Summers At The Lake

Our parents bought a summer home
In a little town upstate
I fell in love with that big old house
When I was only eight


Every year in July or August
We'd pack our things and go
To spend a month at our retreat
Fondly called "the white chateau"


The lake came almost to the house
So we didn't need a dock
We tied the boat to an old tree stump
Our anchor was a cement block


Three of us took the boat one day
And paddled to the other shore
The area was filled with trees and brush
So we decided that we'd explore


Walking along, big brother stumbled
Into a swarming yellow jacket's nest
We did all we could to fight them off
He was jumping like a boy possessed


We all knew when we got back home
There would be a stern lecture from Mother
She almost fainted when she saw the stings
That just about covered big brother


One night after the others had gone to bed
I sneaked out to go skinny dipping
The boys next door saw me from a window
Boy, I sure did get a good whipping


Everything that happened at our summer home
Didn't turn out to be a catastrophe
We had more fun than we'd had all year
The kids so young and fancy free


I think about those long ago years
And it makes my old heart ache
Recalling all the happiness we shared
Spending summers at the lake


Kathleen McCoy Eldridge©
June 13, 2006
All Rights Reserved