I can’t seem to navigate from point A to point B. Is it all in my head? Neuroscience weighs in. As the stands of trembling aspen burst into green leafy life behind the cottage, I head off on my daily walk. Walking in the woods is good for my mind, body, and soul. It’s meditation in motion, and I pre...
04 December, 2018
Every year our whole family looks forward to summer at the lake. But, this year, there’s one crucial difference This spring, it will not be business as usual at the lake. My father, the man who built the cabin, took care of the landscaping, maintained and gassed up the boat, and stacked the firewood...
04 December, 2018
Forget fancy private school. Long, lazy days at the lake may be the best education your kids get all year. “We dissected Chris!” my seven-year-old niece, Jocelyn, squealed over the phone, leaning heavily on the second word. She was calling from my parents’ cabin on Lac Ste. Anne, Alta. And while Joc...
04 December, 2018
Editorial Note from Winter 2017, Cottage Life West It’s that time of the year again…when a woman’s thoughts turn to her woodpile. Or, at least, this woman’s thoughts do. Have I collected enough throughout the year to last me until spring? Did I split enough “small stuff” to coax a roaring fire until...
29 December, 2017
From Issue #10, Eighteen Bridges, Spring 2017 Thousands of seeds are locked in a frozen mountain in Norway to protect our global food supply. Should we be worried? Our writer bundles up to visit the Svalbard Global Seed Vault. Svalbard Global Seed Vault. Photograph: Crop Trust As my flight la...
09 May, 2017
Westerlies Cottage Life West, Spring 2017 Many years ago, my parents and their longtime cottaging friends came up with a way to get competitive about the arrival of spring. Each side—they literally live across the water from one another—casts a few bets on the date that the lake ice will “go out.” W...
27 January, 2017
The Best Tips for Stocking Your Woodpile Norwegian tree feller Lars Mytting gives us the lowdown on wood. By Jennifer Cockrall-King | enRoute magazine Dec 2016 You don’t need heavy liquor all the time. Sometimes beer is fine,” author Lars Mytting jokes as we enter his woodshed in the little t...
03 December, 2016
Three-ring Meal By JENNIFER COCKRALL-KING I sat frozen, wanting to reach for my wine. My extremities had long ago been numbed by the cold but the syrah was icing over. With two layers of thermal underwear, a parka, and wearing my puffiest down-filled winter mittens, every manoeuver required precisio...
01 December, 2015
The world’s finest avant-garde chefs descend on Alberta And find an underrated food wonderland Jennifer Cockrall-King Cook It Raw Alberta chefs share an afternoon picnic lunch of roast duck and charcuterie with founder and director, Alessandro Porcelli at Upper Kananaskis Lake. Chefs L to R: ...
03 October, 2015
