the first cottage weekend of the summer is always a little iffy. the bugs are unpredictable, the weather is all over the board, the boat is still out of the water...it leaves one with few cottage activities. so we all adjusted. may long weekend at the larsh cottage is now: watch-movies-read-mulitple-books-eat-a-tonne-of-junk-food weekend. it goes over really well with everyone that shows up. and by everyone, i mean the die hard's that i can count on most of all: jarrod and julia t. both of them are may long weekend survivors, and, their sophomore venture was, i hope, as relaxing as expected.
there were a few hitches:
1) apparently all the grocery stores in bancroft have conglomerated into one large branch of the "no frills" chain. previously, there was a valumart and an IGA, two much more local stores. now, there's just blacked out lettering and "for lease" signs. i am hoping the employees simply shifted down the street. (now, one of the problems with this new development was a personal one. on the way up, jarrod mentionned that he was looking forward to seeing what was new in bancroft. julia and i shared a look that said, "silly, nothing ever changes in bancroft." as we drove up to the mego-centre, jarrod just looked at both of us..."nothing ever changes, eh, ladies?" we stopped with the words and with the looks.) so, we headed into no frills. jarrod was in charge of the meat purchases and managed to score a bunch of deals. i was liking the no frills experience. (we even got m & m's and skittles for $0.97. sweet.) unfortunately, we noticed a terrible, coma inducing aroma emanating from the fridge a few days later...and we realized that all those sweet deals were really "last day of sale items." apparently, there is something to that expiry date. instead of voting him off, jarrod proved himself an invaluable member of the team through excellent work on the barbecue and with the preparation of a giant tuna salad. also, we only had three people to and to lose such a character would have been tragic to say the least.
2) julia was rather rudely awoken one morning by our un-popular male neighbour. i won't mention any names (bud) but his rythmes with "dud." she described his as a "unfriendly, grumpy man," which, in julia-speak, is pretty much the most heinous swear word you could possibly come up with. he informed her that our lovely, treasured canoe had made a break for freedom. sure enough, she was out in the middle of the lake. a quick evaluation of options: swim to it? no way, the water would kill you. plus, both jarrod and i had been previously horrified by my uncle jim's story of a friend who, in order to retrieve a tossed ketchup bottle, had jumped into cold water, had muscles freeze on him, and was saved only because he happened to be able to touch bottom. there was no way i was swimming. should we follow it along the shore and hope that we can grab it? impossible as well. it just wasn't near shore. and there was no way we could physically get from our cottage to a shore anywhere near it. the solution: borrowing said neighbours canoe. jarrod and i frantically canoed out to it. then towed it to shore. and by towed, i mean struggled as we barely made any movement at all (despite furious paddling) for about twenty minutes. fortunately, a neighbour was nearby and she let us use her dock to tip it. (of course, she also asked if we knew how to canoe...i guess this was polite for "you guys are clearly idiots, let me give you a few tips.") it was much easier towing when the beast was not full of water. in conclusion, the old girl is now safe and sound, very very far from the water. how did she end up loose in the first place? well, i have a habit of just pulling her onto the deck. all the way. but yes, it is right next to the water. and yes, i suppose if it was extremely windy AND extremely wavey (okay, so those two go together), it is possible that she could slide into the water. but i never would have believed it if it didn't happen.
3) unable to do anything related to water (boat, cliff jump, swim, tube, etc.), unable to even really enjoy a camp fire, the three of us decided to do the only other thing we do at the larsh cottage. hike. oh yes, we hike. to one destination: the look out point. its not far from the cottage and provides a wonderful view for very little up hill climbing. (i guess you kinda start on high ground. anyway.) but, of course, i couldn't find it. i did find a nice little snowmobile trail. that was pretty wet. and it didn't help that it started to rain. but, in the end, we had a lovely walk. just not achieving the original purpose.
in all though, i think we all had a good time. jarrod and julia are two of my favourite people: the kind of people that you had just relax with, hang out, enjoy a beer and ten hot dogs, sitting quietly, reading, doing a puzzle, whatever takes your fancy. but then something happens, and you all laugh, and you realize just how in sync you all really are. it makes me realize how much time we waste on forcing these kinds of connections: through actions, or words, or whatever, when most of the genuine ones...just happen.
however, this does not let you all out of visiting the cottage this summer. i expect, nay, i demand a visit. because, even with, or especially because of, the hitches, the cottage is simply beautiful. think canadian shield, cottage on a rock face, a large lake dotted with islands, western exposure for brilliant sunsets...but yes, i will forgive you for waiting until warmer weather. and for the boat. (please fix the boat dad!)
