Spending Time at the Cabin

Spending time at the cabin.

When I was a kid growing up, my own family didn't have a cabin at a lake.  My aunt and uncle, Hazel and Warner, and their family  had one in the Qu'Appelle Valley  about three hours away from us in Hudson Bay.   Every summer for several years, my siblings and I in any sort of combination would go stay with them at Crooked Lake for a couple of weeks.  We walked daily to the beach which was at least a mile one way, swam and played, and bought a treat at the store.  Every summer I lost weight and came home with a nice tan.  Those lakes in the Qu'Appelle Valley tended to have alot of green algae.  In fact, depending on what the wind was doing, it could have a thick layer of the green slick sludged up against whatever shore the wind was pushing it.  You always had to shower after swimming because you would be nothing but green slime when you came out...especially your hair.  I am a blonde and green is one of my favorite colours, but that was a look I didn't really go with.

We were exceptionally fortunate to have had this opportunity of going to the lake.  First off, it was a chance for us to get to know our cousins and not only learn how to swim but to perfect the skill.  We would always go when swimming lessons were on.  Little by little, summer by summer,  year after year, we achieved one swimmer's badge after another.  Some years we also took lessons at other places such as at our home lake, of Ruby Lake, and eventually one summer I achieved my senior's badge in Yorkton where I had a summer job. I was taking lessons in the evenings at an indoor pool after working during the day in  my other aunt's corner grocery store.  I remember being really tired and barely able to do the number of laps required by evening...but somehow, I passed.  The feat didn't seem like much at the time, until I was asked to assist with teaching swimming lessons at Ruby Lake.  Word travels fast in small towns I guess.  The lessons weren't Red Cross or anything, but some other type that used different fish and aquatic names like "Salamander" to designate levels of achievement.  I felt quite proud and just hoped nobody drowned while under my watch...Luckily, nobody did.  The only thing I didn't like about Ruby Lake were the bloodsuckers.  I came out of the water one day with one globbed onto my forehead...I forget who saved me, but usually a lit cigarette did the trick.  You can imagine the screaming fit I was having, so it wouldn't have been an easy rescue.

In 1972, I graduated from Hudson Bay high school and moved to Saskatoon. My parents sold the farm south of Hudson Bay in the community of Etomami and moved back to their birthplace - Melfort in 1974 or 75.  They bought the local funeral home, lock, stock, and barrel.  About four minutes later, dad also bought another farm.  The previous funeral home owners also had a cabin at Whelan Bay on Whiteswan Lake.  It's a Northern lake that is big and cold and great for fishing but the water is so cold you can't swim in it.  They get around that little technicality by having a big, pool at the lodge that everybody uses.  I only visited that cabin once, believe it or not.   I remember that it was fully, and I mean fully furnished..right down to the last fork, blanket and cup.  My family just moved in and didn't have to bring one thing.  They bought it that way.  I remember it had a propane outdoor toilet that instantly burned up the excrement.  You didn't spend alot of time sitting and pondering life that's for sure.  You also didn't go out for a walk on your own since there were bears lurking all over the place.  Berry picking took on a whole new meaning ...you knew there was the distinct possibility you were going to be sharing your find with a bruin...that is if he/she let you. 

Mom's cousin and her husband had owned the lodge for decades but have retired and sold it within the past few years.  So getting to reconnect with more family was important for my parents.  This was a cousin my Mom had grown up around so it would have been great hooking up again.  The location was also a draw for my Mom' brother Jerry, and his family as well as her sister, Dianne and her family because the men loved to fish.  My uncle's family still have their cabin there to this day.  Their cabin is one of notoriety because, in fact, it is my grandparents' actual house which they had moved to a lot.  I remember when I visited it once it was moved.  By this time it had been their cabin for years.  It looked so different, and although hard to recognize, I could by closing my eyes and remembering the exact location of the rooms.  My kids had spent the weekend with my uncle and aunt, Jerry and Lorna and their family and we went to pick them up afterwards.  My uncle was entertaining them all with his ghost stories at night and in the morning he taught them how to make pancakes for breakfast.  My kids were totally impressed by their time there.   My parents had long since sold out and bought another cabin at Greenwater Lake.  Greenwater is further south and the water is warmer for swimming and water skiing.  There are much better services such as a fully stocked store, a marina, and golf course.  Unfortunately, because it's a provincial park, it can also be an incredibly busy place.

Mom and Dad's Greenwater cabin was also purchased fully furnished. It was a nice place with a big yard and a fire pit in the back. We four kids were all young adults by then, and there was even a first grandchild.  We had lots of company, friends and relatives flocked for the fun, the novelty, and the camaraderie.  Long weekends we discovered, became a zoo on the water and roads of a provincial park.  Our family's cabin was located on the first street back from the lakefront.  We woke up Saturday mornings to find total strangers who had pitched their tents in the ditch right in front of our cabin.  Sometimes there were several tents and they ended up partying most of the night.  We were somewhat dismayed...well really dismayed to the point of disgust and began to pine for a lakefront property.  There was only one new subdivision at Greenwater that had lakefront cottages, and they were far from the main beach and other services.  Lots for sale were as scarce as hen's teeth and way too expensive.

One day several of us, including Mom and Dad, loaded up in the car and went for a drive.  We wound up about half an hour away at the north end of Barrier Lake, also called Barrier Ford.  It was actually really hard to find.  There was a young guy from Tisdale with his newly-built and almost-finished lake front cabin "for sale". It was so cheap it was hard to believe, but the guy was at the end of his rope.  Dad bought it on the spot and that's when he put the Greenwater cabin up for sale.  Mom and I took a drive over there to visit a friend of mine the summer of 2012, Bonnie, and couldn't believe how much development has occurred.  We had a really hard time finding our old cabin!

My son was the baby grandchild with us that day.  It was 1976 and today is 2013.  The cabin is still there and going strong.  It remains a place to be enjoyed every bit as much as it was almost 40 years ago.  The grandchildren increased in numbers to about a dozen and they all grew up there.  Funny thing was, I don't think any of them attended swimming lessons.  Go figure.  Regardless, they swam and frolicked, skied, knee boarded, fished, went boat riding, sun tanned, canoed, played at the playground, went for walks, rode bikes, went paddle boating, sat and laid in all the floating inflatables and the floating lawn chair, went for walks in the forest, went to the store, to the dump, and one of the biggest attractions was to catch crayfish.  At night, when it's really dark, the crayfish venture out from under the rocks to sit on top just below the water surface.  We had no less than half a dozen flashlights and butterfly nets for our young hunters..  We took an old aquarium from home and let the kids catch to their hearts content, then watch the little creatures with the pinching claws swim around trying to find their way out.  The kids ate all sorts of everything fun, played in the sand, built sandcastles and moats, joined us at the campfire after dark, and slept hard every night from all the fresh air and sunshine. 

A number of years later, this first generation of kids have produced more kids...At last count there was an additional 10 kids or so.  In the last few years, my daughter and son have both bought the cabins next to Mom's.....one beside and one behind.  My Dad passed away in 1992, so he has missed alot of good times at the lake.  We generally take turns going there, but not necessarily, and everybody contributes what they can in physical labour, maintenance, repairs and that sort of thing.  The family cabin although getting old seems golden to all of us.  It is a place where memories were made and where family has had many good times together.  So if somebody tells you they think a cabin is not something for them because it's too much work, or they don't want to go to the same place every summer, or people might fight over it....From my perspective, I think they might want to rethink the joy, the history-making and the getting to know each other that is built when a family enjoys and shares time at the cabin.