Weekend at the Cottage

So what's the fascination with spending time at a cottage?
It's amazing how many people are driving up the 400 on any summer weekend. All of them going to some destination that is far from the city so they can get away from the day to day routine and relax, unwind, recharge.

Let me take you through my weekend at the cottage.

The weekend actually starts early. Many people leave a bit early from work in order to get home and do some packing. For those that have their own cottage this is not a big deal as you probably have your trackpants from high school waiting for you up there. For the rest of us it involves some strategic Weather Network viewing in order to know if you need to bring both long and short pants and how thick a sweater you may need for the night time. Luckily for me Silvana has been a cottage goer for decades so I'm able to get away with just packing a few last minute things I want to bring like the camera and camcorder to make sure I capture us relaxing, unwinding and recharging.

The van is packed and we are ready to go by 8p.m. All I have to do is set up the portable DVD player in the van so the kids are occupied for what is usually just over an hour drive. I'm anticipating it will be longer and hope they will fall asleep on the way up so we can just put them to bed and start our relaxing, unwinding and recharging. Surprisingly the drive up is quite good. Only a few slow downs near the onions at Canal Road and once again as we get into Barrie. At this time of the year Silvana watches out for roadkill and hits the internal air button about 10 times to avoid the inside of the van smelling like skunk. Two or three of those times are false alarms as it's a lone shoe on the highway. How they get there is still a mystery that I will write about another time. The kids are watching out for the water towers along the way as they are the signs that we are getting closer.

We arrive at Allenwood beach around 9:30. The kids are still up and the Princess Diaries is just over. I think I've said Golly Wolly with a British accent over 30 times and the kids laughed each time. I've got at least 7 trips back and forth to get all the stuff into the cottage. Carrying the stuff is fine but doing it in the dark so that no mosquitoes get in the van or the cottage is a challenge. After about the 5th trip I am able to "use the force" to avoid the rocks, lawn furniture and about 300 old sandals that have been scattered on the porch.

This is the point where my organizational skills come into full swing. Together with Silvana we are able to put all the stuff away where it belongs in about 10 minutes. This includes time to get the kids to the washroom and brush their. Given we are only up for a couple of nights there is no use putting our clothes in the closet or drawers so we leave the bag at the foot of the bed to save time. The room is about the size of my PWA (Personal Work Area) at work so the bag takes up what little area there is to walk around the bed. The kids will be sleeping on one of those couches that unfolds into a bed. Sort of like a futon. I think they are referred to as a Divan. They've already turned the TV on and found Treehouse is on channel 58 in cottage country not 65. I quickly turn it off and get inbetween them to stop the footsy fights. Brian falls asleep in the middle of asking me a question. It's 10:45 and Angela is fading fast. By 11:00 they are both out and I can feel the relaxing, unwinding and recharging is just around the corner.

I quickly head back to our room in the hopes that my Mother in Law will not come and tell me what is planned in terms of cottage maintenance for the next few days. From what I can hear she is already asleep. Her room is right next to ours but the snoring is light. As I trip over the bag at the foot of the bed and go head first towards the window my thoughts turn to towards how much time I really saved by putting the bag there. The landing was soft and I thought I might just stay there for the night but it didn't take much to roll onto the bed. 11:15 and I'll be asleep in no time when I hear the distant rumble of a freight train. Funny thing is the nearest tracks are about 20 kms away. I lift my head an turn it like the RCA Victor dog to try and figure out where the sound is coming from and then it hits me. The fridge. A lovely powder blue General Electric from the 50's with the handle that pulls downward at the front and a freezer compartment that will fit 1 tray of ice and about 10 freezies is trying to keep the new items we shoved into it cool and is having a hard time. The sound will go on for about 3 hours and just as you are about to get into a deep sleep it gives off a flutter as if it is shivering from the cold inside. Oh well, the relaxing, unwinding and recharging can start tomorrow at the beach.

I forgot to put my watch on the milk crate / night table beside my bed but from my internal clock and the light shining in the window I can tell it's close to 7 o'clock. The kids will probably be up any second now so I should get up and get some stuff ready for them. Before I can they are both in the bed with us and asking for breakfast. Cookies fill in the gap for the time it takes the toaster to get the toast brown enough to be able to put some margarine on it. About three pushes later they've had their fill and I'm left eating 6 pieces of toast. The thimble of milk that was left in what looks like a half litre carton ( I didn't know they made them that size) of milk was used for somenes coffee so I am left to drink some grape juice that thicker than molasses.

While the kids are watching a bit of TV I notice a local newspapers on the front porch and given I don't usually get a chance to read a physical copy of the paper I thought I'd go an pick it up. It's just out of arms reach and the weather is a bit chilly so I have to step out to get it. It seems as if the sandal fairy came over night because there are none left on the porch this morning.

