My Cabin: Family, Fun & Laughter

Around 1934, my father Harold H. Wilkings and some of his friends built our small cabin – two rooms and a loft – on Lake Superior’s Misery Bay in Toivola, Mich. It was where my brother, Kenny, and I spent much of our youth, and it’s now where my husband, Sonny, and I live full-time.

Through the years, I have accumulated many memories and stories at our cabin home. Kenny and I had several pets, but our favorite was Bucky, the coyote. Daddy was a hunter and a trapper when he wasn’t logging, and one day he brought home an orphaned coyote pup for us to raise. He didn’t even have his eyes open yet. I carried him around in a blanket like a little doll until he grew too large, and he slept in the loft with me. Mom and Dad would let him run during the day. Mom would call his name, and he would howl in response before shortly returning home.

We had to walk two and a half miles to school, in sunshine and in snow. There was a total of 24 students in six grades, all taught by one teacher. Almost all of us were related to one another.

We had nothing, but yet, we had everything a person could ask for: a very simple life, a beautiful little cabin, and Lake Superior less than 100 feet away!

When I was 9 years old, we moved to California, but we continued to spend summers at the Michigan cabin. It was great for getting away from our hectic city lives, and we enjoyed the precious moments we spent in our special cabin. Sonny and I kept the summer tradition alive even after our children and grandchildren were born.

In 2007, the entire family came together at the cabin for the first time. On a particularly windy day, the fellas stubbornly (and foolishly) decided to take the rowboat out on Lake Superior and head towards Misery River, approximately one and a half miles up the shore towards Wolf Point. As they tried to set out, the waves fought against them. Our daughter-in-law Teresa pushed the boat out from shore while I took pictures. Sonny, our son Tim, and our grandkids Chelsea and David were in the boat. The harder Teresa pushed, the more the waves seemed to push against the small boat. We were all laughing, but I have never heard our son Tim laugh so hard! The waves finally tossed the boat onto the shore – where it stuck in the sand – nearly one half mile up the shore. It was a comical sight!

Then evening came, and it was s’mores-roasting time around the bonfire. What a wonderful day!

EDITOR’S NOTE: Many states have laws against keeping wild animals as pets. If you find an injured or orphaned animal, contact your local natural resources department or wildlife rehabilitation center for more info.