Yes, it’s that time of year again, the season when I jabber incessantly about the lake… suck it Trebek, it makes me happy.  

May long was our first full weekend at the harbour (May Long is also a good Chinese name) and my friend Jack came out to spend the three days with us.  Jack and her husband are in the midst of separating so she appreciates the time away from him and the city almost as much as we enjoy having her hang with us.  Even Trixie’s kids get excited to see Jack, they make her signs welcoming her and they love to get things prepped for her arrival, they even put a mint on her pillow… although it would not surprise me in the least if they licked the chocolate off it first.  My husband enjoys Jack’s visits almost as much as I do, she’s probably as close to a sister as either of us has ever had.  In fact he was the one who gave her her manly monicker over twenty years ago.  Everyone loves Jack, everyone looks forward to Jack.  I lamented that just once I’d love to have anyone be as happy to see me as we all are to see Jack.  If I didn’t love her so much I’d be bitter.

The weather was as decent as May weather can be in the Canadian Rockies, which means we got stripped down to two layers of clothing during the day but needed full winter gear at night.  Getting out of that bus cannot come too soon for me.  Two mornings we woke to sub zero temperatures, I felt like I slept with my shoulders wrapped around my ears trying to turtle into myself to keep my head warm… and that was with my toque on!

It was however fairly warm and we were busy enough on Sunday that we both got a little sweaty… and one of us was stinky but I won’t say who. I insisted that he at least have a whore’s bath or a PTA (pits, tits and arsehole) wash or he could sleep outside.  I suggested he go shower at Trixie’s but he decided he’d rather bathe in the lake.  “Alright.” I cringed.  “If you can hack it, I can too.”  

The water was 42F which is 5C… that is precisely FIVE degrees from frozen.  That’s the kind of temperature that’ll stop your heart instantly if you just jump into it… and it could very well freeze you like cryogenics if you hung out in it too long.  We eased in.  It wasn’t too bad to the knees, the thighs were chillier, the crotch was numb in seconds.  Ken’s boys retreated and we haven’t seen them since.  For me it’s the pits and tits that are the toughest to dip.  Those are some sensitive bits and they don’t fancy the cold.  I plunged neck deep and tore out of the water, I soaped quickly and splashed more than rinsed to take the froth off of me.  My husband submerged and washed his hair, apparently he has bigger balls than I do… at least he used to before they ran away.

We’re hardcore.

Other lake tidbits…

One rainy evening the adults gathered in Trixie’s trailer for a movie… apparently they don’t know that there are no TV’s (and satellite dishes!) in camping.  I didn’t bitch, i was busy soaking up the indoor heat.  We decided to watch Mamma Mia even though we had all seen it before.  We set the DVD to show the lyrics to the songs and His Highness ‘sang’ along.  We were more entertained by him than we were by the flick and our faces and bellies hurt from laughing as he droned in monotone through every ABBA tune.  I wish I had videotaped him.  People wonder how our marriage has lasted so long, it’s because the dude makes me laugh.  He is not afraid to have fun and make a fool of himself and I love that he dances (almost as badly as he sings) to his own beat.

Ten year old John is a hot dog freak.  He would eat them three meals a day if his parents would allow it.  He had eaten at least six throughout the day on Saturday and sure enough he arrived at our campfire with two more (of the kind that are joined together at the end) for a bedtime snack.  “John, you are not having more hot dogs!?” his mother begged.  “Nah,” he said swinging them around, “these are just nunchucks.”

Nana has no more cheese on her cracker so she won’t ever be going to the lake again, at this point the poor thing doesn’t know if she’s Arthur or Martha.  Last year when we cleaned out her place I found a box of seeds, some in packages and some she had saved so I kept them.  On the weekend I drove up the road a bit to a rock pit and I hauled a bunch of rock down to the island.  I found a sunny spot, cleared it and made a weed barrier out of newspaper and set about circling the rocks for the garden.  When I was done it looked like a fire pit.  Fuck.  I disassembled the entire thing and started over with more of a rectangular shape this time.  Now it looks like a grave but I’m not taking it apart again.  I hauled buckets of sand and mixed some dirt and planted the seeds.  It is my Nana Garden but I am sure that due to the shape people will think it’s her final resting place.

In cabin news, we are hoping to finish the loft this weekend.  I found maple laminate flooring for 97 cents/sq ft which is a screaming deal.  I bought enough to do the whole place for just over 300$.  My husband traded his cabinetry services (at least he said it was cabinetry services) with a local guy who does tongue and groove panelling (oh there has to be a tongue and groove/service trading joke in there somewhere) that we’ll put on the ceiling.  I have already painted the upstairs so with a little luck we’ll be able to sleep in there soon.  Yay!!

And speaking of the cabin, here it is.  This photo was taken last fall which explains all the crap on the deck.  Our bedroom is in the top part and the main floor has a bathroom and a kitchen/eating/living area.  It’s no mansion, not even a cottage by most standards but it’s cute, cozy and plenty of room for the two of us.

476 square feet of happiness