On Monday I did what many people in this part of the country did on the holiday weekend. I went to a cottage. It was to visit my niece and her family. It took me, as many such visits do, down a rambling, narrow, gravel road. The road was arched with the tree cover and each side was dense with forest. It was only about 4 kilometers of travel but the going was slow due to the bends and curves in the road and having to pull off into the bushes whenever I met an oncoming car so that we could pass each other.
There is something about a cottage road and driving deep into a forest that makes me feel, well, so Canadian! It is the coolness of the woods, the deep greens and browns in the tangle of shrubs and trees combined with the crack of twigs as unknown animals move about under cover. There is a delicious, engaging mystery to forests. It is no wonder fairy tales about the deep, dark woods are so enticing to adults and children alike.
My mind always drifts to questions like … Who made this road in the first place? How did they decide to carve this trail here? How did early travelers cope with the density of underbrush and the persistent annoyance of mosquitoes and deer flies? But I also marvel at the diversity and the awesomeness of creation. So many shapes of leaves, such varied dimension of trees, such wonderful play of light and shadow, all in all, a delight to the senses.
The other charm of a cottage road is just when you think you are lost, have gone too far, or have made a wrong turn, there you are, a sparkling lake stretching before you and a cold beverage thrust into your hand (and with any luck a bowl of potato chips near by)! Then the visiting begins, the stories get told and retold, the jokes get shared and the Canadian summer pastime of sitting by a lake is upon you.
There is very little in this world as restorative as traveling down a cottage road and letting your worries unwind and your anticipation build for … the plunge into the lake … the card games at the table … the sticky sweet taste of s’mores. Summer in Canada – the best two months of the year.
