Skip to content
  • Destinations
    • AFRICA
    • BALI
    • BHUTAN
    • BRITAIN
    • CANADA
    • COSTA RICA
    • DUBAI
    • INDIA
    • IRELAND
    • ITALY
    • JAPAN
    • MYANMAR
    • NEPAL
    • PHILIPPINES
    • SRI LANKA
    • THAILAND
    • UNITED STATES
    • VIETNAM
    • UZBEKISTAN
  • Destination Guides
  • India Tours
  • Travel Blog
  • Behind The Dream
  • Resources
BreathedreamgoMobile logo

Breathedreamgo

The transformational travel guide

A story for summer in Ontario, Canada

by Mariellen Ward · July 21, 2015August 20, 2020 This post may contain compensated links. Find more info in my Disclosure Policy.
summer lake in Ontario
An Ontario lake in the summer is a glorious thing!

Summer at the cottage in Ontario, Canada

EVERY SUMMER, I start thinking about the cottage. Each type of summer weather brings back a distinct memory of what that particular type of day was like at the cottage.

I might be walking in the park or near the lake in Toronto on a clear, bright, sunny day, with fluffy, high clouds overhead, and a crisp breeze snapping sails and flags, and I’ll know exactly what that kind of weather would be like at the cottage. In my mind’s eye, I see the gentle whitecaps on the open lake beyond our protected bay; and I imagine myself in a light sweater (or, if the memory comes from the late 60s, in a poncho), playing on the dock.

On days like those, my mom would do laundry in a fat, ringer-washer that sat outside the cottage. As she put the rung-out clothes on the line, she would invariably exclaim, “Oh what a glorious drying day!” At night, when the sky was clear, I would take the canoe out to the middle of the bay, and lie on the bottom watching the milky way churning above, so real and close, I felt I could reach out and stir it.

Oh what a glorious drying day!

On overcast days everything was different. I can see the grey skies over the deep-green lake and the trees and grass dripping with moisture. Warm, rainy days would find me and the other kids swimming in the shallow bay. There was something special about playing and swimming in the rain; we felt as if we were getting away with something, as if we had entered a special, magical, kids-only zone.

If the rain was really heavy, we would tip the canoe—the red canoe my dad built and varnished every year—upside down on the beach and hide underneath, peeking out to watch the drops splash the surface of the lake and make ever-expanding circles, mesmerizing to watch.

When I got older, I liked curling up inside the damp cottage with a book. I kept my entire collection of Nancy Drews at the cottage—all 42 of them, at the time—for such days. I would find a quiet corner, sip a cup of tea and invite my cat Marmalade to join me. I can recall the comforting sound of the rain as it spattered on the wood roof above me and made me feel cozy and snug inside—especially if a thunderstorm was rolling in.

canoes on a summer lake in Ontario

On really hot and humid days in Toronto, when I feel imprisoned by the heat, that’s when I’m most likely to think of the cottage. I remember what it was like to walk up the long country road on a hot day to go to the corner store. The walk seemed interminable and I was always thirsty and bushed when I got to Tremblays Gas Bar. I bought a root beer or cream soda and Eatmore chocolate bar, and if there was money left over, an Archie’s comic book. Then, there was the long walk back and I’d head straight for the warm back bedroom that always smelled like wood to change into my bathing suit so I could jump in the lake.

I know exactly how the light changes from the vital burst of early July to the long shadows and melancholy twilights of late August.

No matter what the summer weather is like in Toronto, I can always imagine what it would be like at the cottage—how the lake would be, whether it would be calm and flat, or whipped into choppy waves. I know what the sky would be like, how the clouds would gather along the shoreline. I know exactly how the light changes from the vital burst of early July to the long shadows and melancholy twilights of late August. I know how the meadow plants in the field across the road—the weeds and wildflowers, grasses and bull rushes—would grow, reach their full height and then begin to dry out by the end of summer.

