The "siding" of the shed was made from those sheets of aluminum that our local newspaper used for printing somehow or other, and we bought really cheap to cover the shed frame. There was a tiny wood stove that we paid about twenty dollars for that occupied one corner of the shed and kept us from freezing and losing fingers to frostbite after checking our fishing traps (we thought it was fun back then). A window on each of three sides gave us the perfect view to watch for flags after we finished setting out our traps.
We'd pack up the truck every Saturday or Sunday morning with all of our equipment, firewood, and food and head out to the lake. I'd haul an entire meal out with us on our sled and cook over the tiny wood stove while the kids fished, explored the lake or ice skated on a shoveled off area. And of course there was cribbage for the grown ups. I don't ever recall catching an extraordinary amount of fish, but we always had a great time together. Exhausted by the end of the day, we would all load up the sled and trudge off the ice on foot, no snowmobile in our budget. We'd barely have the truck warmed up and the kids would be sound asleep for the entire trip home. This would continue throughout the long, cold winter months in Maine for our family and many others. Then spring would arrive and we would haul the shed back off the ice for another year.
Now winter means something different to me than it used to. As I get older, I enjoy staying indoors during the winter months, cozy and warm. Go ahead and call me soft, and I'll say "Yes" emphatically. Yes I am.
I'm so looking forward to those first spring days when I can bundle up and find a nice sunny spot out of the biting spring wind and take my sketch pad or my kindle outside to draw or read and enjoy the fresh air with the warm sun on my face.
But it's good to have those great memories. I'm so glad that we had those times together.
Photo on Echo Lake 1984
thats just the way I remember it too, fun
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