As I write this, I’m concluding a very special time in my life - the end of a ten-week holiday that took me to eight countries, four U.S. states and two Canadian provinces. In the course of my adventures, some of which I’ll be sharing with you in the next couple of issues, I drove over four thousand miles, hiked, biked, golfed, rafted, ran, read, relaxed and reflected. And now, well-rested and quite broke, I’m ready to return to work.
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Along the way I encountered a number of people who were amazed at the generosity of my employer, Sun Media, in granting me a fully-paid eight-week "sabattical" as a reward for another ten years’ of service. (I tacked a couple of weeks’ regular holiday time on the end to prolong the bliss.)
But the rationale and method behind the benefit is a win-win for everyone - it doesn’t cost the company a dime because everybody else pitches in to do your job while you’re gone, mindful of the fact it’s going to be their turn one day. Your co-workers get some insight into your duties while you get a well-deserved break.
While some expressed envy for this fringe benefit, an unexpected number were skeptical of its value. "I couldn’t be away from work that long," a gent from Dallas told me in a restaurant in Rome. "They couldn’t get along without me. Heck, I’d miss it." I’ll bet he’s got a bumper sticker on his car that reads "I’d rather be working."
One of the sadder byproducts of the past decade of downsizing, rightsizing or - my personal favourite - "normal involuntary attrition," is an increase in the number of people clutching more grimly to their jobs. Managers used to brag about the number of people reporting to them - today they try to "one-down" each other by comparing how much holiday time they’ve blown off.
Don’t get me wrong - I enjoy my job, and I’m actually itching to get back to it, even if that itch is well scratched by lunchtime the first day. But I know that when my life flashes before my eyes at the end of the reel, it’ll be moments like the snowy day this April Charlene and I scaled the mountain to see Neuschwanstein Castle, or the white-water rafting we did for the first time this May in Oregon, or mornings on the shore of Georgian Bay that I’ll be cherishing.
So this is for all you workaholics out there staying in the city this weekend while your family retreats to the cottage. Go now, go early and go often. Nobody ever went to their grave wishing they’d worked just one more day.
Thank you. Now I’ll shut up and get back to work.
Glenn Garnett/Editor, CottageLink Magazine
What’s up with that neighbour of yours at the lake? He paved his driveway, chopped down most of the trees and put in a cement dock big enough to handle an aircraft carrier. You can laugh at him from the comfort of your hammock, but going toe-to-toe with Mother Nature can have regrettable consequences. We look at natural shorelines in story 1.
That neighbour probably has an annoying kid who whips around the lake on one of those noisy personal water crafts (PWCs). Well, there’s good news - new boating regs say unless he’s sixteen, he’s gotta watch from shore. But don’t be too smug - as we tell you in story 2, these changes will affect everyone.
Speaking of PWCs, there’s more good news - a new generation of quieter, less polluting craft are on the way and that’s great for enthusiasts, the neighbours who hate them and an industry suffering from falling sales. Scot Magnish reports in story 3.
Finally, being thin-skinned can make your life miserable. But in the case of frog and toad species the world over, it can be fatal as populations plummet thanks to their susceptibility to chemicals, to say nothing of disappearing habitats. Naturalists have put out a call for cottagers and kids to keep an eye - and ear - out for frogs. That’s in story 4.
We’ll take you to the wild, wild west in Oregon, with scenic, craggy mountains, raging rivers and spectacular redwood forests. We’re also going to take a look at white water rafting and take a peek at species of bug-eating plants. All this and more in the fall issue.
If you have any comments or suggestions on articles you’d like to see in CottageLink Magazine, just drop me a line at cggarnett@telus.net. Remember - this is your magazine!
Cover photo: Man in hammock, Algonquin Provincial Park
© Peter Christopher/Wonderfile www.wonderfile.com
