Hands up everyone who had a vacation cabin on a lake!
Anyone? When I was a kid it was no big deal for a family to have a cabin on Christina Lake. (Yes, I was one of the luckiest kids on earth. I still am.)
Our handy-man Dad built two cabins, an a-frame, then we sold that and he built one with a flat roof. They were built on land leased from the government, on the west side of the lake — that is, the side with no road. Every board, every nail, the wood stove and every stick of furniture had to be loaded onto the boat or made into a raft that could be towed. A lot of the materials were salvaged from shacks that the railway was tearing down. We spent every weekend away from the heat of our BC interior house, in the beautiful cool woods and warm water of Christina Lake.
Those cabins have been passed on to other families to enjoy, and I hope they love the memories of those halcyon days as much as I do. But I’ve always thought a cabin retreat, far from one’s daily life, is a wonderful thing. It doesn’t have to be large, and the less fuss required to keep it up the better. Just something the whole family can enjoy.
Four Texas families had the same idea, and built their vacation homes close together.
The woods are a little sparser than those of my childhood, and the river is nothing like that beautiful pristine lake. But they have the rustic charm I remember (although we did without electricity. And running water.)
And they are small. To me, a real get-away does not include extensive housekeeping. A quick sweep-out, an occasional dusting. Cabins are for relaxing.
The Lady Who Lives Down the Lane 