Thursday, April 20, 2006

at the lake, at the lake, where i made a great mistake

i remembered the snacks, the drinks, and even remembered the squirt guns. i remembered the sand toys, the water wings, and even remembered a book. i got the towels, the blankets, the warm, dry clothes for apres-swim. but what i forgot was the camera, my great mistake, so our first trip to the lake this season has gone woefully unrecorded. we will have to keep it in our memories instead.

the day was supposed to be 77F and partly cloudy, with a 0% chance of rain. unfortunately, it turned out to be 66F and totally overcast, with a few sprinkles here and there. me, personally, i think those make for the best beach days, but that's probably from my upbringing on the shores of lake michigan (summers) where most days are cloudy and cool!

we'll remember the damp, earthy smell floating in off jordan lake. we'll remember the odor of pine and barbeque wafting in from the woods and picnic shelter where a large family was celebrating spring break. we'll feel the cold tile of the changing room on our bare feet, and the rough clay-sand of the beach. h will remember the clumps of native clay he found while digging a hole. s will remember the uncrustable sandwich she ate.

our friends nicole, vincent and hollyn joined us, and together we played on the playground, dug a lake with dams; teeth chattering the whole time from wet bodies made blue by cool wind. all in all a successful day and far more relaxing than the day previous.

today is spent in preparation for shakori hills grassroots music festival! we have 4 day passes, and will attempt camping there tonight. in case of rain, snow, sleet, hail or scared children in the dead of night, it's always good to be a mile from home. ;)

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

Sometimes having the camera along is a major pain. Now that you've purged your misery, you can relax and enjoy the vacation.

Hey, my wife is from the same area (she didn't stay long, though).

A friend of mine is a big Donna the Buffalo fan - I see they're at the festival. I still haven't seen them.

Lotus Reads said...

If it's any consolation, I never remember the camera!

What book did you carry with you?

The music festival is going to be heaps of fun! Got an extra pass? :)

hellomelissa said...

mr l, i saw donna the buffalo last night in honor of your friend. more on the festival in a post soon, i promise! lotus, the book was 'poison' by kathryn harrison-- a historical fiction novel based in inquisition era spain. a sight better than any of the crap i've been reading recently. i bought a few old favorites (mme bovary & anna karenina) just so i could be guaranteed to like a book! how's that for desperation?

Susan in Italy said...

Hello Melissa,

So you grew up on Lake Michigan? me too. Are you by chance from Chicagoland?

hellomelissa said...

ah, susan, isn't chicago a wonderful city? when all the other teens would hit daytona beach for spring break, my friends and i would go to chicago! but no, my folks live on the western coast of michigan, about halfway up (north of muskegon). it was our summer place until about 10 years ago when they made it their permanent residence. i grew up in suburban indianapolis during the school part of the year.

Susan in Italy said...

Ok. Michigan and Indianapolis. That's nice. A lot of Chicagoand I know have places in Michigan on the lakeshore. I grew up in a Chicago suburb.