Addicted to Nostalgia

That's me. I confess. I am addicted to Nostalgia. I love the feeling I get when I have a flood of happy memories, and there is no place on earth that holds more of those memories than my lake.

Since I was a toddler, I have been going out to the same lake. It is called Lac la Nonne and is located less than an hour away from my hometown (where I still live), near a small town called Barrhead. Both my parents grew up in Barrhead, and they too have childhood memories of spending time at Elk's Beach on Lac la Nonne. When they were kids it wasn't much more than a field next to a beach where people could pitch a tent or pull up their trailer for the weekend.

Now it is a cute little community of lots- each with a trailer, and most with what we call "Add-a-Rooms" or "Attarooms" when you say it really fast. The add on is just a small little structure built right next to your trailer so close that there is little to no separation from the two. You walk in the front door of your attaroom, and then can walk through the door of your trailer from there. Often people will set these rooms up like a very small cabin. Adding furniture- extra sleeping accommodations and sitting areas. Some will add appliances such as a fridge or microwave, either because the small ones offered in their trailer doesn't work any longer, or they just need more space.

I don't even know how to explain how much I love my lake. Every single summer we spent 90% of our weekends out there. I had a group of friends out there that I would wait all week to go and see. We would walk around and around, through the gravel roads- some of which are named by the 'residents' of said street. Signs on the corners would let you know if you were on "Jackfish Ave" or a number of other fishing/outdoorsy themed roads.

While I have always loved it out there, there's something extra special that happened once I became an adult. Each time I chose to go for one night or a whole weekend, the excitement in me would nearly overflow. Throwing pj's and a contact case in a bag and hitting the road spontaneously would instantly put me in the best mood. I loved that the option was always there, and I loved the free feeling of leaving the city for a short time.

I've driven that highway hundreds of time in my life. I have it down to an exact science - my Mom and I used to make bets on the exact minute we would be pulling into the gates, and I could even predict within a minute or two when we would hit certain landmarks- when we would turn at Legal, when we would pass through Busby, and lastly when we pass Dunstable School. Each landmark would grow my excitement even more. I don't think I've ever pulled into the gates in a bad mood.

Ahhh... the nights spent laying on the dock staring at the endless stars... the sound of crickets and frogs and birds galore.... the fires spent with family, and now with my handsome hubby strumming on his guitar (hint hint hunny - don't forget it!) ... drinking coffee in the sunshine in the mornings... walking around aimlessly looking at each person's lot (so many creative ways to "decorate!") ... oh, and the ice cream from the store. They have the BEST soft serve. And the best part, is that it really is this tight knit little community. Everyone knows everyone else, and they look forward to seeing each other each summer. If someone hasn't been out in a while, their neighbor will mow their lawn, and if someone needs a hand building their deck, there are people lined up. I always tell my husband I have a small town heart. I think I grew it at Elk's Beach.

We didn't take family vacations when I was younger because all our time was spent at the lake. There were times I was jealous of friends who go tot go on adventures to the mountains, or to the states in the summertime. in retrospect, I just love that all my happy childhood summer memories are all wrapped up in one place that I can visit as often as I'd like.

Such as this weekend. Can't wait!!

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Thanks for stopping by :)

~M