Big Fun In The Summer Time...

I guess one could call this weekend #2 of the "Official" Summer Season here on Iyopawa Island and it is now thank goodness...officially COMPLETE. No more golf carts jammed full of kids careening around at all hours of the day and night in addition to just being very crowded and noisy....long waits for a tee time at the golf course


Don't get me wrong, I long ago accepted that is the way it is when you live here full time. And there is an excitement about all the activity too...the summer people do bring a new and different energy and it just takes some getting used too. But Sunday nights are always really cool...things settle down and it is completely peaceful again. Even during the Summer when some folks spend weeks at a time here the week days themselves are still much more mellow, peaceful even.


I have always loved this place...it was my favorite place to be as a boy and that hasn't changed though the island itself has changed a great deal. It has gone from 50 small quaint cottages, lot's of woods, golf course etc. to what it is now...a Summer play land for the extremely Wealthy, mainly from Ft Wayne Indiana and a few from Toledo, Ohio...both places are about an hour or so away. 

The cottages have mostly all been torn down now and replaced with million dollar 'summer" homes...Ferrari's, Mercedes, Lexus and BMW's are the vehicles of choice. My family isn't the only "Old Island" family but there are not many of us left. In 1995 my parents sold their home in Worthington, Ohio (a Northern suburb of Columbus) and built their retirement home here. It is a very nice place and it does really look wonderful on all the lots we've managed to keep through the years. But my folk's regular home is dwarfed by some of these "summer" joints....still, it's all good and still one of the more unique places to live that I've ever known.


It is a bit disturbing though to see some of the greed and excess on display. Mere children of 8, 9 years of age having their own tricked out golf carts complete with CD Player at their disposal at all hours of the day and night. It has actually gotten to the point where it is dangerous...I really believe a lot of these so called parents use golf carts and jet ski's to baby sit their kids (In other words...keep them amused and out of the way) so they can party, flirt and fornicate their summer days away! I don't even want to joke about doing a reality show because someone might actually do it.


But when all is said and done...I love living here and being part of this unique culture. How many people can say that they live on a beautiful , large natural inland lake that is connected to a half dozen other lakes by channels AND the 6th Fairway of a Golf Course? Often during certain times of the day during the week it is like having your own private course all to your self...amazing.


Just walking around this place can be inspiring because the old growth trees are all here...200 year old Oaks, towering above everyone and everything...it's just really, really cool. 


Well I am going to end this piece on that happy note about the trees. Have a lovely Sunday evening, Good Night.


Photo: Kathy Tomson