My first ever hair stye

So it was only 50 years ago this summer I was working at a resort lodge on an island on Lake Temagami in Northern Ontario. I was the junior bartender and occasional dock boy. It was the Manito Lodge. It was a great job. I had just finished high school and this was the summer before going to journalism school.  This is a postcard of the Manito. 

One day I enjoyed a day off and went into town to get a haircut. I had to hitchhike everywhere back then, so it always  took some extra time.

When I found a hair shop in Temagami, I asked the guy for a haircut. My hair was always a bit longer those days and I had lots of hair. He convinced me I should get a hair style. I didn't know what to say. I had never had my hair styled. This would involve washing it, cutting it and then styling it. It would cost a few extra dollars, but I figured let's do it. So about an hour later, I paid the man and was quite pleased with my new style. It looked good. It looked cool. Not rockstar cool, but still okay. 

I stayed in town to have a beer and then hitchhiked back down the Temagami Mine Access Road where I would reach the boat dock.

It took about an hour or so and when I walked to the end of the dock, there were a few older guys there. I asked them where they were going. They said they wanted to get to the Manito lodge, but the boat was not around. I walked over to the phone hut, which was the way to contact the lodge. The old phone was a crank style. So I cranked the phone half a dozen times which should have sounded the ringer on the phone in the bar, at the lodge.  No answer. I cranked again, and again.  

It was like we were all stranded on the mainland and could not get over to the island, about 400 metres away on the lake. 

I had no choice. I stripped down, taking off my sneakers, my socks, and shirt. I left my jeans on. Then I jumped into the lake and began swimming. I was young, 18 and a strong swimmer. The lake was warm and I knew there was a marker buoy about halfway with a big rock just below the surface, if I needed to rest.

As things turned out, I got to the island in about 10 minutes. I climbed onto the dock. Some of the guests were surprised to see me and I walked up to the bar. 

Stan, my boss, was there and asked why I was soaking wet. I explained the situation about guests waiting at the mainland dock. We both looked at the bar phone. It was off the hook.

I grabbed the boat keys and went down to the pontoon boat and fired up the engine. In about five minutes I was back at the mainland dock and the guests there were happy to see me. 

They were polite and I wasn't sure if they recognized me. My cool hairstyle had disappeared.