Lazing by the Lake

When my family moved to Calabasas in 1976, the lake was my best friend.  After dinner - or after a fight with my parents - I would escape to walk around its perimeter, bread crumbs at the ready for the already people-savvy ducks.  

As the evening sun set, the lake's surface would sparkle and shimmer and this magical lightshow would calm my teenage nerves. And thankfully illuminate the duck poop along the path. No small thing. Literally.

July's "Concert at the Lake" (again August 14th) allowed me to re-visit some of the soothing sights that only water and the sound of a bird's call can bring. But now that I'm technically a grown-up I could add a pinot noir and some maytag blue cheese from Canyon Gourmet, which considerably enhanced the experience. Plopping myself down on a towel (remember bird poop), popping the cork and listening to a fun classic rock band placed me one step from heaven.

I am a natural loner- therefore a natural observer - and my fellow concert-goers were a spectacularly mixed bag of ages, species and energy levels.  

The dreadlocked Frisbee player seemed as if he missed the turn for Topanga but was the center of attention for all. Especially a little girl who wanted to join in. The Golden retriever watching this activity practically came out of his skin until he finally toppled his owner so many times that he got his very own game of fetch going.  

I think this was merely an act of preservation on the owner's part. Still. Chalk up one for canine persistance.

A perfectly sunkissed, golden-hair boy who looked as if he was the poster child for California summers quietly played around his parents' staked out lawn position while residents in their canoes and paddle boats filtered in and out of view.

Listening to music on a sundappled lawn at the edge of a lake really has no equal. By Aug. 14 you can bet I will have re-stocked my wine and maybe this time will add a chair to watch the dogs, vote for wackiest misfit and try to recall what that argument with my parents was about.

But then, I was 17, so what wasn't I arguing about. I guess I spent a lot of time at the lake.