“I’m beginning to feel the years, but I know I’ll be ok, as long as I’m beside you along the way.”
- Brandi Carlile, Beginning to Feel the Years
It’s no surprise we are drawn to lakes. Of course since the beginning of the human race we have been attracted to lakes for water and fish as sustenance, and water to cleanse ourselves. But I like to think there’s so much more too it.
Lakes are also our companion, seeing us at our most triumphant and our most vulnerable, absorbing our dreams and our failures into their dark depths. But lakes also reflect us back to ourselves, helping us understand ourselves better. They see layers of us deeper than our human companions can see. They give us the space to just be.
I have had three lake companions throughout my life, and they were there for me at different milestones. Growing up, my family had a cabin on Leech Lake in northern Minnesota. I spent so many days swimming, building sandcastles, fishing, kayaking, and just sitting looking at the lake. Leech Lake watched me grow up from toddler, to teen, to today.
After college in Minnesota I moved to Chicago for an internship. I had all the time in the world and not much responsibility. I took long walks and sat on the beach of Lake Michigan, thinking about my future. I pondered career and grad school options. I ruminated on a breakup with someone who was halfway around the world. The lake was there for me, helping me process my thoughts and feelings, and what I wanted to do with my life.
As my life moved on I moved back to Minnesota. I got busy, started a career, got married (to that guy that was halfway around the world), had kids.
Then during the COVID-19 pandemic, life stopped. I needed something to ground me. I started walking to Detroit Lake and back every day at lunch. I walked there on the sunny days. I walked there on the rainy days. I walked there in shorts and in snow pants. I even cross country skied there once when there was enough snow to cover the street! And the lake was always there for me. Helping me process the world. A trusted companion.
Sitting on the Detroit Lake beach brought back memories of all the lakes that have been my companions in life, and what I was going through at the time. Starting with Leech Lake, then Lake Michigan, now Detroit Lake. There were times in my life when I didn’t need the lakes, but the times that I did, they were there for me.
Up here in lakes country, we understand this value of lakes. Even if we haven’t stopped to think about it. We lean on our lakes, they provide comfort, steadfastness, and fun. Which lakes have been there for you?
Moriya Rufer is a water quality professional with 20 years experience working with lakes in northern Minnesota.
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