Living two different lifestyles

The water on Rainy has reached that deep blue colour. The birch trees have painted their leaves a brilliant gold. An occasional Maple has painted its leaves a brilliant red. The pine trees are shedding needles.
The ground is being covered with a soft brown coloured covering of needles. The Mallards that were being raised around the island seem to have disappeared. Saturday a group of Canvasbacks swam across the front of the bay.
The water is down now so that a little sand is now showing around the edges of our bay.
The two young loons that we have watched being raised all summer were out with their parents on Friday night. They have reached the size of the adults and their furry brown cover is being transformed to the black and white of their parents.
Two young Eaglets seem to be chattering behind the cabin all the time. They have been released by their parents and are now fending for themselves.
The end of the summer season on Rainy Lake is happening. We only heard two boats all of Saturday on the lake. More were heard Sunday.
Trucks and vans with boats on trailers rolled past my house on Second Street in the late Sunday afternoon. Half the boats at the marina have disappeared in the last two weeks.
Fall brings some sadness to the lake. Water lines are being drained. Boats and canoes are being stored. Gas lines are being shut off at the tank. Electricity is being shut off at the panel. Outdoor furniture is stored away.
Each trip, cottage owners bring back tools, and food that have been brought to the cottage over the previous four months. The shelves are laid bare. For most cottage goers on the lake, this begins the seven-month wait for ice out.
Few of us will travel to our cottages through the winter. We will begin a new weekend routine. Where we focused on using the cottage every weekend, and holidaying there for weeks during the summer months, we will look to take time to travel to warmer climates.
Where we would go out for a leisurely day of fishing and enjoying our children and grandchildren play at the lake, we will wander down to the arena to watch children and grandchildren play hockey.
We’ll resume hobbies that have been put on hold for many months. Some of us will curl. Some of us will get back into the wood shop and be creative. Some of us have already given up on the lake and are walking through the woods enjoying the fall and early winter days by hunting.
In many congregations, church attendance will pick up.
And when the warm days of spring melt away the ice, we will return to the bustle of enjoying the days, and warmth of the sun to its utmost. For now we will enjoy our leisure.

–Jim Cumming,
Publisher