As we sit in our urban homes, we are surrounded by highways, strip halls, office buildings, and parking lots. But the primal part of us yearns to be surrounded by trees and water and winding woodsy roads. As we peck away at our computers, we wish we could escape to our Alaska cabins. Alaska is far away, but with the cabin kits that are now available, you can build a cabin closer to home, but with a similar woodsy ambiance. And, because it's a kit, you can make it as simple or as full-featured as suits your desires and budget.
Call it a cabin, call it a cottage, or call it a camp. It's all the same thing. It's a little, uncomplicated house that sits in the woods. If you're lucky, you can find a lot on a lake where you can have a dock. Imagine the pleasure of watching your kids jump off the dock into the clear, clean water of a northern lake. With their air mattresses and swim rings, they can paddle around in the shallow water, cementing the sibling bonds and building shared memories that will nourish them when they have their own urban homes and computer jobs.
Imagine tying your boat to the other side of the dock. When the kids are big enough, you can all have the excitation of water skiing around the lake. It does not have to be the hugest lake in the state for the water skiing to be fun. It just has to be big enough for your boat to make large enough circles to keep the skier on the water.
Imagine sitting on the end of the dock, feet dangling in the water, with a fishing pole in your hand. Put a night crawler or an artificial lure on the line, and toss it out. The result of some patience and a couple of beers just might be tonight's supper. Whether the lake is stocked with blue gills or bass, the eatin 'is good! If the fish are not biting around the dock, throw the gear in the boat, and look for greener fish pastures. Dawn and dusk are the best time for boat fishing. And, who knows? You just might see a muskrat, beaver, or loon.
There's another important part of this fish dinner, and that's the berry pie! Later in the summer, the wild raspberries and blueberries will be ripening. Grab a pan, large tin can, or bucket for you and each of your kids. Spray on the bug repellent liberal. Dab on the sunscreen. Then head out into the woods. If it's been a good, warm season with plenty of rain and sun, the berries will fill your buckets quickly (of course not quickly enough for the littlest one of the crew). When the berries are picked over and washed, they will be ready to toss between pie crusts, along with a liberal amount of sugar, and baked.
So put your dreams to work. Buy a piece of a lake shore and a cabin kit, and get building!
This article sings the praises of the vacation cabin on a lake. This type of vacation allows the kids to cement their sibling relationships with memories of fun times swimming, water skiing, fishing, and berry picking. A cabin kit provides a quick, inexpensive way of building a cabin.
