My Lake - Memories of Keuka Lake

Photo by Kristina D.C. Hoeppner

I lived in the Finger Lakes Region of New York until I was almost 14. My family moved very abruptly from that rural area to Central Florida in early 1985. It was quite a culture shock, and I have fond memories of where I grew up, a mile from Keuka Lake. I'm sure many of my memories have been romanticized with the passage of time, but that lake will always be my favorite.

My Lake I sit on a small piece of land

Jutting out into the lake

My lake

I hear the occasional car go by on the road above

But most sound is buffered by trees and hill

I mostly hear the quiet lapping of the small waves

It is calm now, autumn

Harvest time

I can smell the grapes on the vine, the grapes being harvested

The red and gold leaves are starting to fall around me

Adding natural color to my black sweater and blue jeans

In the summer, the lake is bustling

Swimmers, boaters, sailors

Haven't passed the swimming test?

You are stuck behind that rope across the water

Steep drop-off is beyond it in this glacier-formed lake

Stronger swimmers go out to the floating dock

Jumping, diving, flipping off the high dive

Eek! Was that seaweed?

Maybe a fish?

We locals are used to it

City people freak out a little

Memories of meeting city people from Rochester, New York

Many owned vacation homes

Others rented them for a week or so every summer

Guy with styrofoam on arms of his glasses

Swims underwater wearing them

If he loses them, the float

Don't know his name

Dad refers to him as Mr. Floating Glasses

This is Mr. Floating Glasses' lake, too