Move to Trash

This past winter I had the fortuitous opportunity for a five-week sojourn in the other hemisphere, more specifically, Australia. In February and March it’s 25C to 30C there (i.e., a Down Under summer) and after my first week of outdoor living, mostly in Sydney’s Northern Beaches, it was a place I could easily call home.

So, while sipping my daily cup of java in a gentle breeze with an ocean view, I began to think about “where is home?” And once we find it, what makes it “home?” Our roots, our memories, our sense of belonging?

This time of year many Canadians, especially Manitobans are “going to the lake” in that annual pilgrimage that begins in May and ends in October, except for those who live lakeside year-round.

So what makes us feel so at home at the lake or in warmer climes?

For a lot of people, I think it’s the call of the mild, a peaceful wilderness slightly wilder than our urban jungles but far from anywhere remote or truly dangerous.  A home at the lake, beach or in the woods offers a place to settle down, and settle in, if only for a few weeks.

For me, I’m easily taken in by a place’s natural beauty and elemental design and feel immediately at ease in the great outdoors – in any country – but especially in Canada’s lake country. Water, rocks and trees just make me feel good. (I experienced the same thing in Australia, but the bodies of water, trees and cliffs were generally bigger than those here.)

As the editor of The Cottager magazine, I get to spend a lot of time in lake country, and visit people at their full-time waterfront homes or seasonal abodes.

As people head en masse to the lake under warm summer skies—to retreat, revisit or reconnect— I wonder if it feels like they’re returning home?

Perhaps in our super-mobile world we now have many places that we call “home.”

Maybe home is wherever you hang your hat… or your bikini.

Where is home for you?

Photo: Alex Proimos on Flickr via a Creative Commons License