It is 1:33AM now, and everyone else in the little cottage is asleep, but let me start telling this story from the beginning…
It was a few three days ago when my friends Alex and Justine came up to me and asked me if I am interested to join them and our friend Patrick to his parent’s cottage up close to Lake Simcoe. Of course I agreed and now I find myself here in a tiny room, between a dusty old wooden table (real wood not that fake stuff either) and a bunk bed, in a little cottage filled with quite some neat antique things belonging to Patrick’s parents.
I was really glad when I heard that they had internet there. I figured out that the Bell dial-up modem was not just a phone-connection modem but a router as well and had wireless too. So I logged into it using the network cable and disabled the standard password and now Patrick can enjoy wireless around the cottage as well. Yee Haw! haha
I can’t wait for the things we will be doing in the next few days! I shall document it all for your reading and viewing pleasure.
For those curious, here is a preview from the first day!
Patrick’s cottage. Left: Alex, Right: Justine
An antique foto camera that they had laying around on the fireplace
It’s getting a little cold in the room now, I think I’ll head into my sleeping bag. Good night!
Come again for more!
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Day 2:
Today was quite an eventful day. We spent most of the day outdoors, either on the water in a canoe, or in the water, trying to tip the canoe over and stand on it. It is pretty late now, 3:00AM, but as I am a dedicated blogger and know how dedicated my readers are, I will not leave you without an update tonight.
The day started with a canoe trip up-river. After enjoying a lovely scrambled eggs and bacon breakfast along with a strong Greek style coffee, Patrick took us to the shed where they keep their boats and showed us his canoe. Him and the others found it funny to wrap me up in numerous life jackets, claiming that it is necesary. It took me a while but eventually I got the 5 vests off of me and we went off canoeing.
Patrick took up up-river where we encountered numerous lillipads, as well as some tree trunks that were conveniently leaning over the water in our way. Of course I had my camera with, so you can expect some extensive coverage following soon.
Upon our return we took the canoe out on the lake to swim. The life jacket came in handy here since thanks to it I didn’t have to do much effort to stay afloat. We played this game where we repeatedly attempted to sink the canoe, which would always return to the surface, and then stand on it. It was fun, but the very best part was most certainly the evening. We played cards and ended up in a long and complex spiritual conversation debating the purpose of being and the search for the divine. We did not all agree on everything, but most certainly we did agree on how elementarily wonderful it is to be in the middle of nature and enjoying simple things like a good food, a comfortable chair and staring at a fire while talking to good friends.
It then occured to me how often times I tend to get caught up in an ever-lasting search for one thing or another that would make my experience of existence a little more complete than it already is. It is hard to explain, but mainly what I mean to say is that I often concentrate on a possible future at the expense of the enjoyment of the moment. Today I enjoyed the moment and it was …well, quite enjoyable.
Alex, Patrick and Justine lifting the canoe over dry land
Probably used to be somebody’s dock at one point in time
Justine in the canoe. Thanks for smiling!
Come again for more!
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Day 3:
On the third day we went hiking. The trails in that area are amazing. There are quite some quarries there to be visited and there are some lookout points as well on top of what we here in Ontario call hills (although we did not get around to doing any of that). We did however take a lovely walk through the woods until, defeated by the wild determined mosquitoes, we turned back to the safety of the cottage.
Afterwards, in spite of the sudden drop in temperature, Justine insisted on being placed in a tube, which would then be pulled by Patrick’s seadoo across the wavy water. Crazy, if you ask me. So, most certainly not intending to join her in such insane endeavour, I put on a regular pair of pants, my long sleeved shirt and of course a life jacket and sat behind Patrick on the seadoo enjoying the ride. That was my plan anyway. As Alex joined us on the seadoo, however, things changed for us, along with the change in weight. We all experienced what it is like to tip one of those lovely sea motor-bikes (as I like to call them). Once emerged in the water I gave up my initial plan and went for a ride with the tube myself, before heading back indoors and having a very very hot shower to attempt to defeat the hypothermia that at least I was thinking was creeping up on me. Good times!
At the end of the third day it started to rain. A lot. My shirt and pants were still outside, in an attempt to dry them, an attempt now obviously failing.
Day 4:
The fourth day was also defined by rain. Lots and lots of water kept falling from the sky while we were sitting on Patrick’s comfortable couches in the living room enjoying the oversized fireplace and a card game of “President”.
The day ended on a great note. Alex and Justine, having made themselves comfortable on the couch, fell asleep to my MP3 player playing classical music, while Patrick and I sat on the armchairs discussing the emotional significance of various musical chords.
I felt blessed. As I was sitting and staring at the flames that kept me from feeling cold I felt hit by an epiphany. I was remembering less positive times of my life when I craved to have good friends and I realized that now I was blessed with them. In short, without going much into detail about my life, I was happy with what I had as opposed to thinking of how happy I would be once I had the things I still longed for. Most importantly though, just like the fire flames in the fireplace, that provided me with the warmth that kept me from feeling cold, I now saw the divine providence that put these people around me. Thank you God.
Day 5:
As every going-back-day this is the bitter-sweet part of the trip, when at best, you can look forward to coming back someday. Justine felt artistically inspired and turned my hair into a masterpiece with Alex’s hair gel.
I enjoyed a lovely greek style coffee. We dropped off our garbage at the local landfill and off we were on our way back home. Since the freeway was very busy we decided to take local roads back. Oh boy! We eventually managed to find out way, but let’s just say it was an adventure. I got some nice shots of the Ontario countryside though.
A great THANK YOU goes out to Patrick, Alex and Justine! Thanks for taking me along on this great retreat! I had tons of fun with you and hope we do this again as soon as possible!
