I was born on a dock and wrapped in swaddling camouflage. That's what it feels like growing up enjoying three different cabins.

Our father built the first cabin at Cass Lake in the early '50s. Our second cabin was at Leech Lake, and now I enjoy the cabin paradise on an island, just out of Nestor Falls, Ontario, in Sabaskong Bay of Lake of the Woods.

It's so different being an islander. The logistics are challenging; you have to plan ahead. After all, the nearest grocery store is 10 miles away — by boat. I'm often up here alone with my dog, Walleye, and I'm careful not to fall and break something. One year, my parents were up to the island, and Dad had a heart attack. My mother couldn't drive the boat, so she comforted him all night long. The next morning she waved at the first boat that came by. She discovered that they were all emergency medical technicians from the nearest hospital. What luck!

Of course I love to fish, and it can be hot or cold. One day you wonder if there are any fish in the lake, and the next day, you can't pull the walleyes in fast enough. This is the best place in Canada to catch muskies, and I've caught muskies just by accident.

Over time, we've had so many pets on the island that I named it Pet Rock back in the '80s. And there is just something special about an island. So special in fact, that my mother wrote a book about it.

I live on a remote lake near Ely. So for me, it's like going from one cabin to the next, and back. I don't have to be told how lucky I am. And being around cabins, boats and water all my life is what inspired me to write my own book, "What's In Your Boathouse? Amazing Stories of Nautical Archeology."

Bob Matson, Ely