Minnie’s Musings

Well, small lake just south of the Algonquin National Park.

There is nothing quite like the relief and joy of seeing relatives, and more importantly their car, when you have pushed your case through arrivals and emerge onto the sidewalk in pursuit of transport.

After negotiating the random pick up/drop off/short stay/long stay/you-will-get-ticketed-if-you-stop-for-more-than-five-seconds irregularities of this variation on a theme of international airport fleecing, hugs and kisses were exchanged and then started the prolonged process of pack-two-large-adults-one-large-suitcase (not overweight)as well as carry-on bags into a car that already has suitcase, holdall, ice box, groceries etc in the boot and the dog’s bed on the back seat.

We headed off up t’North, away from the metropolis towards the lakes and wide open spaces of rural Ontario where I had found a lakeside cottage (neither the red brick and flint two up two down with slate roof and chimney pots or white washed tubby abode with mullioned windows and thatched roof we call cottages on this side of the Pond, but rather the solid timber framed sort that sit among the trees on rocky shores that we are familiar with from Murder She Wrote).

Staying at ‘The Lake’ is a common vacation in North America. They have lots of lakes to stay by. Those not protected by national park or nature reserve status are lined with cottages in large plots almost all of which have little docks to which kayaks and rowing boats are attached. Some also have mini swimming pools and/or hot tubs. Though why you need either of those when you have clear, fresh water to bathe in, is beyond me.

These are ‘do nothing but relax’ vacations where all you need to do is sit back with your book and sip a cool soda chilled by the enormous fridge and forget that you didn’t pack your sleep mask. Energy need only be expended during the evening ritual of slapping at mosquitoes, who clearly find oestrogen filled women way more tasty than the bland testosterone of men.

We dropped off to the sound of cicadas humming the night away.