Today I woke up, and it was so foggy! I could barely see the house across the street. With reluctance I got up, got my oldest daughter ready for school, and started the day activities with a quiet rhythm. Something, or someone, urged me to walk down to the lake. I havent been there in a few days since it had been raining for days, but felt inspired to go check it out. Packed the youngest, rubber boots and camera in hand, out we went.
Walking down to the beach is always quite an adventure. So many birds greet us with their chirping. Every now and then we found a curious critter or a partridge scurrying away. Today we were in a hurry to get down to the beach, the hill seemed to cooperate with us and gave us a much needed burst of energy going down.
When we got there we encountered the most magical vision! a Lake Maiden!! we couldnt believe our eyes, we havent seen them since last summer and we didnt think we were that lucky to see them two years in a row. Slowly and quietly we approached the beach, which was empty, and therefore these group of sisters felt secured in coming out of their watery abode.
First we saw Piper, a little girl who takes care of the birds that feed off the lake. She was very gratiously playing with the sand, and singing to herself. We felt we shouldnt disturb her so we just observed...we didnt want her to go back to the lake. My daughter was fascinated by them and so we kept talking so, so quietly.
I guess it got a little hot or something because her dress magically changed into a beautiful top, and she started playing by the bushes along the shore, smellin' flowers and taking everything in. I wondered what kind of lives these beauties live, surrounded by nature, fed by nature, nurtured by nature.
We walked a little bit down the beach and we found another sister. Her name is Cove. She seemed very shy and very insecure. I wanted to go and give her a big hug but then understood why she is so shy, she doesnt want to be too far off the lake, so she is always just hanging around the rocks and stuff. She seemed like such a nice creature to talk to but of course, given her nature, we decided it was best to leave her to her thoughts and let her enjoy her outing.
Same thing as with the other one, her dress magically transformed into a wonderful knit vest, a top and some pants. I guess she felt adventurous and decided to take a stroll along the shore. I wished we could have gone with her, but somebody else was already captivating our attention.
In a little nook of the beach we found Birch, a very smiley, chirpy little sweetheart. She seemed so full of laughter and joy we felt like jumping and singing ourselves. My little one urged me to get closer to get a better look and Birch didnt take notice, as she was very busy lifting logs and inspecting all the crooks under them. I guess she was trying to find small creatures...or maybe something to eat. We dont know as of course we dont understand their language, and we very well know it is not up to us to ask them questions. Magical creatures are very wise, and are better left alone, otherwise you might seem too imposing and they will never let you see them again.
As with the other two sisters, Birch suddenly whipped out a different outfit. Truth is the sun was shining hard, the fog had vanished and some sweat drops started to crown my daughters forehead. It was time to move on or head back home but we were captivated by the beauty of these ladies. We decided not to push it and check out another nearby beach instead. Perhaps we could find a nice spot to eat our lunch and finally come out in the sand to enjoy this little bit of sun.
Little did we know, it must have been our luckiest day so far. We took a small trail up the side of the lake, that takes you to a beach only accessible by foot. My daughter really likes it there and last time we were there she found a huge moose bone and thought it was a dinosaur, so she thinks quite a lot of this small beach. When we got there, lo and behold, another cutie was checking out the beach.
Her name is Pebble, and we watched her polish some rocks, give freckles to another one, and pile rocks on top of each other. I always thought, upon finding these small architectural works, that some kids must have made them. Now I know better and they will for sure bring a giggle whenever I see one. Pebble was very interested in lifting, weighing and catologuing all the rocks at the beach, or so it seemed. So engrossed was she in her affairs that she didnt notice when we came up and started taking photos of her. She must have felt very honoured because she whipped out a comfier outfit and let us take lots more pictures of her. My little one kept saying cute things about her hair and her beautiful light blue eyes, and she just smiled at us...and then poof! she vanished.
After having a small lunch and talking excitedly about all that we had witnessed that short morning, we decided to go and check out one of the small creeks that feed the lake. We always love it there as in the summer is full of water bugs, spiders, chipmunks and a whole rackus of chirpy birds. I guess by this time you must already know that we found yet another lake maiden. We thought to ourselves that maybe we were getting sun stroke and were hallucinating, because we just couldnt believe our luck. But no, she was real, as real as any other magical creature is, as they require your belief in them to become seen.
Sunset was saying something to the creek when we approached her. She looked at us and stared at us for a long time, not in a rude kind of way, more so like inspecting us. She showed some interest in my camera and my daughter's rubber boots. Then she looked at her own shoes and had a quick laugh. She said something to us but we couldnt understand her and she moved on.
As she got closer to the lake her outfit changed into a beautiful muslin dress. I guess now, having seen this happen a few times, I can honestly say that as the maidens approach the lake their outfits turn into a beautiful dress, appropriate for a lake dweller. And as they get away from the lake they wear something a bit more adventurous.
We were so happy and felt so lucky for this amazing opportunity. To witness so many and so different maidens, to see them interact with their environment, to hear them speak, and to have been the recipient of their smiles, feels like such a blessing. We most likely will never see them again, as one can never hope for such an event to happen twice in a lifetime. But we will talk about it forever, we will make watercolours of their dresses, and reminisce about the foggy day the lake called us loud and clear. Sometimes all you have to do is pay attention and wonderful things can happen to you too.
Psst...the lake maidens will be available tomorrow at 7:00 AM Eastern time. Dont miss them!