Off to the beach at around 11 a.m. and the temperature is still around 18C. I'd swear there is a wind chill factor. Angela's friend that moved the other year is renting one of my Mother in Laws cottages so the kids are occupied and having fun. Brians lips are blue within 5 minutes and we both get under a blanket to try keep warm. Angela is oblivious to the cold and spends most of her time in the water. Although I'm on guard around the water (yes the non swimming guy is on guard but the water is only knee high for about a half a km out) it's a joy to see them playing and having fun. I video tape some of it so I can remember the day.

There is alot that happens between lunch and dinner including a run to the grocery store that was all but empty but the details aren't that exciting. Why is it they can't get their inventory ironed out. They know there is an influx of people on the weekends. Needless to say not much of it is resting, unwinding or recharging.

By dinner I could do with a shower but am dreading stepping into the shower given the small hot water tank only lasts about 2 minutes and the water pressure that is a dribble at the best of times. I am relieved to find that the cottage is off the well and running on a public water system. The pressure is great but the hot water runs out even faster. Now my lips are blue and so are some other parts of my body, not because of the cold but because I've hit my elbows on the ceiling at least 5 times trying to rinse what little hair I have left on my head.

Our second day involves alot of planning of maintenance as well as some small maintenance tasks. It seems the cottage is a dumping ground for stuff we don't need. Old couches that smell like the roadkill we passed the other day, a VCR that is older than I am, pop bottles from the Pop Shoppe, pipes, wires, nails, wood, bikes. All strategically placed under the cottage for use sometime in the future. You never know when you might need that old banana seat bike for your retro 70's party. The task of organizing or throwing the stuff out is overwhelming so it just sits there waiting to be used. I have come across some nice finds over the years but it doesn't happen that often.

Once again the kids are having a dandy time. Talking to people even though they usually don't talk to anyone but us. Eating things they wouldn't normally eat. Trying things they wouldn't normally try both physically and mentally. The weather has warmed up so the beach is much more comfortable. We are able to play monkey in the middle with a frisbee in the water and get a few other kids to play along with us. The water is quite warm and there are areas where little sand bars have formed allowing for some interesting play.

The plan is to leave by 4 to avoid the traffic even though we know there is no such time. Somehow it takes 10 trips to pack the van on the way back yet we don't have more stuff. We stop of at Timmy's in Elmvale to pick up some snacks for the drive home. You'd think people had never seen a donut before. Brian and I have a bet on how long it will take the girls to get back to the van. 8 minutes was Brians winning guess and not that bad given the line up was about 30 people deep with 10 cars in the drive through. We finish our donuts and coffee before we even get to the 400 and are ready for the long haul. Once again the drive home was quite light with the usual slow downs in the usual places.

It was our first trip to the cottage since we got the new house and it was nice to drive the van into the garage, it made the unloading quite easy. Now all that is left is to make a quick snack for dinner, get lunch ready for work tomorrow and check up on some e-mail. I'll be ready for sleep by 11 for sure and I can start dreaming about how relaxing, unwinding and recharging the next trip to the cottage will be.

There is plenty more I could write about this one weekend, all the tasks that Silvana had to do like the laundry till 10 p.m when we got home, the extra cooking on nonstick pans that are not so nonstick anymore, the beach sand that sticks to places it shouldn't and the methods to get it out, how hard the Divan is and what it does to a healthy back or the mental anguish of certain repetitive or redundant conversations but some stuff I'll have to hold back on as it could cause some problems.

So I've come to some conclusions. This weekend is not for Silvana or I to relax, unwind or recharge but it's for Angela and Brian to play, grow, learn about life and how to interact with others which doesn't happen as much at home as it does when you are away from the routine. The two days at the cottage gives them more independence and freedom than we give them at home and they eat it up along with a second helping of food. I wouldn't say that seeing them enjoy themselves is enough to make me like cottage life but I can see why some folks may see the routine of the cottage as easier than the routine of their regular lives. Breaking the routine is good for everyone both young and old. It is those times that we break the routine that we remember the most. But if going to the cottage becomes a part of your routine you have to do something else to break that routine as well or you aren't getting the benefit you think you are. It won't be long before the kids won't want to go to the cottage as I can see from my teenaged nieces and nephews so we will try to break up the regular routine with some cottage break aways as well as other activities and maybe throw some routine breaking into the week which is hard for me as I like the routine.

If you have a cottage or frequent one let me know what you think and where I can fix things so that I can get some of that relaxing, unwinding and recharging that everyone says goes with cottage life.