A Quick Trip in Time

Photos from Pigeon Lake August, 2005

Uncle Jack and Baby Anna

Brandon, Ben and JJ look at the fish

Ben
Mom, Aunt Marge and a bemused Uncle Jack

We are planning a quick trip to Aunt Marge and Uncle Jack's cottage on Pigeon Lake this weekend. Though I wish we had more time to spend, John's imminent job change and fee day at St. Anastasia will keep us to just one night.

Time seems to nearly stand still at Pigeon Lake. We vacationed at the cottage, owned by my Mom's best friend from college, as kids, yet aside from some exterior upgrades, the cottage is the same. The upstairs has four queen sized beds that are separated by clothes line and curtains into sleeping areas. The paneling, photographs and even the carpet sweeper that dutifully removes sand from the rug is exactly as I remember as a child.

The players have changed- Aunt Marge, Uncle Jack and Mom are in their eighties and no longer as mobile. Time has mellowed them all. My Dad is gone and another John baits hooks and watches kids in the lake. The kids who used to play in the lake Doug, Ed, Joe, BJ, Amy, Peggy and myself are middle aged. The role of the kids on this trip will be played by the next generation: Brandon, JJ, Ben and Anna. Amy and I have transformed from kids to the Mom's who cook, clean and hang beach towels to dry on the line. Life was less complicated when the two of us would play and dig corrals for the freshwater clams.

The photos are fun to look at but make me a bit sad. The interceding years have not been kind to Uncle Jack- he has lost most of his vision and now has to rely on a walker for stability. In 2005 my boys followed him around like baby ducks as he did chores at the cottage.