Lake Legend

"Ice"

One October my wife and I spent a vacation on
Washington's Olympic Peninsula. We were
eager to visit the rain forests near the coast,
but we heard that snow slides had made
some of the roads impassable. Although
apprehensive about the conditions we might
run into, we drove on.

Sure enough, we had gone only a short way up
the High Rain Forest road when we saw a sign:
"Ice 10 miles."

Five miles farther on there was another: "Ice 5 miles."

The next one was: "Ice 1/2 mile."

We practically crept that half-mile.

We came to the last sign. It was outside a small
grocery, and it read: "Ice 75 cents."

************************************************

"Lake Legend"

When I was a child my family used to sometimes take our
vacations, in British Columbia. In those days all Canadians
appreciated their American neighbors. We had a favorite
place to visit, mostly because of the fine fishing. It was
at a Lake that was about 30 miles long and a 1/2 mile wide.

While we were around our campfire in the evening the local
Indians would go from camp to camp selling their wares.
They would also tell of the Legends of the area. This one
Legend always stuck in my mind.

It seemed that on this particular Lake two Indian Tribes
made their homes. They were, however, at war, with one
another from years before.

There was an Indian Maiden in one Camp who was in love
with a young Brave in the other Camp. They used to stand,
on the shore, each on their respective side of the Lake,
and chant Indian love calls to each other...even though
they were warned by their Chiefs that nothing could ever
come of it. One day they just could not stand being apart any longer.

That evening, on a cold Fall night, they each jumped into
the Lake and swam towards each other in the Moonlight.
When they reached each other in the center of the Lake,
they embraced and, very quickly, froze to death. This act
so impressed the Brave's Tribe that they named the Lake
after the young man.

I will never forget those wonderful vacations that we spent at "Lake
Stupid."
Received on Mon Jun 9 10:28:40 2008