Mother Nature Again Returns To The Lake
SEP 16, 2023
ROLLAND KIDDER
I know that technically fall doesn’t begin until the autumnal
equinox, now a week away. But, for all practical purposes, it has begun already
on the lake.
After Labor Day weekend, the human footprint
dramatically decreases. The boat traffic is down by more than half, the jet
skis and speed boats have virtually disappeared, and things are returning to
mother nature–the way that they always do.
Some of it has to do with school restarting and all of
the extra-curricular/sports activities that come with that. Vacations have been
spent and it is back to work full-time for many. The Chautauqua Institution
Season is over and its parking lots are nearly empty. There are a lot of
reasons that people leave the lake this time of year.
However, in truth, it is mother nature herself who
dictates the end of summer. The days are now shortening at a galloping speed,
leaves are starting to turn yellow and will soon have shades of red. The last
of the flowering plants–in our case, hibiscus, are in their final days of
bloom. The impatiens will hang around, some until the first freeze, but then
they too will disappear almost overnight.
Perhaps the singular, most telling sign of fall is that
you can pretty much count on wonderful, cool, late afternoon breezes which make
for great sleeping at night.
Close to sunset last week, it was especially quiet on
the lake. There was no wind, the water was still and not a boat in sight. Then
out of nowhere came the screech of a couple of eagles as they swooped in to do
some fishing. They had been around all summer, but on this evening–they had the
lake to themselves. It was beautiful.
Of course, there is still the ever-present presence of
the fishermen, a vestige of human impact which really never leaves the
lake–but, I exempt them from the rest of the predominantly people-centric
activities on the lake. Fishermen always just blend in with the scene, don’t
make much noise and come and go as the weather lets them. They are almost as
much a part of mother nature as the eagles and waterfowl.
Soon, the lake will be outlined with the beautiful
colors of fall. They won’t reach their peak until sometime in October, but you
can usually count on at least one or two weekends of incredible autumn colors
on Chautauqua Lake.
The best sunsets are usually seen by those living on
the east side of the lake, but I have always contended that the fall foliage is
best seen by those of us living on the west side who see the colors at their
brightest when the trees are lighted up as we look east during the last, angled
rays of refracted sunlight just as the sun is descending to the horizon. That
is still to come.
Okay. You and I know what comes after that–the cold and
snow. I don’t like it as much as I used to you, but when it starts, the lake
really goes into “mother nature” mode, though it can be a little “blah” then with overcast skies and cold-looking water.
But, fear not…the ice will be coming next and after
that the ice fishermen–and then the whole process starts over again as the days
will begin to get longer. Mother nature is still in charge!
