Ode Cottage Neighborhood – What’s going on??

 

Before I start with the now, - please bear with me while I regress into my childhood and walk with me and my dog in what seems a long time ago.

While I was going-up, part time in “Cottage Country”; we were part of a cottage neighborhood.  The neighborhood spanned about 6 miles.  Each cottage making up about ¼ acre along the way.  Everyone in the neighborhood came from various walks of life: My Dad – Accountant and business owner, Uncle Ron and Aunty Merle – Shoe supply Salespeople and business owners, my grandpa – Retired Principle at a fairly large school, Uncle Freddie, Manager at ACME Cribbage boards, and the list goes on.  I can still recollect all and every one.  I say this in reference as in the city: where I spent most of my childhood, I can only recollect a few of my neighbors and their children.  Most definitely not a 6-mile stretch.  All were my uncles and aunts, some were by birth, many by honorary.

Moving forward, there was a simple reason why I can recollect the cottage neighborhood.    We were active in each other’s lives.  We would walk and talk and visit everyone along the route.  It would take all day, but it was always worth the time.  Merle and Ron taught all the kids in the bay how to waterski.  As Merle was a great water-skier and summered at the Ontario CNE Water Show.   Just like every Cottage Neighborhood there are more stories and bios that all knew and talked about all the time.  To this day we still reminisce.

Now every time we went to the cottage, we had to pass through 3 properties to get there.  It was a shared road path as was the path to and from each property in the cottage neighborhood.  We didn’t have any “no trespassing” signs, no fences, and when someone wondered that we did not know, it was an introduction as apposed to a “you must/better be lost” kind of vibe.  Very successful movies have been made portraying the “cottage life”, as well as magazines, books, articles.

On my walk today, I sorely thought those days were over.  On the regular path, I saw a few “no trespassing signs”.  In that spirit the person who put those signs up had to trespass through 15 properties, owner by others, to get to where they posted their signs.  A little further down on the road, I saw a “Bob’s Parking Spot”.  I thought, Bob, you must think you are a big dog…peeing every where you go.  “This is mine, this is mine, oh and this is definitely mine.”

Then further down the road, there was a light.  There was someone I did not recognize coming up a branch in the main road.  He had his 2 beautiful dogs with him.  Yes, all 3 covered in mud as per the times.  They saw me and mine and started excited barking.  Quickly he leashed his dogs as we were about 150” from each other.  We blurted out to each other a friendly hello and asked one another if the dogs were friendly.  Soon we both unleashed our dogs and started walking along.  The dogs doing their normal feel each other out and the 2 of us, I guess, doing the same.  As the walk progressed, so did we and our friendship.  At each step the mood was the nostalgic of when our family met “newcomers” along the walk path.  We talked about what we like to do, the history of our dogs, etc.  After about ¼ mile we parted ways, he back to his cottage, and me further on to my cottage.

A thought on the way occurred to me that there will always be some that simply just don’t get it.  And like a heard mentality they will be left from those who seek the “true cottage life’.  I do hope there are still the majority of cottagers who believe the old persona I grew to love.  I hope that people of similar thought stay the majority and hold the course.

 

Well, the day is calling, and time to finish my chores.  Until next time…..