Lake Stories

I was born into love. I learned how to love deeply. I retain that love today. It was conditioned into me. I did not have a choice.

The softness, the smiles, the holiness of it all.

The connection, aliveness, the wonder of it all.

I can feel it because I was showered in it. It was, is, and will be the greatest gift I ever receive. The imprint on my life will be felt and felt and felt until I cannot feel any longer.

When the life has left my body, God grant me that love is the final feeling I have...

The morning unfolds like a three-act play, with all the elements present.

The sunrise is the exposition and introduces the environment and all of the characters we will grow to love and despise. The sun, moon, stars, and clouds. The lake, trees, sand, and grass. The wind, waves, rain, and fog. The birds, bugs, rodents, and humans.

The sounds are the score; the waves crashing on the shore, the wind whispering through the trees, the birds singing their first song of the day. The dogs barking, the ambulances blaring, the airplanes loud overhead - coordinated and moving into formation.

Ominous clouds bring about act II, shrouding the day in mystery.

Will they part? Will it rain? Will the sun ever return after the long dark winter? Will the barren tree branches receive the nourishment they need to thrive?

Storm clouds roll in overhead just as the wispy clouds part in the distance. The rain begins and the morning sun peaks through the eastern horizon. Sun showers the set.

Ducks and battle for territory on the water, hundreds moving as one, black ink on a silver canvas.

And as I take everything in, act III begins.

My dreariness lifts and I smile as the rain hits my shoulders. I move inside, then back outside indecisively. How wet do I want to be? Laughing all the while, amazed by nature's show.

The rays of sunshine through the clouds soften me, massage the tension in my heart, clarify the doubt in my mind.

"The world is so complicated," I tell myself, "There's too much to do. How can I possibly do it all?" I wonder. "There are so many problems to solve, I have too many issues, where would I even start?"

And then I hear the ringing call of a black bird, the melodic chirp of a song bird, and a swallow glides into view. I find my breath once again and all my pain and my family's suffering dissolves. I see the other shore.

I see the love and kindness that was passed down to me along with the fear and anxiety. The need to survive.

I see the connection and care for each other that protected us during hard times.

I see the hope and verified faith that there is goodness in us, in me. That there is beauty in this present moment too, that all I have to do is pause long enough to see it.

I stare out at the lake and the play starts over. Act I again. Same place, same self, different story...