I try to be a live in the moment kind of person, but on this early March day, the temperatures are already in the 40’s and they are predicting 60’s before the sun goes down. My thoughts are going to summer ahead.
My daughter and her husband have a resort in Tenstrike Minnesota on Gull Lake. The name of it is Birch Haven Resort and it is one of the links my son put on my blog cite. Check it out.
Bernie and I like to go up there to help out. For us doing resort work is an adventure and at our age, it keeps us in shape. Birch Haven is an older Mom ‘n Pop kind of place, reminding me of the resorts Bernie and I brought our family to when our children were young. There were lots of repair and remodelling needs when Jerry and Katy bought it 8 years ago. Jerry is mister fix-it guy extraordinaire and Bernie loves working with hammer and nail. His brother Rich likes remodeling, too, and his specialty is electricity. He is also a scrounger and has found great deals on windows and flooring through a Habitat for Humanity Restore. With the three of them and Jerry’s sons, there have been some amazing improvements in the cabins. As a result of their work, guests enjoy beautiful knotty pine interiors and new windows that open the views to the lake where they can enjoy the sunsets. Families that return year after year are excited about the remodeling of “their” summer homes.
I help Kate with cleaning cabins. Over the years, I have slowed down and I can’t handle as much work as I did early on, but Kate’s two girls, Maddie and Emma, now teens, are stepping up to the plate. So my main task is laundering the sheets. Sometimes I take them home to wash, other times I do them at a laundromat in Bemidji.
My favorite task is organizing stuff and there was a massive amount of organizing to do when they took the business over. I like throwing things away and recycling reusable stuff. I like sorting and moving things around so each thing has a home. I also like ordering Jerry around to build shelves and hang hooks as I need them.
Work is not without end at the resort. There is time for walking, fishing, and schmoozing with guests. The best part is watching the families. It is fun to watch the children making sand castles on the beach and splashing around in the clear lake or play “flying squirrel” on the old fashioned merry-go-round. (Not good from grandmothers to watch) They love the sand bag swing, especially. Older kids and adults enjoy volleyball and shuffleboard, the paddle boats or kayak. There is the ice cream cones and old-fashioned candy from the lodge, morning coffee chats and later laughing about old times over beer. There are the cruises on the pontoon and the pot-lucks where families in various cabins push their tables together. And of course, fishing. The most social place on the place is the fish-cleaning house.
Can’t wait. Has your family made plans for summer yet? Check out Birch Haven Resort.com. Come on up. Bernie and I will be there, too.
How’s that for a commercial?