Cabin
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Welcome to Birch Lake (Sandy with each of our grandsons).
The cabin on Birch Lake has been in Jodie's family since 1965. She bought it from her folks in 1972. In fact, Jodie always said that the reason Sandy married her was because she owned the cabin: the first time he saw it, he absolutely fell in love with it! He probably fell in love with the cabin before he fell in love with her! It is a very special place and there are so many memories associated with it. Sandy proposed to Jodie at the cabin and . . .
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in 1984, they were married at the cabin!
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After they got married, her family worried that Sandy might feel bad that all the signs at the cabin still indicated it was Jodie's cabin. Since their friends in the Cities called them "McErikson," it was only to be expected that the signs would be changed. The left view shows the sign on the dock facing the bay. The middle one is from the dock towards the main part of the lake and the right is a gorgeous sunrise from the beach side of the point.
In 1979, Jodie's seven-year-old nephew came back from Arkansas to Minnesota with her to spend time at the cabin. They took a boat ride up the lake, had a fire and cooked lunch over an open fire with Cousin David and Grammy. Her nephew decided that it would be fun to build a fire circle and the two of them spent many hours digging up rocks to build it.
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That vacation they had many "council fires" at the spot and the tradition has continued since then. The top photo shows him as a child enjoying the hot dog on the fire at a spot on the lake with his Grammy and Cousin David.
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The left photo is of him as a young man with all of us and his "new" wife (all of us much older) at the cabin. The right photo shows him twenty-seven years later with his own son roasting a marshmallow at the outdoor fireplace at the cabin. It was his son's first trip to the cabin--so fires have come full "circle" for him.
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In 2005 we had both grandsons at the cabin separately. On the left, Grandpa and our older grandson discuss fishing as they sit together by the fire. On the left our younger grandson supervises Grandpa's cooking of the "gourmet meal" of hot dogs. So--the fire circle is enjoyed by all of us in many different ways.
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On the left, Jodie's nephew and family enjoy the children's first visit to the cabin in 2005. On the right, we all pose for the usual group photo.
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On the left, our great-niece entertains herself with a bucket of sand and on the right our great-nephew poses on the rock that he insisted on climbing!
In 2003, our son-in-law decided that he wanted to take their two boys on a canoe trip. Grandma Jodie (aka "Grandma Fishing") worried about him alone in the Boundary Waters with two young boys and insisted that they camp on Birch Lake. They started off from the cabin and went around the island. The boys thought they were "far way," when, in reality, they were within shouting distance of the cabin.
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Here is Grandma with the campers. She brought in supper one night for all to share. Many memories were formed during those three days!
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As they leave for the canoe trip, they wave to Grandma.
