Zen Summer

After a long winter of waiting impatiently for the snow and ice to melt, just seeing the 4000' top of Mt. Hal Waugh as we circle over Iniakuk Lake makes me choke up. We've owned the lodge since 1974 and I always feel priviledged to be here another summer. The air is crispy fresh and the lake, which is 5 miles long and a mile wide, glistens in the midnight sun. There are shorebirds and waterfowl and songbirds and total daylight. There is so much to see and so much to listen. The wind blows in the trees and all the leaves are green. Green leaves may not seem like such a big deal, but after 8 months of cold and snow, believe me, it's a big deal. I search for familiar blueberry bushes, knowing that just the right combination of sun and rain will produce "Zen" blueberries the size of grapes. I know every inch of the shoreline and beyond because each summer I take my blueberry bucket and picker and crawl around on the lichen for hours. No amount of bugs or bears could keep me from getting out and picking berries.

Then there's just being. Right after I get here, a cup of freshly brewed very strong coffee accompanies me on a walk down to the beach to take it all in. Sure, there might be a mosquito or two, but if you were in Los Angeles, where there are no bugs in the morning, you wouldn't breathe fragrant, invigorating air and see water this clear. Here, the Tree Swallows are zipping around gathering bugs for their babies. Nearby I hear the Loons calling - the Arctic Loon sounds like a novice clarinet player while the Common Loon resembles Lily Pons warming up for the opera. In the distance I can faintly hear Old Sqaws. These ducks sound like the charge of the light brigade bobbing in the water talking nonstop to each other. The Old Sqaw is my absolute favorite duck because they can be heard right after the ice goes out, then they don't stay around for long, so they're special.