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Mississppi Horizons School, Brainerd, Minnesota
Teacher: Karen Ogdahl
THE LAKE
by Colin Brooks
Mississippi Horizons School
Brainerd, Minnesota USA
Sometimes I need to get away from all the noise and commotion of everyday life and let my
senses come alive. I like to sit down and drink all that there is around me. One of my
favorite quiet places in Minnesota is a lake not far from my house.
I walked down to the landing at the lake near my home on a Sunday morning in autumn. The old dock creaked as I walked out to the end. I could feel the splinters poke the palms of my hands as I sat down. There was no breeze, so the lake was as smooth as glass reflecting the color of the sky. Across the lake, there still were little patches of mist hanging above the surface of the water by the shore. Later the sun would melt them like rain melting snow. It was a cool morning so I was glad to feel the warmth of the sun on my face.
Even though there were no people around, I could hear some squirrels in the trees behind me. They were chasing each other and leaping from branch to branch only stopping to scold each other loudly. Then from across the lake I heard the distinctive cry of a loon. It always sounds so lonely. Far off in the distance I could hear the constant buzz of a chainsaw. It sounded like a giant angry wasp. Someone was probably cutting wood for the winter.
Some of the trees were starting to change their colors from the dark green of summer, fading to pale green and then finally to the golds and the reds of fall. A flock of geese flew over in a familiar V-shape, honking like a traffic jam on the freeway. I wondered when they would be leaving for good and leaving the rest of us behind for the winter. I took a deep breath, and I could smell the change in the air -- the wet dampness of the lake and the dry, crisp smell of the leaves that soon would be falling to the ground. Fall will not be here long and winter will come rolling and blowing in soon.
As I walk back home, I felt refreshed and alive. My senses were keen and aware of everything around me. I t was the passage of another season in Minnesota, but a new season was waiting to begin, full of new sights and sounds to experience.
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