staying up way past midnight on a regular basis and chowing down on chips, cookies, pizza pops, smores, and drinking way too much hot chocolate (no wonder the mosquitoes loved me). We'd always play board games, especially Risk, Scrabble, and Hotels. John used to be my Mom or Dad's helper when we played Risk and he'd chant "I never roll and one, I never roll a two. All I roll is sixes and that's what I do!"

One night when my Mom was 37 weeks pregnant she played Scrabble with my Dad and Josh. She picked out of the bag a bunch of Ws and Rs and said, "what can I spell with this? Wascly Wabbit?" She thought it was hilarious and she laughed so hard that she actually went into labor (sorta). After that game she went to bed, on an air mattress on top of a regular bed. Suddenly she thought she had peed herself but quickly realized that it was her water breaking. She ran to the futon where my Dad was sleeping and told him. He gave her the classic "bug eyed" look and we all quickly packed our stuff so we could get home. I had a friend staying with us and we would have to speed to the next town to drop her off before heading home. As my Dad was backing out of the driveway he said "man it is so dark outside". We soon figured out that the trunk was still open and blocking his view. We made it home in record time and the next day Michael joined our family!

Another fun story was the time Rachel and I caught a fish. We decided to pack a lunch and canoe out to the rock early in the morning. We had been fishing for over 2 hours and nothing was happening. Then we snagged our fishing line on a rock and couldn't get it loose. We decided that we'd dive down and get it when we went swimming later on that day. Rachel suggested that we tie the fishing line to a tree so that we remembered where it was and so we did. A few minutes later we saw a huge fish jump out of the water. We said "Woah, I wanna catch that one!" We casted our line out in that direction hoping to get THAT fish. Suddenly we noticed the line that was tied to the tree MOVING! Rachel screamed, "We caught a fish!! Get the net!" I grabbed the net and Rachel pulled the line in (it was still attached to the tree) I reached down and scooped up the fish, and it was that huge fish we saw jumping earlier!!!! We were so exited we woke up my family on the other side of the lake. They heard us screaming and ran to the deck to see what was going on. That was the one and only fish I ever caught and we did it without a pole!

There's so many stories to tell like the temple of doom (my mother's method of catching mice), sitting by the fire, roasting Cheerios and marshmallows, canoeing as fast as we could, jumping off the raft in the middle of the lake, swimming in the middle of the night, seeing blue herons and beavers, lighting candles in the candle chandelier, making up dances with Rachel on the deck, catching frogs, making up the constipation song with my cousins, making up the never ending song (where one song leads into the next some how like - I will always love you... are so beautiful to me...) holding onto the rope being towed behind the canoe, and listening to The Moose radio station. We always enjoyed driving into town to do some grocery shopping and looking at the local shops. There are too many memories to name. I wish I could just download my brain to the computer.

This weekend was a blast. Rosie loved going on the boat and was eager to put on her life jacket because Dora the Explorer told her it keeps her safe. She tried to reach over the side and touch the water. Joseph didn't like wearing a life jacket, and therefore didn't like the boat ride. I went swimming on the first day and we played board games at night. Uncle John gave me the RISK game that we used to always play, my grandmother's rocking chair, a lamp, tea pot, and a few plates that are older than me.

I'm getting depressed writing this because I'm going to miss the cottage SO MUCH. There's just this amazing feeling I get from going to the cottage that I wish I could feel every day. It's so sad that it's been sold and that I'll never be able to relive those fun times ever again. It's been a wonderful 20 years and I thank my Uncle John from the bottom of my heart for letting us visit the cottage so often. It really has been a life time of fond memories. I hope that there will be something that compares so my children can have similar memories in their lives.

Good-bye Spring Lake!

Me Ka Aloha
- Elisabeth