In the summer, I often think of the cottage, which is only a two-hour drive from where I live. But I can’t go there. After being in the family for about four generations, the cottage had to be sold almost 20 years ago; and since then both my parents have died. My siblings and I are all grown up, and two have children of their own.

Sometimes, it seems incredible to me, inconceivable, that I can’t just reach out and touch those days—the happiest days of my life; that I can’t go there, to that cottage, on that lake and find it as it once was, with the people who were once there.


More reading about Canada on Breathedreamgo

  • Canada Travel Guide
  • Things to do in Ontario
  • Art & Culture in the Haliburton Highlands

Pin it on Pinterest

summer lake in Ontario Canada


If you enjoyed this post, you can….

Sign up to The Travel Newsletter in the sidebar and follow Breathedreamgo on all social media platforms including Instagram, TripAdvisor, Facebook, Pinterest, and Twitter. Thank you!

2 shares
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Flipboard
  • Email
Related Posts
Mariellen Ward, Canada, Nova Scotia

A seven year anniversary and a big announcement

View Post
Fairmont Jasper Park Lodge.

2 Canada Itineraries for first time visitors

View Post
20 best places to travel in Canada 2020

20 best places to travel in Canada now

View Post
About Mariellen Ward

Professional travel writer Mariellen Ward is the founder of award-winning Breathedreamgo. Mariellen has a BA in Journalism and has been travel writing and blogging since 2005. She has won many awards, including a National Tourism Award from Incredible India Tourism, and writes for some of the world’s leading publications including BBC Travel and NatGeo Traveller India.

Breathedreamgo is an award-winning travel site published by Canadian travel writer and India travel expert Mariellen Ward. Breathedreamgo was launched in 2009 and focuses on transformative travel, travel in India, travel in Canada, responsible travel, and solo female travel.

Search

Newsletter Form Sidebar

Sign up for BREATHEDREAMGO DISPATCHES and get inspiration to live your travel dreams.

Sign up now and get a free copy of SONG OF INDIA.


Plan your dream trip to India!

Enquire about INDIA FOR BEGINNERS custom tours from BreatheDreamGo

Plan Your Trip

Featured by

Related Posts
Mariellen Ward, Canada, Nova Scotia

A seven year anniversary and a big announcement

View Post
Fairmont Jasper Park Lodge.

2 Canada Itineraries for first time visitors

View Post
20 best places to travel in Canada 2020

20 best places to travel in Canada now

View Post
Filed under: CanadaTagged under: Canada, cottage, lake, nostalgia, story, summer, Travel, Writing
About Mariellen Ward

Professional travel writer Mariellen Ward is the founder of award-winning Breathedreamgo. Mariellen has a BA in Journalism and has been travel writing and blogging since 2005. She has won many awards, including a National Tourism Award from Incredible India Tourism, and writes for some of the world’s leading publications including BBC Travel and NatGeo Traveller India.

Sign up for my newsletter and get
inspiration to live your travel dreams

Newsletter Form Page

Work with us

  • Work with us
  • Media kit
  • Testimonials

More information

  • Contact us
  • About Breathedreamgo
  • About Mariellen
  • Disclosure and Privacy Policy

Newsletter

Newsletter Form Footer

Copyright © 2021 Breathedreamgo
Site by Assistant

We use cookies to give you a better web experience and assume you're on board if you continue browsing this site. To find out about our cookie policy, please visit our Disclosure and Privacy Policy page. Accept Reject
Privacy & Cookies Policy

Privacy Overview

This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may affect your browsing experience.
Necessary
Always Enabled
Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. These cookies do not store any personal information.
Non-necessary
Any cookies that may not be particularly necessary for the website to function and is used specifically to collect user personal data via analytics, ads, other embedded contents are termed as non-necessary cookies. It is mandatory to procure user consent prior to running these cookies on your website.
SAVE & ACCEPT
2 shares
2 shares