Dancing On The Dock
Our vacation property is water access only and is situated on a picturesque area of White Lake, near Ottawa.
Part of the “experience” is arrival and departure by boat. We have a pontoon boat with a 115 HP Mercury outboard motor. This is capable of transferring many people to and fro ,as well as pulling kids on water skis and tubes, going out for dinner, getting groceries or sightseeing on the lake. We constructed a large U shaped dock that we attach to a permanent deck just in front of our cottage. The boat “Dancing Beaver 1” fits snugly into the centre of the dock ,making arrival and departure quite simple. As the cold weather approaches the dock has to be moved to a safer area in a back bay where it won’t be damaged by the ice. Whether opening the cottage in the spring, or closing up in the fall, moving the dock is slowly becoming a tradition in our family
“Dancing Beaver 1” has a great sound system ,and our travels are often accompanied by music. At a small town general store nearby, I purchased a CD titled “Three Thumbs Up” by Del Bassett. He writes the words to well-known songs. These lyrics reflect his memoires of the Ottawa valley. He immigrated to Canada from Wales. This becomes very apparent when listening to him singing. One song includes the lines “I love this land so fine, it is yours and now it’s mine”. I like that!
One song in particular “Eganville – Jewel of the Bonnechere” has become our theme song when repositioning the dock.
All the kids and grandkids gather on the dock with their chosen snacks and drinks. We untie the dock and proceed to back out into the lake with me driving at a very slow pace. You should picture a large U-shaped dock with a pontoon boat in the middle, covered with kids, cruising in the lake. Sometimes we stop for a swim, but always we have music that everyone dances to. When my song comes on, one of my grandsons drives, while I get up to dance with each of my daughters.
This always makes me smile and will remain one of my favourite memories. When I have the time and energy, I plan to rewrite the lyrics again …..to reflect a little piece of heaven!