We have been back for several days now, but it's already too long since we left the peaceful tranquility of our Canadian retreat. If I could describe in words the experience that our time there allows us I certainly would, but I can't. Instead, I'll try to paint a brief collage in your mind with some of our week's highlights.
We spent our time there with most of Monica's family, sans her oldest brother and his wife and baby, and her sister who is doing missionary work in Spain. Being in Canada and on a huge lake full of bays and islands and aquatic life we were able to spend lots of good time fishing and enjoying the scenery by boat. The views from the lake are nothing less than postcard-perfect, and the only detractor in the whole wildlife scene are the mosquitoes and deer flies, and even they couldn't make a dent in our time.
Monica's uncle built this cabin about 40 years ago and over time he and his wife have been less able to give it the proper attention, so they sold it to their daughter and her husband. Now, this cabin is more than just a getaway cottage, it's a history of blood, sweat, and tears poured out by the extended family over fun and faith filled summers into a place where vacation meets retreat and daily life is transcended and spirits are renewed.
I need to take a moment to crow a bit about my fishing prowess, since I know that few people will read this and so my head won't get big enough to explode. Until last week I figured that when I did well on a fishing expedition it was because the fish were biting, the weather was right, or whatever. Not anymore. I'm a fish magnet, and there's no doubt about it. I caught the biggest pike ever landed at Hylatoma cabin, and that's no joke. But it didn't stop there. I then proceeded to catch another record-breaking pike, and a big bass, and a big rock bass, and a couple decent perch, and countless smaller fish that seemed magnetized to my every lure. Now, this particular list isn't that fascinating until you consider that the other 4-5 guys fishing were catching little or nothing. Like my brother-in-law said "sometimes a guy's just got the touch. I could throw in the same lure at the same place and reel the exact same way, but you would catch them and I wouldn't." Halfway through the week even my sisters-in-law were telling me to leave some for the other guys. Ahhh, fishing.
OK, I'm done now. But let it suffice to say that it was a wonderful week and we had a great, family-centered time.
We spent our time there with most of Monica's family, sans her oldest brother and his wife and baby, and her sister who is doing missionary work in Spain. Being in Canada and on a huge lake full of bays and islands and aquatic life we were able to spend lots of good time fishing and enjoying the scenery by boat. The views from the lake are nothing less than postcard-perfect, and the only detractor in the whole wildlife scene are the mosquitoes and deer flies, and even they couldn't make a dent in our time.
Monica's uncle built this cabin about 40 years ago and over time he and his wife have been less able to give it the proper attention, so they sold it to their daughter and her husband. Now, this cabin is more than just a getaway cottage, it's a history of blood, sweat, and tears poured out by the extended family over fun and faith filled summers into a place where vacation meets retreat and daily life is transcended and spirits are renewed.
I need to take a moment to crow a bit about my fishing prowess, since I know that few people will read this and so my head won't get big enough to explode. Until last week I figured that when I did well on a fishing expedition it was because the fish were biting, the weather was right, or whatever. Not anymore. I'm a fish magnet, and there's no doubt about it. I caught the biggest pike ever landed at Hylatoma cabin, and that's no joke. But it didn't stop there. I then proceeded to catch another record-breaking pike, and a big bass, and a big rock bass, and a couple decent perch, and countless smaller fish that seemed magnetized to my every lure. Now, this particular list isn't that fascinating until you consider that the other 4-5 guys fishing were catching little or nothing. Like my brother-in-law said "sometimes a guy's just got the touch. I could throw in the same lure at the same place and reel the exact same way, but you would catch them and I wouldn't." Halfway through the week even my sisters-in-law were telling me to leave some for the other guys. Ahhh, fishing.
OK, I'm done now. But let it suffice to say that it was a wonderful week and we had a great, family-centered time.
