Vacation

Sometimes you just need to get away from your life. I'm not sure if it's work that gets routine or daily life, but it's replenishing for your spirit to take off and go some place new.

That's what I did this past Fourth of July weekend. Some friends invited David and me to their "cottage" in Winnipeg, Canada. It's such a beautiful place and a different experience that you find in Florida. In Florida, some lucky people have their beach condos where they go every weekend minus a few weeks in the winter. In Winnipeg, some people have their cottages on the lake where they go for a short time during the summer on the weekends because their winters are so brutal. During the winter their lake actually freezes over. Most of the housewives get to stay the entire summer with their kids while their husbands commute in on the weekends. If the wife works then the whole family commutes each weekend.

The neatest thing about most of the islands on the lake is you have to take a boat to get to the cottage. The one I visit isn't accessible by land. There are few that are. There's nothing more strange then loading luggage onto a boat to get to your destination or driving in to the local grocery store and tying the boat up on the dock before going inside. Definitely a different world.

Just this past Friday we were on our way to Canada. We were going to be there for Canada day-- so I had to prepare myself for a night of drinking. The 7 hour flight and 2 1/2 hour drive into Kenora to get to Lake of the Woods wasn't too bad. We arrived around noon.

David and I planned to relax, fish and pan for gold with our friends' children. A nearby island used to be a gold mining place. For such a prissy type of girl, I never realized how relaxing it is to fish. I really enjoy the peacefulness of it. And, there is nothing more exciting then catching your own fish and being able to cook it up for lunch. I'm still working on baiting my line and touching a fish to remove the hook before throwing it back. David brought me gloves this year, but we kept forgetting to put them on the boat. I felt bad to make David bait my jig so often. I'm sure that got annoying.

Our friends' cabin is in a small cove where usually there's good fishing. The only problem is the logs sitting at the bottom of the lake. It used to be an old logging community so there are a ton underneath, but the fishing hooks get snagged on them constantly. I got frustrated after my seventh snag. It's not bad if you can get unstuck, but poor David had to keep rescuing my line. And, each time I lost my minnow and sometimes a jig. How annoying.

Going to Winnipeg is one of the most relaxing destinations. I find that I'm too far away to worry about home. There's nothing I can do if there is a problem so it's best to just enjoy where I am.

With all the hustle and bustle of every day life and responsibility staying in the moment can be difficult, but not in Winnipeg. Your only responsibility is sitting out on the deck overlooking the lake as the fresh air blowing through your hair.