An Ode to Lake Veronica
Friday, August 2nd, 2024
LAKE VERONICA circa 3:00pm—Stern sunbeams bear down at a steep angle from the immaculate sky, a perfect robin’s egg. Campers scuttle down the dry, grassy slope from the easement where Camp’s Kia Sedona has deposited them. “Don’t forget to check in with Beach Mop!” chirps Singing Instructor ‘Iron Jaden’ Larson, brandishing a yellow legal pad. Hopeful swimmers line up to check in and receive buddy assignments. A linked pair of dragonflies buzz from one clump of cattails to the another, navigating through the members our human congregation. The final lake day of the summer has arrived, bittersweet as the aroma of wild pennyroyal that permeates the shoreline.
“How many goggles are under the lake?” asks Miles, 5, sporting a yellow lifejacket and squinting in the sun through wet bangs.
“Probably a hundred,” I estimate.
“Well now there’s one hundred and one,” he says after some quick math.
The shallow water entry zone clouds with silt as the first swimming buddies enter the water. A corridor of lily pads guide them toward the deep center. Soon the floating raft structure is swarmed with squirrelly campers who jump off into the water, swim around, and ascend the mounted metal ladder in a continuous cycle. Some more adept swimmers continue to the far end of the lake were stands a 10-foot lifeguard post that doubles a jumping platform.
“The platform is fun to jump off of,” says Lucas, 12, of the Scarlet Tipi. “The lifeguard says an animal when you jump and then you try to make the sound of the animal before you hit the water. Most people don’t know this but at the bottom of the lake there’s a bus, a car, and a $600 remote-controlled submarine.”
“It’s scary when you look down because it’s so deep and there’s nothing to see,” says Quin, 7, of the Lime Tipi.
“If you look down at different parts it can be shiny,” adds Talia, 7, also from Lime. “Sometimes the water is cold, sometimes warm. The lake makes me feel like I can do anything because I passed the rafter test and then I passed the platformer test.”
“Every day it seems like people are having a good time,” says Lifeguard Whitney Royall. “You get to cool off, swim around, and most of all you get a break from the rat-race of downtown Camp. It’s very peaceful. Yesterday before the kids arrived I saw a school of fish swimming around.”
“My favorite is sunbathing on the raft and eavesdropping on campers’ conversations,” says Lifeguard Meadow Wilde. “The lake in general is really enjoyable, even more so than last year somehow. I think the water quality is better, more clear. The lake teaches us that you can have fun but you have to be safe about it. I’m sad this is ending, but I’m glad it happened.”
“The lake is the best part of Camp,” says Lifeguard Bodhi Cedar. “Most of Camp is dry and hot, but the lake is not. I became a lifeguard because of my aunt Kitty. She helped me with my swimming training. I just love the lake.”
“Absolute quiet for buddy check!” bellows Waterfront Honcho Kitty Green. “Begin count!”
“One!” yells a pair of swimmers, raising their hands, “Two!” yells another. The count goes on until all twelve buddy pairs have made themselves seen and heard in this manner.
“I wrote an ode to Lake Veronica,” says Kitty. “I was inspired by Pablo Neruda. Do you want to hear it?” she asks. Opening her Notes app, she begins,
“Ah, Lake Veronica
You swim in my soul with your wonderful coolness
In my barren land, you are the final refreshment
As the smoldering summer heat beats down
Ah, you body of water holds me like cool arms of wildflowers and a lap of rose
Yes, you who are silent, save for the smiling laughter of splashing children and human beings
Lake Veronica you are the one still and deep, who captures the spirit of summer“
Stay hydrated,
—J. Payseno, Editor
