Summer Breeze

The boats in Yarrow Bay are bobbing gently and the tall grasses are swaying to the South. Evie is asleep. We've been enjoying one of the most beautiful summers I can remember: plenty of sunshine and warm, even hot, days. Somewhere on the lake, friends are water-skiing and families are tubing. I know this because we can hear their excited shouts echoing across the lake from our living room when our windows are open. I don't mind the noise. It reminds me of childhood days at my grandparents' house on Seneca Lake, one of New York's Finger Lakes.

We didn't water-ski, but we went on countless boat rides. I loved to feel the wind whip through my hair and I ignored the inevitable tangles. It felt like flying. We spent hours swimming in the lake and playing on the smooth slate rocks-- nature's slip-n-slides! The zebra muscles were sharp and the rocks were hot but we rarely stopped to put on water shoes before traipsing into the cool water. There is a feeling of immense freedom and inherent pleasure to be found in the shutting of one's eyes on a hot summer day. Laying back on a warm dock to dry after a swim, family (and cold drinks) close by.

I hope with all of my heart that Evelyn will have many memories like these. Memories which, for me, because of their innocence and unadulterated happiness, outshine and outlast the painful ones.