HAPPY FOURTH OF JULY

 

It is a cool beginning to July. It is quite pleasant, it is 10:20 AM and it is just over 70 F. It was in the low 60s when I got up. We had a week or two of temperatures that were above normal, but it seems to be shaping up to be a cool Spring and early Summer. Although, this is Minnesota, the weather could flip flop overnight and we could have temperatures in the nineties.

We had a very pleasant day yesterday. Five of my six children, their spouses and children, gathered at the cottage on Big Marine Lake as part of the 4^th of July celebration. We visited them. We had a great time! I love our family gatherings.

The cottage has been in the family since 1940. My Grandparents bought it in conjunction with their second oldest daughter and her husband. I spent much of my early years there. I learned how to sail. We had a succession of sail boats; some authentic and some converted row boats. One of the most memorable was an old duck boat we equipped with a mast and sail. It flew across the lake, but with a jury-rigged centerboard, it could scuttle sideways too.

We spent many hours fishing on the lake, walking in the woods and cooking out at our favorite spot. Many birthday parties and other celebrations were held there. Somethings I remember vividly. When I was ten years old, we spent a few days out there with our Mom, and my Dad commuted to work. We did not have electricity or a portable radio [they were rare in those days]. My Dad arrived and announced that the War was over [VJ Day]. It was so exciting and such a relief. The war occupied my life from 6 years old to 10. No more rationing. No more air raid drills. Of course, in those tender years, I did not know we were on the threshold of endless war.

My Aunt and Uncle moved out of state [early 1950s?] and my Grandfather bought out there interest. My grandparents had nine children, seven which had survived to this point. Some had numerous children, of their own, and the cottage was a Summer haven for many years. It was a great place to get away. There was no electricity or running water. We got our water from a pump shared by two other cottages. They did have an old electric generator installed that was used when there was large gatherings. Many of us preferred to use the kerosene lamps.

The original cottage was a grand affair. A beautiful Tiffany lamp suspended by a fine retractable brass chain over the dining room table, a hand crafted ash cupboard full of Royal Dalton and Haviland dinner ware. Beautifully made kerosene lamps on brackets suspended from the walls with mirrored glass reflectors to focus the light. Two kitchens, a Summer kitchen, with a sink and a wood range and a regular kitchen, also with a wood range. It was characterized by rustic elegance.

Over the years the cottage lost some of its original elegance with attempts at modernization and just wear and tear.

Sometime in the late 1970s the original cottage burnt down. It was replaced on the same footprint but it paled compared to the original.

The Cottage passed to their surviving children at my Grandparents death. I can't remember how it all worked out but after my Father died, my brother, Garth and his Wife and my brother Michael, bought out the remaining family interest in the cottage. They purchased it with an investment in mind and hoped to sell it. With the crash, and then swings in the real estate market, this hasn't happened. There are plans afoot, I don't know if they will or should materialize.

Visiting the cottage brings back many memories. I moved here in 1975 and my connection with the cottage was lost. I had my own piece of paradise in the country, and it was now 70+ miles away, rather than the 30+ miles it was. 1940 to 1975, 35 years of my life, it was of significance.

We spent many Fourth of July's at the cottage.

Have a great Fourth of July. Let us celebrate our liberation from all our negative beliefs. Let us celebrate our freedom from all our craziness. Let us celebrate the freedom of everyone on Earth.

Let us celebrate, that we are all shining beings of light, worthy of all the love of this great Universe.

Love and Peace, Gregg