just know that the title of "First in the Lake 2006" has already been claimed by jarrod. but only because he cheated and jumped in on 2. i hate being second.
there were a few hitches:
1) apparently all the grocery stores in bancroft have conglomerated into one large branch of the "no frills" chain. previously, there was a valumart and an IGA, two much more local stores. now, there's just blacked out lettering and "for lease" signs. i am hoping the employees simply shifted down the street. (now, one of the problems with this new development was a personal one. on the way up, jarrod mentionned that he was looking forward to seeing what was new in bancroft. julia and i shared a look that said, "silly, nothing ever changes in bancroft." as we drove up to the mego-centre, jarrod just looked at both of us..."nothing ever changes, eh, ladies?" we stopped with the words and with the looks.) so, we headed into no frills. jarrod was in charge of the meat purchases and managed to score a bunch of deals. i was liking the no frills experience. (we even got m & m's and skittles for $0.97. sweet.) unfortunately, we noticed a terrible, coma inducing aroma emanating from the fridge a few days later...and we realized that all those sweet deals were really "last day of sale items." apparently, there is something to that expiry date. instead of voting him off, jarrod proved himself an invaluable member of the team through excellent work on the barbecue and with the preparation of a giant tuna salad. also, we only had three people to and to lose such a character would have been tragic to say the least.
2) julia was rather rudely awoken one morning by our un-popular male neighbour. i won't mention any names (bud) but his rythmes with "dud." she described his as a "unfriendly, grumpy man," which, in julia-speak, is pretty much the most heinous swear word you could possibly come up with. he informed her that our lovely, treasured canoe had made a break for freedom. sure enough, she was out in the middle of the lake. a quick evaluation of options: swim to it? no way, the water would kill you. plus, both jarrod and i had been previously horrified by my uncle jim's story of a friend who, in order to retrieve a tossed ketchup bottle, had jumped into cold water, had muscles freeze on him, and was saved only because he happened to be able to touch bottom. there was no way i was swimming. should we follow it along the shore and hope that we can grab it? impossible as well. it just wasn't near shore. and there was no way we could physically get from our cottage to a shore anywhere near it. the solution: borrowing said neighbours canoe. jarrod and i frantically canoed out to it. then towed it to shore. and by towed, i mean struggled as we barely made any movement at all (despite furious paddling) for about twenty minutes. fortunately, a neighbour was nearby and she let us use her dock to tip it. (of course, she also asked if we knew how to canoe...i guess this was polite for "you guys are clearly idiots, let me give you a few tips.") it was much easier towing when the beast was not full of water. in conclusion, the old girl is now safe and sound, very very far from the water. how did she end up loose in the first place? well, i have a habit of just pulling her onto the deck. all the way. but yes, it is right next to the water. and yes, i suppose if it was extremely windy AND extremely wavey (okay, so those two go together), it is possible that she could slide into the water. but i never would have believed it if it didn't happen.
3) unable to do anything related to water (boat, cliff jump, swim, tube, etc.), unable to even really enjoy a camp fire, the three of us decided to do the only other thing we do at the larsh cottage. hike. oh yes, we hike. to one destination: the look out point. its not far from the cottage and provides a wonderful view for very little up hill climbing. (i guess you kinda start on high ground. anyway.) but, of course, i couldn't find it. i did find a nice little snowmobile trail. that was pretty wet. and it didn't help that it started to rain. but, in the end, we had a lovely walk. just not achieving the original purpose.
in all though, i think we all had a good time. jarrod and julia are two of my favourite people: the kind of people that you had just relax with, hang out, enjoy a beer and ten hot dogs, sitting quietly, reading, doing a puzzle, whatever takes your fancy. but then something happens, and you all laugh, and you realize just how in sync you all really are. it makes me realize how much time we waste on forcing these kinds of connections: through actions, or words, or whatever, when most of the genuine ones...just happen.
however, this does not let you all out of visiting the cottage this summer. i expect, nay, i demand a visit. because, even with, or especially because of, the hitches, the cottage is simply beautiful. think canadian shield, cottage on a rock face, a large lake dotted with islands, western exposure for brilliant sunsets...but yes, i will forgive you for waiting until warmer weather. and for the boat. (please fix the boat dad!)
just know that the title of "First in the Lake 2006" has already been claimed by jarrod. but only because he cheated and jumped in on 2. i hate being second.
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