By Adam Kaplan
I have been swimming in Lake Nebagamon since 1977 when I showed up at camp for the first time as a 10-year-old boy. To those of us that have spent summers up here, our H-dock (the swimming dock) is as much a part of that lake as the fish and the water. This summer, that H-dock is still lying on the beach, stacked and stored from the summer of 2019. There is no H-dock…just open water at our beach. For us old-timers, the view of an empty waterfront is striking and certainly makes one feel like something is off, something is missing…even scary…which of course is true in so many ways this summer. There is nothing there…just open water, an empty scene.
Still, it’s warm in the North Woods this time of year and Lake Nebagamon is a swimming lake so, while I considered taking the summer off from swimming in my beloved lake because it was so unfamiliar and maybe even a bit scary, I have started swimming. Indeed, at first it was intimidating swimming with no dock, no marked off swimming area, and no lane lines. It was uncharted territory for me and it made me nervous. Where were the boundaries I had always known? Where were the safety demarcations? Where was I supposed to go? How far? How deep? For the first time in my life, swimming in Lake Nebagamon was uncharted territory.
However, as my swimming sessions have worn on, I have started to become more at ease, and I have found my new swimming digs to be exciting, and freeing in many ways. I swim in places I have never swam before. Everything looks different from my changed perspective in the water. It’s brand new, and full of possibility and exploration. I like it.
When I was in the lake yesterday, it occurred to me that in our current world situation, virtually all of us are doing the same thing. Swimming in a world in which so much that we were used to and comfortable with has been altered, or removed, or stacked on a beach waiting for a time to return when we can reassemble it and get back to how things have always been. And while the temptation might be to go to ground and just sit back, do nothing, and wait for it all to return to normal, many people have discovered that along with the scariness of this new world, there are many opportunities associated with it as well. New perspectives, fresh chances, much exploration…something brand new.
We are all currently swimming in a changed lake with no docks. But we are discovering things in that process. Some of us have taken up new hobbies. Others have learned how to play a musical instrument. Some have discovered the joy of just going for a walk. Many have taken the time to connect with friends that have been out of touch for a long time. All of us are learning to understand and appreciate our families in totally different ways than ever before. Enumerating the new experiences that are available to all of us as a result of our current situation would be impossible. But they are seemingly endless.
So let’s all agree that while we certainly wish the docks were in Lake Nebagamon and that we could swim there as we always have, that we will go swimming anyways. Yes, it will be harder at times and even a bit scary, but there are new things to be discovered about ourselves, our creativity, our resilience…and even some new fun that we never would have experienced before.
90 degrees here in the North Woods today…I’m going swimming.
Late last week Andy Mack and I were chatting about how good it would be to go out on the lake and catch some bluegills to fry and make some delicious fish tacos. So later on that evening, we hit the lake searching for some eater bluegills and maybe a smallmouth bass or two. After exploring a couple of known spots, we located some big gills (as they say in the fishing world) that were hungry for worms. Andy landed the first gill, but I followed quickly with one. These were some nice-sized fish and they would’ve filleted up great for dinner that night, but it was getting a little late, and after landing the first couple of gills we just decided to let them go… ready to be caught another day.
It has been a very hot and dry June here in the north woods of Wisconsin. Rather than the average highs of the lower to mid-70s, we were forced to endure early June temperatures ranging from the high 70s to mid-80s including a near-record 94 degree day on the 8th. With but a short bit of relief for a few days mid-month when the temperatures returned to average, things got hot again through the end of the month with temperatures returning to the mid-to-upper-80s and a couple of days again reaching the lower 90’s. Although most of the month was also very humid with readings in the 60 and 70 percent range we had virtually no rain the whole month! With only a couple of days with a trace amount of rain it was not until the 29th that a significant amount of rain fell, about a half an inch. I admit that I am stretching the definition of significant here a bit but with basically no rain having fallen in a month that would normally have seen about 3 ½ inches, now a ½ inch seems significant.
