The Canadian Dream
A small house near a lake, a dock with some playtoys, a couple of fridges for the beer; these are the objects of the Canadian dream.
At Bobs Lake this summer, I was reflecting on how much people spend and invest to have a place to relax for weekends in the summer. In different parts of Canada, the dream manifests itself in different ways. In northern New Brunswick, people buy mobile homes and congregate in mobile home parks for the summer. They go to the mobile home park to get away from nature! (Because their normal homes are in the middle of nature).
In Ontario, the middle class have staked out a huge part of the rural landscape in the form of cottages that dot map. The dream is a cottage by the lake. A big deck, a nice dock. But what do you do once you have it? You maintain it? You expand it?
Is the cottage dream a return to nature? Or a wholesale colonialisation of nature by implanting pieces of cities at 40 metre intervals along shorelines? Certainly, the jet-skiiers are no friends of the loons.
What if you build the perfect place, nobody comes, and you can't sit still?
I don't speak for all Canadians (yeah, in case you were wondering). But I can observe the behaviour of the Canadians on Bobs Lake. The dream is sit by the lake with family, surrounded by scenes of nature and ensconced in comfort bordering on luxury. I just hope there are enough lakes for everyone.
At Bobs Lake this summer, I was reflecting on how much people spend and invest to have a place to relax for weekends in the summer. In different parts of Canada, the dream manifests itself in different ways. In northern New Brunswick, people buy mobile homes and congregate in mobile home parks for the summer. They go to the mobile home park to get away from nature! (Because their normal homes are in the middle of nature).
In Ontario, the middle class have staked out a huge part of the rural landscape in the form of cottages that dot map. The dream is a cottage by the lake. A big deck, a nice dock. But what do you do once you have it? You maintain it? You expand it?
Is the cottage dream a return to nature? Or a wholesale colonialisation of nature by implanting pieces of cities at 40 metre intervals along shorelines? Certainly, the jet-skiiers are no friends of the loons.
What if you build the perfect place, nobody comes, and you can't sit still?
I don't speak for all Canadians (yeah, in case you were wondering). But I can observe the behaviour of the Canadians on Bobs Lake. The dream is sit by the lake with family, surrounded by scenes of nature and ensconced in comfort bordering on luxury. I just hope there are enough lakes for everyone.
posted by Lt Smash at 8:51 PM
3 Comments:
Surprised as you're going to be by this, I have to disagree.
My grandparents (admitted immigrants) purchased a piece of land way the @%^$ north on Lake Huron, and over the period of 40-some years, built a tiny cottage no bigger than my one-bedroom apartment and settled into retirement. No dock, no boat (much less one of those noise pollution machines), no nothing ... except for the various cold storage devices. While they might not represent the developing demographic in Ontario's (and to a lesser extent, Canada's) northern reaches, I think it should give us hope. Perhaps if we use the experience of our immigrant population ("Leave nothing but footprints, take nothing but memories"), there is a way to enjoy our Great White North (GWN) without spoiling it. :)
Perhaps you have not had the opportunity to visit a lakeside community that feels very strongly about not molesting nature. Our 300 sq ft cottage, complete with outhouse, sits on property owned by the co-operative and does not allow anything with a motor. The only sounds you hear, generally, are the birds and the coyotes after nightfall (and the occasional neighbour stopping by for coffee).
Marlene
Thanks for your comment Marlene.
I know that such places exist. As a coyote, I would definitely prefer the motor-free lake. I'll tell you quite honestly that in the summer, my interest in swimming in a quiet lake far outweighs any interest in speed and jumping through the air behind a boat.
The cottage dream manifests itself in different ways for different people. The "back to nature" motif can be pushed as far to the extreme as we like. I will be leaving in two days for an expedition to a part of Canada where outhouses are considered luxury, there is no one to cooperate with, and nature is all too ready to molest us. (The area is "infested" with polar bears.)
I agree with both INXS, sitting in that temple of suburbia, Mississauga, and you.
The sounds of silence (the theme of this years jazzfest in Montreal) are the best sounds when you know how to listen.
I'll give up the motorboat any day in exchange for a cooperative common coffee federation with the neighbours.
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