In 1983, my wife and I decided we would try cabin life for a week.
My friend suggested a resort on Lake Belle Taine in Nevis, Minn. — and we'd go on to enjoy resort life for 17 years there.
I was looking through the paper one night and noticed a small "house" for sale directly across the lake from our resort. It was a 750-square-foot cabin on Muskie Bay built in 1970. Nothing had been done to it for 30 years. We acquired the cabin in May 2000. It got a new roof, multiple coats of paint inside and out; a new entrance, carpeting and kitchen flooring. Trees were cut down and the yard received a thorough cleaning. The lot was well-shaded with good undergrowth between neighbors. The yard was level down to the lake and the beach was hard white sand. We bought a pontoon boat and put on a deck facing the lake. Memories are many: Grandma's cooking, naps on the swing, pontoon rides to the sound of the resident loons, watching fireworks on Beauty Bay on July 4th, Our Lady of the Pines Catholic Church on Sunday mornings, watching the four grandkids jumping from the dock on Memorial Day weekend when the water was too cold even for the ducks, and so on. Some days were close to being in paradise — blue sky, gentle breeze, 80 degrees and a mirror-like lake! Life evolved, and in the spring of 2017 we put the cabin on Craigslist.
By Memorial Day, lake life had become 17 years of awesome memories.
Duane Crosland, Otsego
