Natural Lake Beautifies the Earth: POST FOR SATURDAY, MAY 29

Sitting on the shores of a lake brings serenity. Here is a lake that  is a serene, peaceful spot in Western Massachusetts.

A natural body of water, it's rimmed with gentle hills that change color with the seasons.  Some of the trees that surround the lake have been there since the time when Native Americans inhabited the area.

Whether the  surrounding hills are filled with greenery in the spring and summer or wearing autumn's splendorous gold, orange, and red finery, they look as if they were always guarding this lake.  Even in winter, when the hills are barren, they turn a deep, rich purple at certain times of the day.

This lake has been a part of my life since childhood. Whenever we drove to this part of Massachusetts, we visited the lake.  We ran to its public beach to splash in the water in the summer and we'd scare our Mom by ducking below the water.  We'd hold our breath and stay underwater as long as humanly possible. Fresh children.  Poor Mummy would be hysterical on the shore, screaming out the names of her children who she thought for sure had drowned.

As a teen, the high school ring my uncle let me wear slipped off my finger and fell into the murky waters of the lake.  That uncle is now gone and I wonder if it's possible for the ring to still be where it was dropped, buried deep in the mud on the lake's bottom.  Guess I'll never really know.

Coming back to the east after living for decades in other places, it's still sheer pleasure to go to the lake. The vistas there, from shoreline to whipped cream clouds above, squeeze my heart with their intense beauty.

Even on cold, dark days, when the water's filled with choppy waves, there's a magnetic attrraction to the lake.

Like humans, with varying moods, the lake calls out to me in all seasons. There is peace there.

DO YOU HAVE A SPECIAL PLACE YOU LIKE TO CALL YOUR OWN WHERE YOU FIND SERENITY?