One of the benefits of living on a lake (and there are many) is that you learn the rhythms of nature. The wind, sun, boats, and nature itself all combine to change the water minute by minute. When it is extremely windy, swimming is nigh impossible (unless you like getting slapped in the face by waves). When the lake is full of boat traffic - waterskiing, tubing, wakeboarding, fishing, kayaking, jetskiing, and boats just plain going fast - nature provides the stage for the human action. When the lake is moderately windy, we often sail our sunfish sailboat - and there's another sailboat, an escape, across the lake. We prefer to sail when there is just the right amount of wind - and no motor boat traffic.

There are always swans (at the all you can eat buffet that is our lilypad-strewn frontage), seagulls, geese, kingfishers, great blue herons, sometimes a loon, occasionally an eagle. There are fish and turtles galore.

And then there are early mornings. Sometimes there is fog, slowly dematerializing across the water.  Sometimes the sun shines so brightly, we are blinded by the diamonds glinting on the water. We swim, kayak, watch the waterlilies unfold their petals for the day. We say hi to Penelope, the seagull that has made her home on our neighbor's raft. And if the swans have been by, dining by digging out front, then there are hundreds of feathers of all sizes floating on the  still waters out front. When we swim out, we part through a veritable cloud of white feathers, floating on the water. If the dew is heavy, then the feathers will be weighted down, and float much more slowly.

At sunset, the parade of boats begins. Around the outside edges are the pontoon boats, going slowly. The waterskiiers and wakeboarders, trying to squeeze in just ONE more hour of fun, circle  the middle. The oranges, reds, purples, peaches of sunset are beautifully rippled by the boats, creating abstract art on the water's surface.

THIS is why we try not to travel in the summer - the lure of the lake, of nature, of learning the rhythm of a place, day in and day out. The joy of being mermaids, for a few months, before it's too cold again. It's home, our lake.

This is part of Photo Friday at DeliciousBaby - great photos from around the world!