RECORD STORE TALES #1188: I Wanna Be A Lifeguard: Long Weekend at the Lake – May 2025

Jen and I were fortunate enough to spend a long weekend at the cottage, arriving Thursday night (May 8).  As has been my goal for several seasons now, I try to do new things each time, when possible.  This time, it was something out of the box.

Having become more comfortable working from home thanks to the pandemic, I asked my bosses if I could work from home Thursday afternoon, saving me 30 minutes of commute time and accumulating traffic, and getting to the lake that much faster.

“That’s a great idea, you should do that,” came the first response.

“Why don’t you just work the whole day from home?” came the second.

I was pleased to receive so much support.  With that plan in motion, we hit the road at 4:30 sharp.

Unfortunately traffic was slow, and it took over two hours to get there, but imagine if we didn’t have that extra time.  Music on the way up included Sing the Sorrow by AFI, to prepare for that Saturday’s show with D’Arcy Briggs, an album in review.  Once we arrived, I hit the porch and rocked out to “I Wanna Be A Lifeguard” by Blotto.  I delighted in emailing Broadway Blotto the video footage.

With coffee and snacks in hand, we were well prepared for a great weekend.  Though cold, I did manage to spend a lot of time outdoors, with hoodie protecting me from the bitter breeze.  All the snow was gone now, though only recently.

The next morning I went for a fly down to the river with my drone, and captured some wonderful footage.

Music: Blue Rodeo – “Dragging On”

At 8:15 AM, we headed out to get the best choices of steaks at the Beef Way.  We chose two T-bones, some fry-pies, and for me, lake trout and duck legs.  The duck legs made for a tasty lunch that afternoon.  I wanted to do some kind of potato in duck fat, so I boiled two potatoes in hot water until they were soft, but still solid.  I then got a grooved aluminium tray, and laid slices of potato in the grooves.  I placed the seasoned legs on top and seasoned everything.  When the duck fat started to render, the potatoes fried in it, making them so crispy with a pleasant accent to the flavour.  In short, the best fries I ever made.  And the duck legs weren’t bad either.

Sometimes at the cottage when it’s cold, you have to force yourself to be outside, so I pulled out some old Transformers toys (some vintage, some reissues) and did some fun photos on the front porch.  I even experimented with filming one of the big ones from the air with my drone.

I had more changes to fly on the weekend, capturing incredible images of Lorne Beach, on the western coast of Lake Huron.  The footage was some of the nicest I’ve managed to take.

Music: Bruce Cockburn – “Lovers In A Dangerous Time”

It is always fun editing these drone videos to music.  This time it was all Canadian content and nothing too hard.  There’s a line in “Lovers In A Dangerous Time” that has long resonated with me:

“Nothing worth having comes without some kind of fight, got to kick at the darkness ’til it bleeds daylight.”

Playing the song on the front porch that afternoon, I dedicated the song to a couple of friends who are dealing with health struggles.  Raise your goblet and send some love to these friends.

I watched a lot of Doctor Who, ate too much meat, and had a great time feeling like a kid again.  There was one eerie moment of déjà vu, and I absolutely love when these moments come.  Usually the come when music was the trigger, but this time it was Doctor Who.  I was watching some classic Tom Baker era episodes on Tubi, on my laptop on the front porch.  As a kid, I always associated Doctor Who with Sunday nights.  There would be a few episodes to watch (either Jon Pertwee or Tom Baker) before bed time, and back to school the next morning.  As the day grew late and I started working on dinner, it felt like a Sunday night again.  Family dinner as the sun was getting low.  It was actually Friday, but the feeling of Sunday was uncanny.  Do you ever get the Sunday blues?  It was like that, but warmer because it was Friday and just a memory of happy childhood.

We didn’t see any wildlife, which was disappointing, but there’s always next time.

Seeking to avoid a Monday crash, I tried to place my mind in the right set.  We drove home without much talking, but a steady soundtrack of Kiss.  Rock and Roll Over, Love Gun, and Dynasty.  When I really need to feel good, Kiss are usually a good band to go to.  Nothing but good memories with Kiss.

As for the cottage, it is always sad saying goodbye, but we came home on Mother’s Day and had a nice visit with the folks, and a dinner on Dad.  We’ll be back soon enough.  And in fact, when we do return, we’ll be doing our first live episode of 50 Years of Iron Maiden from the cottage.  Little things like that get me excited.  I’ve already started packing.

Allons-y!

Check out the cottage video below.

Music:  Blotto – “I Wanna Be A Lifeguard”