Vacation- Part 2

When I.T.-ologist (I like saying this, but I do realize it is annoying, we'll shorten to I.T. I call him this because he is an information technologist, but I.T. stands for information technology, so information technology-ologist- a computer geek- but he's a very handsome geek) was young or maybe not even born, not sure now, his grandfather purchased a small, but still five bedroom, cottage on a lake in northern Michigan near Lake Michigan. I.T.'s mom is one of five children, so she and her siblings had fun taking their children to this wonderful vacation spot every summer.

The cottage was fully furnished with furniture and dishes in the cupboards. Most of that furniture and some of those dishes are still there. I.T. and I have taken our children to "the cottage" every summer of their lives, as have his siblings and his cousins. Ten families share this cottage, each using it for a week in the summer. Sometimes more than one family goes up together so cousins can play in the lake and fish together. Recently, some have braved the winter and stayed at the cottage during vacations to a nearby ski resort. Keeping the downstairs warm is not a problem, because there is a fireplace with an efficient insert and blower to pump the heat out. The four upstairs bedrooms are like a deep freeze in winter, but attempts are being made to find inexpensive ways to get the heat up there. Those who choose to stay at the cottage in winter months must chip a hole through the ice on the lake to get buckets of water for flushing the toilet. No showers available in winter- all water used for cooking and cleaning must be hauled in and dumped out the back door. Our family has experienced this- once- long time ago.

Our friendly welcome to the cottage bear was carved from a big tree that used to stand just to the right of this back door. It provided too much shade to the property, which caused moss to thrive on the roof and its roots were wrecking havoc on the drainfield, so it sadly had to be chopped down. It was one of the tallest trees on the lake. The cottage is humble. Simple. Care has been taken to keep it structurally strong and it is certainly functional. Food is kept cold in the fridge, we cook inside on the old stove from the 1930's or 40's and bake in its oven. The drain field has been reworked so that we can shower and flush without flooding the backyard. But we watch nature here- no television and we don't have internet. For years, before cell phones became commonplace, we did not have a phone while at the cottage. I remember the first time I.T. brought his first cell phone up to the cottage and it rang while we were there. Everyone stopped what they were doing and looked up, "someone is calling us here?" It seemed very wrong- almost criminal.
We sometimes entertain ourselves with projects like this one. This is my family in pinecone. I.T.(with fishing pole), me (my sister made this one, what can I say), Outside the Box (with a big collegiate H painted on his birch bark shirt, denoting his alma mater), Pilgrim (acorn top beanie and moss hippie hair) and Fashionista adorned in green beads found on the beach. We listen to Lake Wobegon on this radio on Saturday nights. We fish. I enjoy it! I just have a really hard time holding the worm while baiting the hook. Instead, I lay the worm on the carpet of my dad's bass boat and I stab it through the gut being careful not to touch the worm, so I won't feel its pain. I have to do this at least twice to be sure the worm will stay on the hook through several casts. It causes me so much emotional stress and actual illness (throw up caught in my throat) to do this, I wonder if it is even morally right. I prefer plastic lures.Fash found fish first! I guess it looked good enough to eat right off the hook. She caught two small mouth bass, I caught one, I.T. caught one and he caught one perch. We actually threw them all back. No eating- except all the snacks we brought along. A bag of Good & Plenty, Jolly Ranchers, trail mix with M&M's- for some, baiting hooks causes an appetite apparently. I wouldn't know, personally.This is blurry, but I didn't take this one. I just caught the fish with my agonized worm. We call this "cottage hair" by the way- all the rage up north on the lake.

We fished until the sun disappeared. Every day a new adventure awaits Seven swans a swimming, but I could not get them all in one frame with clarity.

Of course no trip to the cottage is complete until we've strolled the street of the local village. (blurry again, I was learning about all the settings on my new camera. I obviously do not have them figured out yet)

Anyway, there is a sampling. I've been sitting here for an hour and a half, so I can imagine how long this post must be by now. We sometimes get an extra long weekend or two besides our one full week at the cottage, so perhaps we will make it up there again before summer's end. I hope so.

Peace,

Heidi