A New Lake

On vacay at a secret lakeside location. I’ve never seen such clean, pure water. Even when it’s 6′ deep, I can see the sand. The water is often so calm that it looks flat. It is perfect for swimming. Nothing on the lake bottom but sand, rocks, some random green lake plants. Lakeweed?

It is totally different swimming in a lake, especially such a clean lake. With my goggles I can see everything, like in the pool, but the lake is endless so I can swim fast or slowly. I can float on my back and feel the sun warm on my face. So much space, no hurry, no reason to ever get out of the water.

Some days there is a haze over the water, smoke from Canadian wildfires. Other days there is a fog that rises around the lake. I had to drive through it on my way to the cabin. It was eery driving in the wee hours, surrounded by the forest, listening to iTunes and worrying that if I stopped on the empty road I’d be killed by wild animals or zombie people who would flood to my car from behind the trees. Too many scary movies. More on the journey later.

The day I arrived, at 6am, I couldn’t find the cabin, so I wondered onto the beach at the adjacent campground. The lake was entirely still, the water 100% clear. The serenity of the moment was soothing even as I was shaking from staying up all night driving. I wanted to take off my clothes and swim out into the water, but I was worried it would wake me up. I desperately needed and wanted to sleep.

First Swim

I was testing some gear on my vacay, a yellow swim buoy and some goggles. I asked my friend’s son to get a snap of me swimming, but he shot a little video instead, which I’ve posted here.

The swim buoy is so handy. I can keep all my essentials with me (and dry): inhaler, bottle of water. I can also use it like a kick board. I never swam that far from shore, but with a large yellow buoy, people in boats can see me.

Just the sound of my hands stroking the water is so relaxing to me. It hits me on a deep level, like this water is the safest place I could ever be.

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