The cottage is in Ontario, Canada, seven miles from the Manitoba border. It's about 120 miles east of Winnipeg, if that helps you picture where it is.

Moth Lake is a long, narrow lake right beside the Trans Canada Highway. It's about 2.5 miles long but only 1/4 mile wide and has five small islands on it. There are only 22 cottages on the lake and they're all on one side so as you look out across the lake from the cottage, all you see is nature.

The cottage itself used to be pretty primitive and it still isn't fancy. But it now has the basic amenities like electricity, an indoor flush toilet, a bathtub and shower, drinkable water (out of one filtered tap anyway) and recently it acquired a small washer and dryer. It still doesn't have a TV or VCR, but so far nobody seems to miss them too much.

Activities at the cottage center mostly around the lake. The lake water is fairly chilly but floating out in inner tubes on a hot summer day is pretty sweet. There's a barge (basically a motorized dock with a gazebo on it) that is great for leisurely cruising or even dinners on the lake. It's a great place to fish from too. We've also got a windsurfer and a small sailboat for use if the wind is blowing (and it frequently is). But my favorite vehicle for exploring the lake is by cedar strip canoe. Our dog loves to go canoeing too. He's a bit of a hazard as he likes to stand up on the sides of the canoe, particularly when he spots a beaver swimming nearby. He hasn't tipped us over yet, but it's probably only a matter of time.
The fishing is pretty good at the lake. Northern pike, bass, and walleye are your choices. I didn't try my hand at fishing until 1997, but I'm getting the hang of it. During my first week I caught this 39 inch northern pike that weighed 14 pounds. Talk about your beginner's luck! Some people don't like to eat pike, as they have a lot of little bones. But they taste great and when they're this big the bones are easy to pick out.

When you're at the cottage, it almost doesn't matter what the rest of the world is doing. There's no reason to wear a watch and it's easy to forget what day of the week it is. Not that it really matters much anyway. I guess some people would find it very boring being so cut off from the world, but we love it. Reading by the fireplace on the screened-in porch is hard to beat. It's a relaxing place. Sometimes too relaxing!

The countryside is undeveloped, consisting mostly of forests and small lakes in all directions. There are lots of wild blueberries to pick when they ripen, in mid-July or so.

Animal life is abundant. Black bears, deer, beavers, otters, foxes, rabbits, squirrels, and even the occasional bald eagle are seen. Several families of loons make the lake their home and hearing them call in the evening is always enchanting. It's a hoot to watch them run across the surface of the lake as they build up enough speed to finally lift off.