Summer Lovin'

For as long as I can remember, or my dad can remember, or his mother could remember (if she was still living), our family has been vacationing in Michigan during every summer. This tradition began around 1910, when my great aunt went to resort on Silver Lake with a friend. The Dunning's were living in Chicago at the time, which is only a three hour drive south from the Silver Lake sand dunes. (yes Dunning is my father's first name, but it was a maiden name at one point. We like to recycle last names as first names. I think it's an old money thing. JK!) Anyway, she liked it so much that she convinced her parents into going the next summer, and they like it so much that they bought a one-room fishing hut and a piece of property.

One winter the fishing hut was moved across the frozen lake to the other side, where it would remain until the early nineties. You are reading that right. We lived in the original "cottage" summer after summer for almost 80 years. My grandparents added a kitchen, an extra bedroom, a bathroom, and a sunroom over the years, making it as cozy as a cardboard box. I remember watching mice run up and down the doorjams at night. It had lots of character. Oh, and did I mention the "mammy's quarters" out back? My dad's cousin Mac (short for McCormick, another maiden name), lost his parents when he was really young, so he had an African-American nanny. She and Bradley, my grandfather's "handy man", had to stay out back in an even smaller shack. It still sits out there to this day. We now affectionately call it the "Betty Lou", named after my grandmother Elizabeth Louise.

In the early nineties we tore down the "cottage" and built the "cabin". It still isn't finished. We do one big project every year. It's getting closer, but in my opinion it doesn't really matter if it ever gets finished. One of the reasons we like it so much is that we are so relaxed up there. Time seems to stop. You live in your swimsuit. You eat blueberry pancakes every morning, made with the blueberries that you picked. When you do finally wake up, it's by the sound of your cousins walking in, and the screen door slamming. During the day you live in your suit and your towel, making frequent trips across the lake to the sand dunes or to Lake Michigan if the waves are big. To watch the sunset at night you bundle up in jeans and sweatshirts. You always make an ice-cream run to Whippy Dip, frequented by George Went who plays Norm on Cheers. At least once, maybe twice you race your cousins in go-carts at Craig's Cruisers followed by a beating at bumper-cars across the street, all that after you've been dominated at putt-putt by yours truly. Then more Whippy Dip. Oh, and you have ride a dune scooter ride at Mac Woods, and later that night return to the dunes to take the flag.



So you see, it doesn't matter if the cabin is ever finished. We will always enjoy our time there. Together. Family, and the occasional friend. I hope you all get to go sometime. But more than that, I hope you get to have traditions similar to these with your families. And if you don't, it's not to late to start them. It doesn't have to be an 18 hour drive to a vacation spot every summer. It could be anything. Make traditions. Your kids will thank you.