At my brother's farm we went on a long walk to look at a deer carcass. A coyote had taken down the former deer earlier in the week and its remains were lying out in a far field. After walking through a rain sodden laneway and a couple of fields later we stumbled on a scapula - (shoulder blade) and a leg and hoof of the deer. There were piles of fur strewn in several places but no massive remains. Tucked under a bush lay the spine of the deer. We all stared at it amazed that it didn’t take long for the body to be reduced to a few bones. In the background Codie, my brother’s Border Collie was happily chewing on his own piece of deer bone left over from the coyotes’ feast.
Now on to the opening of the cottage.
On the drive up there was a magical moment when it hit me that yes; I was on my way to the cottage. I was flooded with joy and burst into smile as we passed the familiar landmarks. When we arrived there wasn’t any major catastrophes, no break- ins, no trees down and we still had the roof. What we did have was an army of mosquitoes. Bitey, whiney, in your face and buzzing in your ear mosquitoes. Everything had to be done with speed and precision and very economical moves so to lessen our exposure to the blood-sucking vampires of the north. First thing I had to do was to visit the outhouse, long ride and plenty of ice tea. I ran as fast as I could, trying to be thoughtful that if I hurried by the time my Dad made it up the path I would be done. Flinging open the door, dropping my drawers, flipping the lid up … what was supposed to be a very relieving moment turned into a scream fest. In the bucket of peat (used to quell the odors of the outhouse) there was a female Deermouse with little mousies hanging on her teats scurrying around the bucket, one little mouse then jumps out of the bucket flies by my feet and hides behind the toilet. Immediately I finish and run out and down the path.
Later that evening I again had another mouse encounter. Details omitted, suffice to say that I found the mouse behind the toilet again. After that I wandered down to the lake because I spotted something odd. I saw a really bright light in the sky that was brighter than any star I’ve ever seen. I called my Dad to show him and between the both of us we figured out that it was the star Arcturus, part of the constellation Bootes.
On Saturday it was sunny and warm, the sky was filled with Dragonflies and on Sunday it was filled with mosquitoes and rain.
There are many little stories, Lincoln warding off the bugs by sitting in the lake, cleaning frenzy, cool fireplace evenings, waking up in a fright thinking it was 11:30 a.m. when it was really 8:00 a.m., tying the boat down because of high waves, watching the first Humming bird and many more special moments.
What a wonderful start to the cottage season.
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