Slipping Away to Hidden Lake - 2009

I decided I could break away for maybe a 30 minute swim with
the ducks, fish and turtles at Hidden Lake Family Campground
Saturday. I made it to Hidden Lake this year again just a
couple of days before they close for the season after Labor
Day. The weather was perfect and I couldn't resist. I paid
my $5 and drove in. The water felt nice, the air temperature
was in the high 80s, the sky was a perfect blue, and the sun
was warm. I swam for a while, then climbed up on a dock out
in the lake to soak up some late in the day rays.

I was lightly snoozing when a woman's voice woke me and said
as she climbed the ladder to the dock that she was coming to
borrow some of my planks if that would be OK. I agreed and
then she said in about 30 seconds my quietness would be
gone. Indeed, she had quite a brood of kids, and I'm not
sure how many were hers. They came and went and had a good
old time. One wanted to know my name, but was too shy to ask
so her mom (the woman) touched me on the hand and asked me.
She also asked me if I lived at the campground. She was
pretty and tall, lean, and had a nice collection of blue ink
tattoos. Her 15 year old was not there today she said, but
was back home babysitting. Little Maddie was the youngest
child I think and she was 3. She was a little water bug
wearing a life jacket and loved jumping off the dock into
the water and was having a jolly time. Her mom told me
Maddie (who wanted to be called Mermaid that day) had gone
off the high dive earlier and had been swimming in this lake
since before she could hardly walk.

I enjoyed our chat, but decided to start towards home. As I
was swimming away from the dock, one of the boys said he
sure wished he had some goggles like mine, so I told him he
could use them for a while. He LOVED them and swam around
and had a fine time looking for stuff underwater. Later, I
figured I should really be going, and he really really
didn't want to give them back. But I coaxed him into it.

I swam to shore, and as I lay on the towel in the grass,
drying off in the late afternoon sun, the happy sounds of
kids playing and the pleasant smell of barbeque chicken
cooking was all quite sublime.

Music of note this year was "Achy Breaky Heart", "Sweet Home
Alabama, "Song of the South (Sweet Potato Pie and I Shut My
Mouth)", and Bob Seger's "Turn the Page". Hearty belly
laughter of note came from three rather plump Mexican
looking teen girls all trying to climb up on a huge inner
tube out in the water. My two hour break went by oh so fast,
but it was a beautiful quick trip to another place and a
different state of time.