When I was back in Maine earlier this month I got to spend the night with my family out at my Auntie Kay and Uncle Emil's camp near Casco on aptly named Pleasant Lake. Auntie Kay was my grandmother Dum's closest sister and the two were inseparable. The camp was a major focal point for that side of the family for half a century or more -- my Mom grew up going out there with Dum and her sister, my Aunt Betty. Once we came along, we could go out every once-in-a-while, whenever we made it back to Maine. Both Kay and Emil are gone now, but "Knotty Pines" is still carefully maintained by the next generation; we were very grateful for the chance to go back out and reminisce.(Thank you, Auntie Sue, Aunt Nancy and Aunt Lyda!)
Not much had changed at all. Of course, it is now a lot smaller than I remembered, but that's always the case as you get older. The pine trees still surround the camp, and the picnic benches are still perfect for a beer and some quiet lakeview philosophizing. The interior still has a dozen pennants lining the stairway to the attic loft - souvenir relics from age-old roadtrips by Kay and Emil and their kids. There's still the giant pinecones hanging over the fireplace, stolen away to Maine years ago from the giant California redwood forests on one of those trips. There's an ageless Bavarian clock in one corner -- it's been there as long as I can remember. And there's the rustic smell of pine and musty, stuffy blankets that never quite clears out after a winter's lockdown.
I love the lake; it is my gold standard when I compare other lakes. It is spring fed and as you swim in it you will find warm spots and icy spots as you go over hot or cold springs feeding it. The water is so clear that you can see the bottom clearly from just about anywhere on the lake. As kids we'd be in the water every second we could extract from our visit.
It's a place rich in memories and I'm glad I got to go back and see it again. I suspect it will be a long time before I'll get to see it again.
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