THE LAKE

Lake Erie is the most shallow of all the great lakes, hence it can go from a perfectly calm glassy expanse to a raging wild ocean-like swirl of huge waves..sometimes more than ten feet high, in a very short time. Any time the forecast is for stormy weather or a volatile atmosphere the boaters keep a vigilant eye on the water and the sky at all times. The map of shipwrecks on Lake Erie is enormous and hard to comprehend, partially due to the unpredictable changes that frequently defy the forecasts. When I was a kid my family spent a good part of the summer at my grandmother's cottage on the lake and when a storm was brewing my dad and I would sit out on the glider under what we called an "indian blanket" and watch the storms approaching from the horizon.

When we bought our cottage on the lake it seemed to be much closer to the water than my grandmother's had been...and I was wary of the fury that I knew was part of life on the lake shore. About eight years ago we got a call from a neighbor who lives next to our cottage telling us that we needed to make a trip north. There had been a violent spring storm that destroyed our cement deck as well as our shed with porch furniture and the boat motor, as well as half of the hillside above it. It was an expensive repair, but we now have double the protection from the inevitable storms.

So many of our friends have said the same thing while they lounge on the deck with a glass of wine and watch the waves..."wow, we could imagine we were anywhere with this gorgeous view". Spending time in our own little slice of paradise has also elicited something like " this would be the room that we loved at the ocean...but couldn't really afford."

The storms still come, and I miss my Dad, but often feel his presence when I'm the last one to race into the cottage as the wind howls and the waves crash...and I can hear him say " time to go in little buddy."