Girls Cabin Weekend

My Sven Saw Sisters (the Girls) have a way of starting traditions and it doesn’t dawn on us that it is a tradition until the day comes where someone asks, ‘How many years have we been doing this?’.  And of course, none of us know. We do know that we are somewhere close to 40 years of friendship, plus or minus a couple.   Within that time it’s hard to keep track of the traditions, let alone when it becomes one and how long it has been one.  We just keep doing what we do best – enjoy our company, be there for each other and make it a priority to stay connected on a regular basis.

The tradition this week was the Girls Cabin Weekend.  We packed up on Friday and traveled to Comstock Lake for a couple days of cabin fun with each other and the dogs (Holly, Helen, Rainie and Keltie).  The fun included some delicious food (always), pontoon ride, kayaking (for some of us, including Helen), mancala, campfire, a surprize fireworks display, rainy night conversation in the screen house, shopping in the big city of Cotton and the highlight – a pontoon ride with a toast to our dear friend Tessie as we dispersed a small portion of her ashes into the wind and waves of Comstock Lake.

Our pontoon ride was a quiet motoring around the lake to a little bay with a cabin, one which Tess use to visit as a child.  We heard frequently the fond memories of that cabin and the shoreline it rests on.  After a few words, Kristie opened the small container and spread Tess into the wind and lake.  All of us sat quietly for a spell processing in our own thoughts how we could have possibly found ourselves here to be doing this.  We had brought an ice cold beer to share as we shared memories, many of them.

I am going to be a boostful mom and brag about my girl Holly.  She was such a good girl – running and racing against her friends, swimming and keeping an eye on her little buddy, Helen, checking in with me periodically to get some loving (and a few treats) and staying in the yard well within the boundaries of our expectations so that we know she is safe.  All of this without having her training collar on – what I now call her ‘hearing aids’ because when she wears it, she can hear so much better!

I speak of how comforting and precious my time with the Girls is to me, but I would be remiss if I did not point out these same values are equally cherished by our dogs.  Holly, Helen, Rainie and Keltie – these four girls are a pack of friends built from history and experiences, trust and companionship.   If I had to pick which group, Girls or Dogs,  is the role model for the other, I doubt I would get it right!

The fun is front and center for the Girls and our dogs.  What fuels the fun?  The friendship, the love and the respect.  I think we landed on it being 8 years for our Girls Cabin Trip tradition.   It’s likely next year we will discuss it again, and that the number may be 10, 12, 6 or perhaps 9.   Looking at Holly, it occurs to me that she is not counting years or keeping track of traditions.  She just feels the warmth and lives in its blissfullness.  Who’s the role model?