Frequent Visits to Lakes

A beaver's sleek pointy face tilts upward as it swims. It's following the shore, going somewhere, going on, as are the paired mallards drifting in the swampy end, and the peepers chorusing amongst the phragmites. A tiny pussy willow in partial bloom bends over the shore edge. The wind creates changing patterns of ripples that sunlight repeats on the sandy bottom. All over the lake diamonds are bouncing and we all feel rich. In a little cove on the far side they appear to hover over the surface, a phenomenon I have never seen in all my years of studying the water jewels.