Tom, I’m still here…
Shell Lake, Saskatchewan, Canada. My home and native land, I love it here and have spent almost 50 years here. My kids love it too, and what’s not to love? Having a lakefront cabin at any lake today is a luxury that is not affordable to most anymore. My God, the lake lots here alone have increased so much in value that it boggles the mind.
Back in the day, we bought this whole piece of land, a mile and a half of lakefront and a big chunk of farmland as well, for a song. Well, maybe an expensive song, because we had to form a company with ten shareholders to chip in equally to buy it from the farmer. We were all one big happy family, ya… I know what you’re thinking, and you’re right.
Ten relatives, getting along, living beside each other at the lake, what could go wrong? Well, this blog is not a book, so I won’t bore you with all the gory details. Suffice it to say, sometimes we’d like to put up a fence across the road to keep some of them away. It happens, and it’s all a part of life, in this case, lake life.
I didn’t know I was going to write about this when I sat down here this morning. This is usually the case whenever I sit down to write. Something usually pops up, and I’m so happy it’s not political this morning. At least with family, we eventually make up and let bygones be bygones, but not always.
I am the oldest of 25 first cousins on my mom’s side only (my dad left the picture when I was only 12 years old). So when she left, my dad and his extended family also fell by the wayside. Why does that happen, I wonder? Well, there was no shortage of first cousins and aunts and uncles here, and now we’re into second and third cousins with only one original Auntie still alive.
We are so fortunate to have this little community here, and even if one half is not talking to the other half, I’m still loving it. My cabin had no bathroom, and our outhouse is grandfathered into what is now my son’s lot. My son bought me out and built a big year-round cabin with in-floor heating and the whole nine yards.
He graciously lets me have use of his old ‘cabin’ right beside where mine once stood. We share a septic tank and a cistern. We have all split from our original partners and have started our lives anew. My line is “I split with my ex and I am now living happily ever after. And this is true, my life after sixty has been such an adventure.
I have no desire to ever marry again, although my desire for a man once in a while drives me crazy. There I said it, or I wrote it down here, and shit, that just burst forth. Why do we need men anyways? I fixed my own toilet tank two weeks ago, and I’m still smiling and so proud of myself! Sometimes you just need a man to fix stuff … but I did it all by myself.
Two years waiting on someone to come and fix that stupid thing, so I didn’t have to keep turning the water switch off and on. Men are good for other things other than fixing stuff, but we don’t have to be married to enjoy those, sorry/not sorry. Sometimes we have dry spells, and that’s okay too, because we need to remember to keep our independence exactly that.
Finding the right man to enjoy company with can also be a pain. The thing is, though, life is an adventure, and nothing ventured, nothing gained, and I’m always up for a challenge. There will be plenty of time to give up when I’m dead and gone. Tom Selleck has still not crossed my path, so there’s still hope.
Facebook has a dating feature now, and a couple have crossed my path. It’s way better than the cesspool they call ‘plenty of fish’. Lord knows I’ll never drop my lures there again, yikes! The married ones on there are prolific and I was stung a few times, but I’m much older and wiser now, okay, so just older.
Everyone is still in bed here, and it’s after eight already. You would think we’re on ‘lake-time’, oh yeah, I guess we are. I’m waiting for someone to call me over for breakfast, but it doesn’t look promising, and I’m hungry. I’ve got some pancakes I made last Sunday in the freezer, so I think my blog is finished because I’m famished … good one, eh?
Have a great weekend, everyone. If you run into Tom, let him know I’m at the lake and I’ll be home Sunday evening.
Copyright July 26th, 2025