We took pictures of Lake Latoka Beach — where I learned to dive from the high tower. The tower was gone. Maybe they took it out for the end of the season, maybe it’s been gone for years. I don’t know. For me it is still there.
A little girl, still armed with her baby fat, came out of the water. “It’s not freezing?” I asked her, this being October. “Not really,” she smiled. She was still in her beginning, where everything was warm. I envied (in the most glorious happy-for-her way) her dripping hair.
The water was clear. And I could feel myself go under, further, farther. Cool. Forgiving (or not needing to forgive.) No resistance. Smooth. And I made my way to the tower. Flew off, as I had so bravely dared to do in my own baby fat years. I brushed the sand off of my shoes, still planted firmly on the ground.
The colors will change soon. Everything does. The greens will turn from golds to reds. And then, without our knowledge or permission, it will all be white with snow.
Nature wants us to change. She teaches us daily. Gives us the tools. Oh, how I want to learn. I want to be baby fat brave and dive into autumn. There is a season, turn, turn, turn… This is our season.
