Five Years a Writer

Staining the deck that overlooks the lake Without fail, something needs doing. If it’s not the door that won’t latch, it’s the deck that needs staining, or the eavestroughs that need cleaning. The trick is to do the task while keeping one eye on the view. Whatever the work is here at Clifftop Cottage, the view is the reward.  Our home is in a just-off-city-centre neighbourhood, close-quartered to neighbours, so the expansive view across the lake at the cottage not only figuratively lowers my shoulders, it physically slows me down and opens me up. We are fortunate to have this place, and I am grateful for it.  I knew nothing of the “cottage lifestyle” when I moved to Manitoba in 1989. Growing up, my family had tent camped, which I enjoyed, and, in our early years together, Val and I did that, too, and we enjoyed it. Once, even, we bike camped our way around a trail in Riding Mountain National Park — all our gear and ourselves on two bikes. But, eventually, we decided to trade that form