Rowing the Boat

While we didn’t have money for luxuries in our family, my mother always made sure we had two weeks of vacation.

When we were young, it used to be a small cabin at the back of the lot where the Williams had their cottage. This was at Lake Simcoe. The cabin was actually quite a distance from the beach. We walked barefoot along the hot, tarred surface. At night we used to listen to old radio programs, reading our comic books until we fell asleep.

Then my brother married a girl from the town of Rosseau. Her parents had a cottage near the town and they rented it to us. Compared to the cabin, it was paradise. Right next-door was Lady Eaton’s place. You would be hard-pressed to call it a cottage. Funny, though, in the few years we went there, we never saw anybody. It’s too bad we aren’t there now. Martin Short owns the place now.

There was only one problem with staying at this place. We had no car. We would be dropped off on one weekend and somebody would come to pick us up a couple of weeks later.

Eventually we had to get supplies. The trip across the lake was a pretty long one. While there were canoes, they were considered too dangerous for crossing. If a power boat came near, it might tip it. So we used the trusty old row boat. By we, I mean my mother and me.

I must admit, before I started, I look across the lake and wondered how we were going to do it. It was pretty far to town.

However, my mom sat in the front of the boat and I commenced rowing, one stroke at a time. While we were crossing the lake, my mother would tell me stories, sing, and we would wave at the motorboats.

Sure enough, we eventually got to our destination. We did our shopping, hung around town a bit, dropped into say hello to our sister-in-law’s parents, bought the latest comic books for only 10 cents each, and got back into our rowboat to head home.

I learned a few things from this. One, if you don’t take the trip one stroke at a time, you will never reach your destination. Two, making the trip fun makes it a lot easier. Three, once you make the trip once, doing it again is easier.

In life, isn’t it that way most of the time? Success usually doesn’t come instantly. You have to keep on stroking towards your destination. However, if you are enjoying yourself and laughing, it makes it easier. And finally, once you have reached your destination, future goals will be easier to achieve.