Write What You Know
My original intention was to title my Substack posts, “A VIEW FROM THE LAKE.” I don’t live on a lake but have always been drawn to water. Perhaps being born in England, with its seafaring roots, has something to do with that. I recall, fondly, seaside trips with my mother’s family near Sunderland. Memories of beaches - Roker, Seaburn, South Shields and Whitley Bay - evoke vivid sights and smells: sitting on damp sand, wearing a wool cardigan to ward off the chill from the North Sea (if that doesn’t sound idyllic, you aren’t British!), the occasional foray into tidal pools to find “treasures” and eating fresh-roasted winkles from a paper packet.
No, I don’t live on a lake, however, my current home sits beside a faux lake which I can view from my deck. The sprinkler in the middle of the “lake” offers-up sloshing water sounds which, with eyes closed, conjures up visions of sitting by the sea or ocean. My “lake” stocked with goldfish, which have grown over the years, lures a variety of birds.
In the Spring noisy Canada Geese introduce dozens of goslings into the world. A pair of ducks, which return year after year, produced five fuzzy offspring in early July – late this year, I thought.
A Blue Heron which visits every so often keeps a sharp eye out for its goldfish meal, as does the Cormorant which visited once and almost wiped out the fish population. Oh, did I mention the Bald Eagle? He surprised me one afternoon in the winter, flying near my deck, rabbit in his talons, landing on the frozen “lake” to devour his prey.
A posted sign on my “lake” says NO skating, swimming, or fishing (tell that to the cormorant). After a particularly heavy rainfall it often overflows its banks. It is at those times I regret my decision to live by a lake - faux or otherwise!
My State is surrounded on three sides by Great Lakes. It is a short drive to the Lake Michigan coastline where gazing across that magnificent expanse of water is reminiscent of the ocean. In fact, my visitors from the UK have commented they never thought an inland lake could be so vast - with waves big enough to surf on.
I used to drive to the Lake Michigan shore while attending college and, briefly, university. It seemed the perfect setting to study for tests and write the numerous papers required in most English classes. Perhaps that is why, now, I am lulled by the sounds on my faux lake. Most writers have a favorite writing spot, sound, or ambience which needs to be present to facilitate their thought process. Personally, I think I do my best writing in my head as I’m drifting off to sleep. The rest of the time, with the open door to my deck, the lull of the sprinkler, and sounds of birds, large and small, I can often crank out a decent paragraph or two.
Perhaps I WILL consider re-naming my Substack posts. Writing “what I know” is what I do. THE VIEW FROM THE LAKE is aspirational.