The Lake

THE LAKE

There's something about being on the lake in the early spring...

I've been coming up here for the last ten years, ever since my seventeenth birthday. That's when I met James. He was thirty-two and just out of the Marines. My parents were looking to do something special for my birthday, before I went off to college. So for Spring Break, my parents rented a cabin in Alaska. It was one of those that you can only get to by flying in on a float plane.

Of course, I would have rather sneaked down to South Padre Island with my friends, but then, I wouldn't have met James.

I'm sure I made a great impression with James the first time we met. The middle of Alaska was the last place I wanted to be. So for my first days there, I had my stocking cap pulled down almost over my eyes, and everywhere I sat, I was curled up and making sure everyone knew how unhappy I was. I probably didn't say two words to James. I just grunted a lot.

James met us at the terminal when we arrived at the regional airport. He loaded us up in an SUV that looked like it had been ten years old when it came off the factory line. My parents made small talk with James as he drove us to the hotel where we would be staying for the night. I, of course, maintained an aura of sullen silence, even though my parents did everything they could to draw me into the conversation.

James either didn't mind or didn't notice my attitude. But James has always been self-contained like that. Not self-absorbed, mind you. Just somebody who didn't really need someone else's approval as long as he had his own. You can ride along with him chatting about this or that, or sit with him in comfortable silence. He's happy either way.

The small hotel that we drove up to that night was something out of a Jack London story, although I refused to appreciate any of it. I just curled up in my room for the night with my Walkman, counting the hours until this 'vacation' was over.

The next morning James led us down a decrepit looking dock to his float plane. He loaded us up, and three hours later, we were landing in front of our cabin. I refused to find anything adventurous in our flight, and my eyes were always closed or focused between my feet.

It was mid-afternoon when we got to the cabin. It looked like a miniature version of the Panderosa. Not that I was in the mood to appreciate it. My parents were gushing as James quietly unloaded our bags and carried them up to the cabin. James made sure the generator was working and showed my father where everything was. He spent an hour with us, and then promised to see us in the morning when he flew in with more supplies. With that, he flew off.

My parents were so excited that they absolutely refused to acknowledge my intentional bad mood. Disgruntled, I went up to the room that was designated as mine and ended up going to sleep earlier than I expected to.

I woke up that morning, still internally grumbling at the world in general and my parents in specific. I had a huge comforter wrapped around me as I stumbled down into the main room, wondering when my father would come down to start a fire in the fireplace. There was a huge picture window looking out onto the lake. The sun was just coming up as my sleep-crusted eyes took in the view.

What my eyes saw made me catch my breath.

There was still a mist over the lake, so the mountains in the distance were but a dim outline. Patches of snow on the pier that we had walked up the day before showed that spring was still very tentative. But the solitude and beauty of where I was finally got past my obstinancy.

I ate quietly that morning, staring for minutes at a time at the view outside. My parents looked at me speculatively, but kept their peace.

When James flew in, it was like I was seeing him for the first time. He wasn't a tall man, maybe two or three inches shy of six feet.He was fit, but not overly muscular. He wasn't shy, but he wasn't boisterous either. He was just...James. He went about doing things in his quiet, competent fashion. You had the feeling there wasn't anything he couldn't do, if he needed to. He caught me staring at him a couple of times, but just gave me a quiet smile and went about his business.

I was embarrassed, but I couldn't help staring. It was like I was seeing him (and everything around me) for the first time.

By the end of the week, I realized I had found the love of my life (in both James AND the lake). It would take two more trips to Alaska to convince James that this shallow teenager would grow into the love of HIS life, but it would happen. One day soon, we won't be just coming up here for the spring. It will be for a life time. And some day, my daughter will appreciate being on the lake in the spring the same way I first did.