Summer Cottages

As we are deep into the summer season of cottages I reflect on our times at our family cottage in southern Ontario ... in a small community call Invercairn Beach. As kids we spent many summer weeks hanging out on the beach, eating peanut butter and jam sandwiches and getting far too much sun ... it is never good when your sheets hurt your skin.

As an adult going to the cottage is a treat, in part because of the fun/relaxation, but also because of the childhood memories. So bringing spouses to the cottage is interesting because sometimes their lens is not the same as ours...

I remember Mike's visits to Invercairn - Sarah and Mike always seemed to have the unfortunate luck of extreme temperatures. While I know Dennis always says "the sun always shines at the cottage", I am not quite sure if Mike would feel the same. I recall Sarah and Mike's visits during extreme heat waves (40+ humidity!!) (note baby Emily melting in Mike's arms) one year and and unseasonably cold and rainy weather the next year (note Lucas in his rain coat)

You also have to know this cottage can be a tad musty, has four legged visitors (aka - big hairy dogs) both of which were not a good combinations for Mike's allergies.

But Sarah and Mike always came down to Invercairn. For Mike it was not necessarily for the love of the cottage, but the love of family and the tradition of gathering together in the summer. And although many cottages have their warts, they are a place to enjoy family and build childhood memories.

Sarah and the kids are heading to Invercairn in the next few weeks and I know Mike will be with them and with all of us.