Cottage Living

Lobster Boil @ Murray Corner, 1973

When we were young(er), we spent some time at a place called Murray Corner and the memories still linger along with a few sepia-tinted photos that live in a box in the basement (another project that I plan to do one of these days). Memories of long, hot, sultry, carefree, fun-filled days consisting of beach and dress-up; Mac & Cheese for lunch; BBQs for dinner; Lobster Boils; Bonfires & Toasting Marshmallows . Nothing to do except play and all day to do it. ie a day in the life of a perfect childhood.

Interestingly enough I realise as I get older that those days were not as many as I had thought for my sister & I. We visited now & again, not like the cousins who *lived* there for the summer. My Cousin Deb, her cousins Catherine & Christina, and myself & Susie were the core group as I recall it. Cassie & Heidi (Hallett) would visit too and now & again Benedict & Matthew (O'Halloran) and of course their respective parents who were all friends, but they (the parents) were just background noise. I am sure they said the same about us, because in those days *Helicopter Parents* did not exist; curfew was sunset and you only had to check in if you were going as far as Lake Stores (and that was only in case we were running low on bread & milk!)

Now - many years and another generation later - I return for fleeting visits and enjoy brief rendezvous with the Cousins, their spouses & kids and I appreciate Murray Corner for many of the same reasons as I watch DJ and his 'cousins' play with the old Fisher Price toys after a day of playing in the sand, then giggle and tell stories as they attempt to sleep in the same room.

Here's to many more of those rendezvous, short or long, to toasting marshmallows on the bonfire and telling stories that start with 'when we were their age . . . . '