Lake in Pinetop
by Jane St. Clair

I can’t think of anything as lovely as a late day afternoon by a lake. The way the long light slants and creates reflections. The way the color of shore flowers spill into the water in water colors.

And then there’s how night is looming, approaching, and leaving behind the last visages of daytime. It is that lazy time before wildlife finds shelter, a sensual and emotional part of the day.

I am remembering such a late afternoon by a lake in Pinetop.

The light was so transformative that even a lowly puddle seemed magical, just as a simple weed turned into a fairy skirt.

The sparkle of the water reflections lit up this ordinary little lake in lazy little movements that only gentle currents bring, creating gentle waves tipped by light like little fish scales.

Melville wrote about going down to the sea whenever he felt like chasing funerals or stepping into traffic. He believed that the cure for “pausing before coffin houses” was going down to the sea.

The sea reminds us, again as Melville wrote, that we have inside our souls a tiny paradise island, fully of peace and joy. Whether we stand in front of the Great Atlantic, as he did, or just a lake in Pinetop, we can travel to “that one insular Tahiti, full of peace and joy …”

I think if you have no sea, you can still find your island. Even a little lake in Pinetop will do.

For more about visiting Pinetop, try here. For more posts about nice walks in Arizona, try here, or you could try here, or you could even try there.