"Our Lake" - A Wonderful Father-Son Morning

The lake, early this morning. All photos: Alexander Chow-Stuart.

This morning Hudson and I got up early and decided spontaneously to go out on the lake in our friend, Steve Stewart's electric motor boat (the only kind of of powered craft allowed on the lake). Steve is a friend and neighbor and has been incredibly kind and generous about letting us use his boats since we moved here.

It was a beautiful summer's August morning, just cool enough to be comfortable before the sun's heat really dug in, and we felt great as we pushed off and navigated some pretty thick weed close to the shore.

Out on the water, there was silence and the kind of calm that too few seven year olds can appreciate fully - but Hudson likes quiet and stillness as much as I do, and we both enjoyed the fact that we were the only people out on the lake.

We had to stop from time to time to clear weeds from the propeller, but that only added to the sense of peace.

The sun over the river.

Hudson steered the boat expertly toward the reeds at the far end of the lake, and we decided to go a little way up the small river that feeds it. We knew the weeds there would be even thicker and we probably wouldn't be able to go too far, but the river is quite beautiful and full of birds that fly all around you as you approach.

So we took the boat up as far as we could easily go, came to a spectacular reddish-colored tree that grows across the water and decided to turn back. It is possible to go past that point but we wanted to keep things simple - and as it was, we had to paddle the boat free of the roots and branches to turn it around safely.

Back on the lake, the sun was already beginning to get hot. We let the boat head fairly slowly back toward the shore, enjoying the stillness and quiet that still filled the air - then anchored the boat and headed back home, arriving before Mama and Paradise were even awake.

It was a wonderful start to the day, and a powerful though almost wordless father-son time spent between us. Hudson had been shooting some video footage in the boat at intervals, and within an hour of returning home, he had edited and assembled a 30 minute film of our spontaneous voyage using iMovie and iDVD. He called it simply, "Our Lake."

A happy Hudson enjoying the quiet of the lake.

Comments

The High Tower Apartments and The Long Goodbye

Photograph by Dwayne Moser. This beautiful apartment complex in Los Angeles is called the Hightower or High Tower Complex (the High Tower name refers to the central elevator, I believe), and was designed in 1935-1936 by architect Carl Kay - and made famous in 1973 by my favorite film, Robert Altman's The Long Goodbye (see Why I Love Robert Altman's The Long Goodbye ). Although Altman used the building as Philip Marlowe's apartment in his somewhat post-modern Long Goodbye (the film plays with references to Old Hollywood and opens and closes with the song, Hooray For Hollywood ), the building has another direct connection to Raymond Chandler. It was apparently the inspiration for Chandler in his book, The High Window (the first Chandler novel I ever read), in which Chandler describes the residence of Philip Marlowe as being on the cliffs above High Tower Drive in a building with a fancy elevator tower. (Thanks to the Society of Architectural Historians Southern...

Andrew Hale and Sade

Sade in concert in San Jose. All concert photos Copyright © 2011 Alexander Chow-Stuart. On Thursday evening, we saw our longtime friend Andrew Hale perform with Sade at the HP Pavilion in San Jose, in one of the most beautifully conceived and produced concert performances I have ever seen. Sade is a rare musician, in that she and the band only write, record and tour every eight to ten years, so that in a very real sense you can measure your life by her. The band's music is always fresh and always newly conceived - for their previous album, Lovers Rock , they stripped everything down musically to a minimalist sound and banished the saxophone that had been so much a part of Sade's heavily soul- and jazz-influenced style. The latest album, Soldier of Love , released in 2010, is one of the most tender, moving collections of songs yet, from the astonishingly beautiful Morning Bird , which features exquisite keyboards from Andrew, to the soulful, retro, r...

Rainbow Pools Swimming Hole, Yosemite, and Priest Station, Groveland

Photograph copyright 2012 Alexander Chow-Stuart. Yesterday we had a fabulous time at the Rainbow Pools swimming hole, just outside the northern end of Yosemite, 15 miles east of Groveland on the 120. As swimming holes go, it's a beauty - with a large pool to swim in, cascading water and high rocks to jump off (see above). Photograph copyright 2012 Alexander Chow-Stuart. Our almost eight year old son and three year old daughter, and the friends we were with, all loved it. Our son spent over an hour swimming across the pool and back again several times. We didn't have time yesterday, but there's also a hike of about one and a half miles to a spectacular waterfall where the south and middle fork of the Tuolumne River meet. If you're in or around Yosemite and want a refreshing break, Rainbow Pools and Falls come highly recommended! And thanks to our good friend, Steve Anker, at Priest Station Cafe , 16756 Old Priest Grade in Groveland, for recommen...

Alexander Stuart

Search This Blog