It’s been a crazy busy summer so far, kids in camps, work for me and hubby and fitting in time to relax on the boat and at the beach. This year, like all of the summers before, the kids each had a turn at my parents’ house in Okeover Inlet on Desolation Sound. They go to Mamma and Bubba’s for some special time, away from us and one or two of their siblings and spend their days doing what my sister and I did all summer long until we graduated from high school.
Days at the Cabin are jam packed with doing absolutely nothing! By nothing I mean trooping down to the beach with towels and sunscreen and lounging on the boat or raft, waiting for the tide to be high enough to waterski. Snacking on the abundance of the garden, berries, apples, plums, green beans, zucchini and tomatoes. Going for hikes in the cool shade of the woods, basking in the sun on the deck and ending the day with a soak in the hot tub overlooking the ocean. It is a summer most children would only dream of, but for my kids and my niece and nephew it’s just “the cabin”.
My parents bought an acre and a half of waterfront property way back in 1968, spending their $2000 savings on a chunk of land that wasn’t yet road accessible. They saw the potential and jumped at the chance to own a piece of one of the most beautiful places on earth. Crystal blue waters that get warm as a bath in summer, beaches bursting with shellfish and a moderate winter make their location on Okeover Inlet ideal as a vacation property and now as their fulltime home. They knew it was only a matter of time until the road was put through and when it was, they set about clearing the land and building a tiny A frame cabin all on their own. I remember going up on Spring Break that year, my parents working all day to build forms and have foundations poured, knowing they only had 2 weeks to get the floor down. July 1st we were back, living out of our camper on a friend’s lot down the road. Mom and dad worked from dawn until about noon, when the sun told them it was time to hit the water and ease their sore muscles. We saw my mom work alongside my dad, using power saws and tools, together making their dream a reality one nail at a time. My sister and I packed picnics and headed to the government wharf where we lay on our bellies fishing for shiners through the gaps in the dock. We made friends that lasted days or weeks, depending how long they were staying at the campground or on their boat. It was a summer I will never forget.
That was the first of many summers when we packed up the truck on the last day of school, not to return until the day before it went back. Dad was a teacher so we all had the whole summer together, learning to windsurf, waterski, operate the boat and exploring Desolation Sound, instilling in me and my sister a deep love and connection for the beauty and peace of this wild area.
Okeover Inlet was our home, our cul-de-sac and we knew every inch and cranny of its shores.
We seldom brought friends up with us, it was a really long way to go! We were essentially cut off from school friends for 2 whole months but I don’t think either of us really cared. While our friends were sitting in town, with nothing to do because their parents were working, we were spending each day on the beach and in the water, returning to school baked to a deep brown with white laugh lines around our eyes, evidence of the wonderful summer we had had.
So as I sort the laundry from my daughter’s recent visit to The Cabin, on Okeover Inlet, I fully appreciate the opportunities my parents gave me and my sister and now our children. Never do they say no, they can’t come. Never are they too tired or busy for the kids or us. They welcome us all with open arms and wonderful days full of reliving memories and creating new ones.
And when I see their tanned legs and tired faces, I know that their summer experience is no different 30 years later than mine was, and just the opportunity to give them the freedom of being a kid, on the beach, is the best gift ever.