by Quinn Tierney September, 2017
I wake up to the ‘alarming’ bull frog outside my bedroom window, ribbiting at me to begin the day. Outside the cottage are the still waters of Georgian Bay with only a few paddle boats out early in the morning. All the curtains are drawn open allowing the sunlight from the beautiful summer’s day to stream through. I stroll down the hallway into the kitchen following the sweet smell of steaming pancakes that Papa has made, waiting at the table ready to drench in maple syrup and pile on the fresh blueberries. Sitting at the table looking out onto the quiet bay watching the Canadian flag rippling in the light breeze makes me pinch myself to make sure I’m still not dreaming.
My bare feet step outside onto the back porch holding a handful of peanuts to meet the furry chipmunks waiting for their breakfast. I hold them in the palm of my hand and wait for Chippy to jump up and squeeze one peanut in each cheek and then scramble back down his hole to his fellow furry friends. To escape the stifling summer’s heat, the only thing possible is to dive into the bay for a refreshing dip. A daily swim out to the floating pontoon and back is the only exercise needed at the cottage to burn off the pancakes for breakfast and a later ice cream from the trip to the Dillon Cove Marina.
When I wake up to snow pattering down on the roof in the morning, my first thought is warmth. Out of bed, my cold feet scurry across to the crackling fireplace where Grandma has the hot chocolate piled with fluffy marshmallows waiting for me. The curtains are still pulled back, only this time the bay has a clear glass sheet covering it, the bare maple trees stand alone shivering in the bitter cold and the pine trees are wrapped in snow. Chippy has stolen the peanuts left out the night before and is hibernating down in his house. In the colder months, the only sign of wildlife at the cottage is the red fox that trots over the iced bay. The black bears are no longer picking blueberries from the shrubs in the driveway, and the screeching Canadian geese have flown south. There are no daily swims out to the pontoon boat, instead just the sound of the children pestering Mum to go play in the snow. On go the woolly thermals, snow jacket and mittens.
We step out into the winter wonderland trying to catch the delicate snowflakes falling gently on our tongues. A red ‘closed’ sign hangs down from the window at the Marina and the boats are away hibernating in the sheds for the winter. It doesn’t matter how cold it is, we could spend the whole day making snowmen and ice skating on the glistening bay, but when our noses start to glow red, we know it’s time to rug up next to the blazing fireplace and help Papa finish off the latest jigsaw puzzle he’s been working at all day. Summer or winter, no matter the seasons, the wooden cottage standing on Georgian Bay’s edge, still holds the same memories treasured forever.
Quinn Tierney, 14, is the granddaughter of Sheila and Ed Tierney
She lives in New Zealand with her parents Drew and Susan Tierney and her sister, Ciara
Download this story and the entire WCA Spring Newsletter May 2018 in PDF format (1.5MB).