Canada Day at the cottage, with lame ruminations..
30.06.2008
I literally woke up at the crack of dawn and couldn't sleep anymore, so I went walking. The lake is just stunning in the morning mist. Birds are singing as I walk through the fallen pine needles and the lake is a sheet of glass. Amazing. Add to that the relentless buzzing of mosquitoes in my ears and I think I've got myself the perfect Canadian long weekend. What a change of pace from the crazy psycho world of Toronto. I imagine what sorts of things Kit is doing and I know at least there is a bunch of noise and people everywhere. Here all there is, is me. It's been a while since I had a clear and empty space to fill like this. It's refreshing. Too bad it's only for 1.5 days, but I think that's enough. I scrounge around for some breakfast, find some scones/biscuits and then boil water for tea. By now, the mist is so thick that I can't see the other side of the lake anymore. Even though the others are sleeping just in the next room, I feel completely alone. The lake is hidden by by a vast abyss of suspended water droplets obscuring the rest of existence.
Ken wakes up and comes out for a coffee, just as I am about to drink boiled lake water tea. Which may or may not have parasites. So I dumped that and made some new tea, drank some and then went back to bed. When I wake up, Jen and Ken are outside ready for a swim, so I join them. Terrified of the fish in the dark lake water, I choose to float around on a tube until I get up the nerve to jump in. After about an hour of procrastination, I hold my breath and leap off the tube thing into the water. Things are going fine until I find myself in the middle of a whole bunch of lily pads. Sooooooo gross, almost as bad as touching fish, so I screamed as loud as possible, while slowly and pathetically doggy paddling to the dock. I finish my tea and Jen and Ken start playing board games on the shore.
I don't really feel like moving a whole lot, since it IS a holiday, and everything. We really didn't accomplish anything at all, until lunchtime. Ken went to go see if anybody was waiting at the marina, but no one was. When he came back, he cooked souvlaki and Jen made some vegetables. Me, I just cleared the table. Now, I'm just trying not to feel like a mooch. After lunch, we play some cards and take some videos. I fail to remember exactly how to play dominoes OR Old Maid, but we still play anyway.
Later, I break out the 70s and 80s-era "Cottage Life" and "Gourmet" magazines I find in the sunroom. It's hilarious going through the old ads for cigarettes and liquor. Like this ad for some sort of jewelry "Honey, I just hired a new tax attorney" That entertains us for a while, and then Ken makes up some hamburgers and we sit around waiting for the sun to go down. I play with Ken's Nintendo DS and Jen and Ken read books.
Soon, we see some fireworks go off across the lake, so Ken starts setting off his. So we have a little show, and we take turns setting off our fireworks from across the lake. Then another cottage on the other side starts setting off theirs. It's just so typical and awesome, as you can imagine. There are SO many mosquitoes, that after our fireworks are done, we go inside to watch the rest.
I have to get up really early the next morning, so we don't stay up quite as late as we did last night.
Cute note to Ken, love Mom
