soul log

The water lapped at my feet. It was an amazing place to be: the sun was about to set, just hanging over the hills in the distance. A cool breeze blew past, a great ending to a very hot day.

Once I dove into the water, the outside world disappeared. It was just me and the waters of Lake Powell, Utah. Swimming around, I felt the crisp cold but not freezing water swish around my body. It was a splendid feeling, as if the weights and stresses of the world had vanished.

A motorboat drove past in the distance, casting a wake that disturbed the calm waters. The wake slowly peeled apart, spreading into the ends of the lake. When the wake had passed and the water calmed again, the reflection of the sun was once again revealed.

I dipped my head under the surface of the water, closing my eyes. The water drenched my hair, and as I stood up straight again, it started dripping in long thin lines down to the water. I lifted my head so it would dribble into my mouth.

“All right,” I said to my dad as I swallowed the water, so clean and pollution-free. “The water isn’t very cold,” I said, beckoning him in.

My dad slowly stepped into the water. He lathered the water over his body, and then dove in. Standing beside me, we watched as the vivid sunset reflected in the water.

A cool breeze rushed over the surface, and it rippled the surface as if someone had distorted a mirror. The almost-perfect reflections of the mountains broke into thousands of pieces.

As I swam around in our own corner of this large and stunning lake, I was reminded of what had happened in the afternoon: my quest to jet-ski on Lake Powell.

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