Our friend Deb had been telling us about her family's cabin up on Lake Namakan for a few years. It sounded idyllic- a little island that was all theirs, out in the middle of the lake that acts as a border between Minnesota and Canada. She had invited us up for one last summer hurrah- to spend Labor Day weekend at the lake. It sounded great and we wanted to go, but I had been in the throes of getting school up and running for a new year, the boys were edging into their pre-school anxiety that hits each fall, and in the past week Jon, Theo, and I had all been taken down by 'flu-like symptoms'. And it was a 6 hour drive plus 1 hour boat to even get to this place. It sure seemed easier to spend the last weekend of summer at home recuperating and gearing up for another year. But then we checked the forecast, 70's and sunny, and we decided to go ahead and jump right into one last summer adventure. Thank goodness we did- this place turned out to be just what we all needed, a comfortable adventure in a foriegn land (It was across the border line in Canada and we needed to show our passports at a little outpost that is reached only by boat or floatplane) to round out a great summer.
This 1.5 acre wilderness is a boy wonderland, covered in white pines, mossy outcroppings, colorful toadstools, and plenty of rocks for clamboring. The little cabin is completely comfortable, but with no electricty or water is an outpost enough to make you feel like you're on an adventure. As it is on an island, the boys could head off into the woods with parents having no worries about them getting lost. They spent their time turning sticks into ancient weapons, conquering mythic beasts in fabulous battles, throwing themselves off the rocks into the warm waters, creating rock dams, reinforcing castle walls and running free. They coaxed the parents onto the unihabited nearby island for a parents v. children game of capture the flag that had us all hooting and hollering and sacrificing much skin in our quest through the brambles for the dishtowel that served as the sacred flag.
Saturday evening we were treated to a lovely sunset on the west side of the island and then as we walked east, back to the cabin, drank in the glorious full moon as it rose above still waters.
After a lovely weekend we packed up the boats and headed back to the mainland, refreshed and ready to tackle the new year.
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