Half Moon Lake

It is July. I am 7. I’m filling buckets with sand and calling out to my brother, “Cole!!! Will you please come play with me?” He is 10 and would rather be doing anything else than hanging out with his younger sister. Reluctantly he leaves his chair in the summer sun to engage in a round of filling the buckets with sand and then dumping them all out, just to start the process over again. He doesn’t say anything to me and we work alongside each other in comfortable silence.

It is July. I am 18. I’m sprawled out on the boat’s back seating area reading a book. It’s called “Every Summer After” by Carley Fortune. The perfect mid-summer read. The sun is directly overhead and beaming down on my shoulders and back. I feel warm and blissful. My dog is splashing around in the water nearby running after a tennis ball. I look up from my book to observe, I love to watch him swim. His brown fur reminds me of a sea otter when it is wet. The water looks dark from the shadows of nearby trees and I can tell it is cold to the touch. There is a green tint to the water due to mossy rocks and the fallen tree branches scattered all around. I glance around at the peaceful scene stretched out in front of me. I see the backside of the baby-blue painted cabin that has been in my family for generations. Large windows allow me to see into the living room and just a sliver of the kitchen. The cabin is wrapped with a trim of flowerbeds filled with pinks and oranges of all shades. Up close, there is no weed in sight. The old deck was destroyed in a storm a few years ago, the new deck extends farther out towards the lake. New furniture, picked with love and care, sits in the center of the deck. Yearning to be used for the first time. Later my family and I will eat dinner all together at this table. I see the path of smooth stepping stones reaching from the shore to the deck. I slipped on these rocks many times as a little kid due to wet feet as I ran to the old rocking chairs on the deck, eager to show my parents my newest shell discovery. The once-sandy beach has been replaced with large rocks to sustain erosion. This makes me feel nostalgic because I remember the many summer days I spent with cousins on that patch of sand I claimed as my own. I can almost feel the texture of the dock that stretches out far into the lake. The plastic always leaves a bumpy imprint on the soles of my feet. My family is also on the boat, which is tied to the end of the dock. We love to tie the boat here because it gives the illusion that we are floating in the middle of the lake, but we have the convenience of being just a couple meters from the cabin. My parents are seated at the front of the boat in chairs facing towards the open lake, both focused on the magazines in front of them. My brother is napping on the couch-like bench in the middle of the boat. I know he will wake up soon and ask me to hangout. Our 3 year age gap doesn’t stop us from being friends anymore. I pick up my phone to skip the song that is blaring through my headphones. I’m in the midst of my summer country music kick, and today I can’t get enough of Morgan Wallen. I turn my phone off and focus my attention back onto my book. I’m beginning to feel ready for a midday nap, but I think I could get through another chapter first. I think to myself that life couldn’t possibly get any better. I have no work, sports, or life responsibilities here. The cabin is where I feel the most at peace. It is my favorite place in the whole world.

It is July. I am 5. Almost swallowed by my hot pink life jacket, I am showing my mom all of the different ways I can jump into the water. Each jump has a special name and limb placement. My mom smiles and claps after each one. She rates them all out of 10, though the numbers never dip below a 9.5. My brother watches this for a while before deciding that he has his own jumps to showcase. He joins me at the edge of the dock with his matching blue life jacket.

It is January. I am 18. I am sitting in class. As I look out the windows at the falling snow, I can’t help but to think about being at Half Moon Lake in 7 short months. The snow will be long gone and the hot sun will be shining. I grin as my heart feels full with anticipation. I simply cannot wait.

I love Half Moon Lake.