They say water has no memory, but I’d be willing to place legitimate money on the belief that the waters of Candle Lake, Saskatchewan have some form of lasting, cohesive brain matter that retains a lot of the memories I’ve made there as a kid and we’ve made as a collective family.
I’ve brought up this popular summer vacation spot quite a number of times through the years, and all of it done for good reason. But this week, I’m feeling more than a little nostalgic as I think about all the times we spent with Mom, so please bear with me as I retreat back into my childhood and share some memories of years gone by with the woman who was ultimately responsible for providing it all to us.
But first, a short little education course on Candle Lake. That is, if I haven’t provided one before to you in years gone by, Dear Reader…
The resort village of Candle Lake is located roughly 45 minutes northeast of Prince Albert. Approximately 800 or so people call the village home year-round, but that population skyrockets to more than ten times this size in the summer months. Featuring a wide variety of fish, the lake is a prime fishing spot, but the cool thing about Candle I’ve always liked is the fact that the entire area sits on the edge of the northern boreal forest in Saskatchewan. Suffice to say, it’s capable of being quite a zoo, depending on the time of the year. Keeping my eye on all things Candle thanks to Facebook, I routinely see posts from residents where they’ve seen bears, wolves, or a family of lynx at different neighborhoods in the area. Hey, if you’re going to live in the North, you’re going to share the land you call home with lots of animals who are also doing the same. Do the research, keep your distance, and stay safe.
Okay, enough with the schooling. Let’s get on to some memories.
I’m usually so good with this, but my family went to Candle Lake so often when I was growing up that I can’t even remember how old I was when we started going up there. What I DO remember are the car rides to get there. We’d make pretty good time, not even having to stop in Saskatoon for anything, but we would make a stop or two in Prince Albert. Grocery runs in order to stock the cabin, from what I can remember.
I also remember arriving to the cabin, how excited my brothers and I would be. It was my Aunt Hazel (Mom’s sister) and Uncle Keith’s cabin, used by all sorts of family through the years. There are many hunting and fishing stories that can be told around a kitchen table with a couple of cocktails in hand, if you’re looking for a good laugh down memory lane.
We’d arrive at the cabin and toss our bags on the couches or the beds, effectively claiming them as sleeping quarters, then we’d have to help Mom and Dad with the groceries and supplies in order to keep the cabin stocked for our stay. As soon as we were done with that, BOOM, swim trunks would get pulled on in probably record time and it was time to hit the lake. I’ll tell you, and without a shadow of a lie, I still get a little bit giddy and a smile breaks across my 35-year old face today when I first see that glimmering body of water for the first time. I don’t know what it is, Candle Lake just has a certain…‘hold’ on me, I guess is the best way I can explain it.
My brothers and I would swim while Mom would just get her feet wet to cool them off. She was good with just soaking in some sun, shades over her face, watching her boys or talking with Dad, who also would just dip his feet in the water and only after some coercing from his boys. Then we’d leave the water, get into some fresh dry clothes and maybe go hit up the mini golf, or rent some movies from the general store, or take a walk around to see if we could see some wildlife, or we’d help Mom with making supper. Those trips weren’t about spending exorbitant amounts of money in order to have fun; they were about getting away from the normal, daily grind of it all and enjoying the simple things. It just so happened that those simple things were fun as hell.
We did that for Lord knows how many summers, and then it ended with the last trip in 2000. We were getting older, just getting interested in different things, and so we went on different summer trips and experiences. No big deal. It would be 11 years before I would reconnect with Candle Lake. Fall in love all over again. Gain a new perspective. Starting then, I’d make a stop at Candle every summer. I’d get older each year and with each year, I’d get that same ‘itch’ to return. Take a swim, play some golf, see some sights, take some photos, do some remembering.
By 2018, things in our family had changed. Us three boys were in our 30’s, grown adults now, and Dad had sadly passed away five years earlier in 2013. But we had an idea come to our heads in September of that year: why not rent a cabin up at Candle Lake to spend Christmas up north? The idea seemed far-fetched, virtually unreachable due to the sheer fact that it was a great idea, and it sometimes seems as if the stars have to align just right for such a cool thing to happen in this family. But it happened. In December 2018, the Ruttles (and one girl named Long) packed their bags, their gifts, and enough food to feed a small army and headed for Candle. We stayed at a gorgeous cabin in a quiet subdivision area, and Mom was just elated. You couldn’t pry the smile off her face with a razor-sharp spatula. She finally had her Christmas cabin in the woods, something she could cross off her bucket list, and she had her family. Memories were made. Life was good.
I’ll always remember the last time we were at Candle Lake. It was Labor Day weekend in 2019. Mom and Brendon hopped in the SUV and I drove us up there for the day. It was Mom’s first time back at Candle in the summertime since 2000, and I could see the memories come flooding back to her as soon as I pulled up to the water. Good memories. Memories of her family, her growing kids, her husband. Great times. We spent the day seeing the sights and enjoying all of it, Mom regaling us with her memories of the place in years past. I loved hearing about every moment.
Today, the cabin we enjoyed as kids is no longer there, just an empty lot since last summer. Hazel and Keith are no longer here. Dad is no longer with us. Now, Mom has passed on too. The years have taken their toll and they’ll continue to do so, we just have to press on and make the most with who we have in our lives. That’s the thing about life and time: it never stops. Make the most out of every moment.
I’ll remember that last line more than ever these days.
For this week, that’s been the Ruttle Report.
