Reflections of Welch Island

Most of the summer places were handed down from generation to generation so most everyone on the island grew up together. Now, there were 65 families with cottage houses on the lake. We stayed in the Pioneer house, the oldest of them all.

Lake Winnipesaukee was formed somewhere back in time during the ice age. It is a crater formed lake continually fed by springs which makes the water cold and so clear you can see the giant sized boulders underneath the surface. The deepest part of the lake is located on the West side of Welch island. At that point it is over 200 feet deep. Folks on the island could drink straight from the lake until 1989 when the water became somewhat polluted. Now you boiled the water for 20 minutes before using it as cooking or drinking water. The beauty is still there - - deep, clear and very frigid waters.

In winter the lake freezes over enough to pull little fishing houses onto the surface. Trucks have been transporting materials to the islands for building reasons or heavy furniture, stoves, etc. during that freeze time. People close up their cottages about Labor day, you can't stay in the cottages in the winter. You would probably freeze to death after a few days. Once the spring sun begins to thaw the ice and if you have left your little fishing house there, the rippling, sparkling diamonds of the lake come through, and the houses sink and splinter, later washing up on the shores of the island.

The weather is a comfortable 56 degrees on an August night and around 76 during the day. However, while there it did rise to around 80 degrees and was plenty hot but tolerable, and one always has the option of taking a dip in the cold water to cool off. Very refreshing!

The highlight of my trip that summer of '97 was the many personalities intertwined with the lake. People dropped by each day - - all sorts of people from many different walks of life: Writers to blue collar workers - - all very diversified and talented. They for the most part are captured in my memory and journal: Phyllis, Jim, Kathy, Melissa, Ann, Lauren, Flip, Doris, Dick, Norma and family, Babe and family, the people from New Jersey, and many others whose names escape me, but they are written in my journal.

The cove was a lovely serene place to rest, surrounded by blueberry bushes just ripe for the picking, but mostly left for the deer and the birds to nibble. We played in the water and felt the fine shifting white sands under our feet while tiny little fishes flirted with the nail polish on our toes.

In the middle of the island were the tallest, straightest, hemlock trees I had ever seen other than in framed pictures. I looked up and could only see the blue, blue sky and the tree tops. I felt close to God and thanked him for the many beautiful things he has allowed us to enjoy and see. He gave us beauty that can never be replicated by man.

Television and the acid producing news of the world were totally non-existent. Classical music trickled from the radio in the cabin along with the lapping of the lake against the rocks - - the sound so sleep inducing. The next day's weather is always a surprise hence no news. Time was not a factor; life was good.

One night as I was sitting on the dock gazing up into the big, wide, beautiful heavens,
I noticed a streak that was like something I had seen years ago before pollution. It was the Milky Way. There were no security lights, no city lights - - it was dark and the view was spectacular. Again, thank you God. Who needs television?

By day 10 though I was beginning to miss the rat race of the city, my family, the paper, news and even television. For 10 days I had had a reprieve from the rat race, but now I was needing a rat race fix.

We came home 16 days later. After being home 4 days I began to yearn again for the solace of the island, but no matter how many times I viewed the videos, looked at the photo's and read my journal I couldn't recapture the magic - - the summer magic was gone, a memory in time. An elusive dream you woke from....