Riehl Life: Village Wisdom for the 21st Century » Clear Lake

Water Baby Bliss: Water Walking & Other Pleasures

riehlife — Mon, 12 Jul 2010 18:54:57 +0000

I’m a Water Baby all the way. Put me in any body of water–from a bathtub to an ocean, and you’ll see a serene smile on my face.

I’m here in Northern California to visit old friends and reconnect with the land and water of Lake County and the Northern California Coast. The jewel of Lake County is Clear Lake the largest enclosed lake in California. Tahoe is bigger but laps over into Nevada. Lake County is about three hours north of San Francisco off route 101–in case you’re wondering.

Clear Lake is vast. The view from the shore sometimes feels as if it’s an inland ocean. Clear Lake’s shores spread beneath the shadow of Mount Konocti–technically a dormant volcano rather than an inactive one. So, keep your eyes open! Maybe in the coming centuries we’l see more fireworks.

CLEAR LAKE WATER WALKING

My favorite swimming place is a secret beach inside Clear Lake State Park located on Soda Bay Road. Go all the way back to the beach area with its happy families playing. If you turn right and hop over large rocks, you’ll find Heart’s Desire Beach–my name for it. If you turn left, walk to the gnarled willow tree, hang your towel, walk into the water and keep on walking.

That’s what I call it: water walking. I swim past the reeds, listen to the conversation of the birds, and gaze eye-level at the Grebes. In spring they give a free ride to their fuzzy grebe-lets. A hawk flies overhead as I float on my back. In the clear shallow waters under the trees I creep forward on my hands with feet feeling the sand as they trail behind. The ducks duck into the reeds, calling.

Fishermen spot me and ask how I can swim in the lake. Isn’t it nasty? Nope. Maybe some algae inside my suite, but nothing that won’t wash off in a shower later on. In Water walking I am not only close to nature, I am in nature–heck, I’m part of nature. I’m a natural creature same as the birds and fish and frogs.

NORTH COAST

Friend Daniel and I trek to the coast from Willets to Fort Bragg. Willets is a latter-day hippie haven. Fort Bragg –north of Mendocino–is the low rent district on the North California Coast. We head for Casper Beach, Jughandle ecological shelf, and any sign marked “coastal access.”

We stand on cliffs above rugged beaches that mark the Northern Coast. No tamed warm beaches for us. Southern Californians are softies! Heck, we should be two different states, north and south, same as the Carolinas and the Dakotas. On these cliffs we look out beyond the edge of the world.

Cliffs, coves, caves, havens, tide pools, beaches and bridges, steps & slides & paths, dwarf pine groves, rocks & seaweed & shells, & gulls. Barefoot or in water shoes we come to take it all in. All that beauty. Walking the beauty way. So much beauty in the world. So many different kinds of beauty. Each place with its own kind.

A Clear Day on Clear Lake: Birdwatching Heaven by Janet Riehl

riehlife — Wed, 25 Nov 2009 15:32:06 +0000

I arrived in Lake County a few days before Thanksgiving in order to visit friends and one of the landscapes of mountain and water that hug my heart. The weather was unseasonably warm with blue skies and intense light. My host loaded up our kayaks into his truck. We paddles from the county park over to the marina at the state park and back. Our journey took us several hours. Here are some images from our time on lake…looking at land from another point of view. –JGR

__________________________

It’s a clear day on Clear Lake. The water flat as a liqid prairie.
We glide as if inside a 1950s Kodachrome postcard.
In the foreground juts the yellow prow of my kayack.
In the middle ground birds abound:…Osprey nest, flourescent teal mallards,
…Grebe (now coming back from near extinction), coots, flocks of Egrets–floating–
a flotilla of pelicans raise into flight.
Then: the Great Blue’s body flies overhead. The underside of its powerful wings.
One fisherman, so still except for the flick of his wrist, casting.
A motorboat wake rocks us, but we cannot see the boat on the other shore.
Mount Konocti towers in the background, crowned by transmission towers.
Docking once again our sore muscles and cold feet are worth it.

“Home Sweet Home”–poetic excerpt from “Sightlines: A Poet’s Diary”

riehlife — Wed, 28 Nov 2007 17:04:32 +0000

During this time I’m in Lake County in Northern California and walking when I can in Clear Lake State Park, the jewel of the county on Clear Lake and nestled on the shoulders of Mt. Konocti…these lines from my poem HOME SWEET HOME often run through my mind…excerpts below. You can read more from “Sightlines: A Poet’s Diary” on the sidebar (poems, talks and more)….JGR

___________________________

HOME SWEET HOME

It’s a relief to be back home in Lake County.
Where Mount Konocti replaces Limestone Cliffs.
Clear Lake rather than the muddy Mississippi.
Views from our windows stretch miles.

. . . Back in the land of fresh focacia and mufaletta mix.
Young mozzarella and basil.

Back in the land of manzanita and oak bearing mistletoe.
Some trunks have fallen across the path since my last stay here.

There’s the Great Blue!
He tests his toes on the Monet bridge
before playing You Can’t Catch Me
as I walk along the canal.

A red-shouldered hawk
heads for a Valley Oak, frog in his claws.

Oh, yes…it’s a relief to be back home.