Blue Lake (Kid Stuff)

Seasons of life.  Some come into view from a distance.  Some are upon us without warning.  Some run long, some short.  Some overlap, some hand-off.  And then some simply fade away all too quickly. 

And so it was with Blue Lake.  A season of only four, maybe five years.  Short, yet cherished.  A time to decompress from the stresses of corporate America.  A time to escape the dampness that defines Western Washington.  A time to draw close to friends and family.  

Blue Lake itself a beautiful gem at the bottom of a great gorge that geologists tell us was carved into the land by the “Columbia River” during an ice age in the distant past.  Great sheets of ice blocked and funneled huge amounts of runoff over the land into the coulee where Blue Lake now rests.  And when the ice retreated, the waters in turn reverted to their current course leaving no trace except for huge rocks sculpted in the earth as testimony.  A few short miles “upstream” from the lake lay the remnants of Dry Falls.  Massive cliff faces are all that remain where once torrents of water plunged over the edge of the rock escarpment in a spectacle that would dwarf today’s Niagara. 

Time at Blue Lake may well be defined by the lake itself – in the water, on the water, and flying over the water.  One of my favorite activities was “bobbing” because of the simplicity and bare minimum of necessities – sunscreen on the face, a tattered straw hat for shade, and a life jacket for buoyancy.  Drink in hand, in I went and quietly floated off to wherever the winds and waves dictated.  The ultimate in relaxation.

But soon, someone in our party would call out for a hike, bike ride, or some sort of water activity.  And with a moments notice, the group would mobilize and off we went.

In retrospect, Blue Lake was about relationships. There was quite a disparity between ages and backgrounds.  Nevertheless, life long relationships were formed that will only grow in importance even in the face of physical separation.  Don’t you just love those connections where you can be separated for months, maybe years, and you come back together right where you left off? 

Unfortunately, friendships are much like the seasons of life.  Like trying to hold a fragrance in the wind, an effort is made to capture it, cherish it.  But to no avail.  Kids grow up.  Jobs change.  People move.  Birth, death, love, sorrow……all play their parts in their time.  And all too soon nothing is left but the memory.  But maybe that’s the best part.

Link:  The Rock (God Moments)