My Grandparents Cabin

The morning air was crisp and clean. The lake in Minnesota is calm and placid. The putt-putt of the motor on the boat, and the mournful cry of the loons are the only sounds breaking the quiet. I put the minnow on the hook and cast the line .The bait flies across the lake and my hook falls next to the boat. My first time using live bait did not go so well. The next cast my Uncle Mike did for me and needless to say it was much better. The Northern Pike I caught on that cast wrapped around the anchor, and we finally had to bring the motor out of the water to net it. It was 22 inches long and got my picture in the paper that day. This is one of many memories that make my grandparents’ cabin so special to me. The cabin sits on 5th Crow Wing Lake a series of 11 interconnected lakes. They bought the cabin many years ago as a summer place. It had no running water or an indoor bathroom, a water pump sits in front of the cabin and to use the bathroom you go to the outhouse or “biffy” as it’s known. Electricity comes from a gas generator and is warmed by a wood burning stove. One wall is a garage door that can be raised to let the breeze in. The room with the stove is the size of a two car garage and the back half has beds and a loft with four mattresses on the floor to sleep on also or wrestle. It had enough head room to stand upright if you were a kid, or if you were an adult you had to bend over to walk in there. It sits about 50 feet from the edge of the lake with a dock that extends out into the lake, perfect for sitting with your feet in the water. The cabin had a screened in front porch with chairs, table, and a ratty comfy couch I spent many a night playing cards at the table or curled up on that old couch reading anything I could get my hands on. My Grandpa built a small motor boat when he was younger and it always sat at the dock ready for us to use to fish or explore the lily pad covered channels that connect the lakes. It wasn’t a speed boat by any means but