Going to the Lake

LAKE LAS VEGAS
ACCUSTOMED, CEREMONIOUS

Dinghy to the Rescue
Miss the boat? We meant to do that!

What happened? Looks like someone got the time wrong for boarding the dinner cruise! Gerry should not have listened to me. Oops, too late! Luckily, a kindly stranger has come to our rescue and is ferrying us out to the recently departed lake cruise so that we catch up with our friends and relatives. My Cousin Brent couldn't resist the photo op, and I couldn't stop laughing.

It was the perfect occasion for one of my favorite summer songs, these lyrics especially:
"Going to the lake . . .
me n' my mistakes,
yeah but that's okay . . .
going to the lake . . . "
Thanks to Andrew Robert Palmer for this upbeat sing - along - in - the car, sing - along - in - the - boat sort of song. It brings on an endless summer Beach Boys sense of nostalgia, except it's not the ocean -- it's the lake, which is definitely a better fit for some of us!

Beyond the narrator's carefree charm and good cheer, the lyrics include a thoughtful message of optimism in the face of change and transition. Even more existential is the takeaway of self - forgiveness. Hey, my mistakes are a part of me; they've made me who I am; they're going with me to the lake. Yeah, but that's okay, right?

Lake Las Vegas

To the Lake!

Going to the lake
going to the lake
going to the lake
going to the lake
going to the lake
going to the lake
no matter what you say
you might just need a break

Going through a change
going through a change
going through a change
going through a change
seems like I'm always
going through a change
and I ain't actin' strange
there's not a lot to say

Woo-ooo uh-huh
[a few times]

End of the day
man the sky is grey
jump on the highway
me n' my mistakes
yeah but that's ok
in fact I'm feeling great

Going to the lake
going thru a phase
and I just can't wait
going thru a change
and I'm on my way
me n' my mistakes
speeding by landscapes
flowers on the hill about I-88

Music & lyrics by Andrew Robert Palmer
from the album Andrew Robert Palmer, released May 1, 2019
posted with author's permission
all rights reserved

Note from Andrew: "Sometimes you just need a break from it all, but you are way way far away from the lake coming home from work and the weather sucks; so, you just sit in traffic and write a little tune in your head."

From the same album:
"American Souls" ~ featured previously on this blog.
See / listen to more ARP albums: Parlour Punk & Big Whoop
When it comes to summer nostalgia, no mention of any visit to any lake is complete without E.B. White's trip down memory lane:

"Summertime, oh summertime, pattern of life indelible, the fade proof lake, the woods unshatterable, the pasture with the sweet fern and the juniper forever and ever, summer without end; this was the background, and the life along the shore was the design, the cottages with their innocent and tranquil design, their tiny docks with the flagpole and the American flag floating against the white clouds in the blue sky, the little paths over the roots of the trees leading from camp to camp and the paths leading back to the outhouses and the can of lime for sprinkling, and at the souvenir counters at the store the miniature birch-bark canoes and the post cards that showed things looking a little better than they looked. This was the American family at play, escaping the city heat, wondering [about] the newcomers at the camp . . . It seemed to me, as I kept remembering all this, that those times and those summers had been infinitely precious and worth saving. There had been jollity and peace and goodness. . . . Peace and goodness and jollity." from "Once More to the Lake" (1941)
by E. B. White (1899 – 1985)

A Night to Remember
"Peace and goodness and jollity."

P.S.

"But the great fact in life, the always possible escape from dullness, was the lake. The sun rose out of it, the day began there; it was like an open door that nobody could shut. The land and all its dreariness could never close in on you. You had only to look at the lake, and you knew you would soon be free."

from The Professor's House (1925)
Willa Cather (1873 – 1947)
Next Fortnightly Post
Saturday, August 14th

Between now and then, read
THE QUOTIDIAN KIT ~ Red Tank Top
my shorter, almost daily blog posts
www.dailykitticarriker.blogspot.com

Looking for a good book? Try
KITTI'S LIST
my running list of recent reading
www.kittislist.blogsppot.com

Viva la Revolution

VINTAGE CROCHET
ACCUSTOMED, CEREMONIOUS

Vest made back in the 70s by my Grandmother Adeline Carriker;
scarf by my mother Mary Carriker
Bonus: Red, White & Blue for the July Holidays!

Earlier this month, Gerry and I needed costumes for a 70th Birthday Party with a 1970s theme, to be held over the 4th of July. Luckily, I still have an assortment of these crocheted vests that were all the rage during my junior high through college years. Just in case anyone suspects that only nerds wore crochet back then, take a look at all these groovy options -- even for guys! Crazy times! My mom and grandma must have worked overtime, crocheting nonstop to keep us girls in style. I'm pretty sure that my sisters and girl cousins and I had some version of practically everything on this page! (Not my brothers, however! They weren't that hip! Haha!)

The nice thing about the all - American 4th of July color scheme is that it means you're all set for Bastille Day as well -- the crocheted vest, the red, white, and blue twinkle lights, the miniature Eiffel Tower. Apparently, even George Washington observed the occasion of French Independence as well as our own, being the proud possessor -- thanks to the Marquis de Lafayette -- of the confiscated Key to the Bastille! Who knew?!

The sad thing about July 14th this year, after seeing the White House stormed on January 6th, is that somehow Bastille Day just doesn't feel as fun as it used to. There has to be a better way than storming!

Still, it's only right, on this blog of literary connections, to observe the day with a poem in honor of Paris, by one of my favorite poets and lifelong friends, who has written so beautifully of Paris:

Proust's Way: July 1991

Across the street from our hotel
and down a block or two, a door
opens onto a courtyard where Marcel
may have stepped upon a rough flag-
stone that triggered a host of things
he never knew he would recall.

Walking by the door, we recall
Guermantes's way and the count's hotel,
Swann's folly and all sorts of things
still existing beyond the door.
On evenings as we pass, the flag
of France is taken down. Marcel

is resting in his room. Marcel
remembers us while we recall
exactly what he said the flag-
stone summoned forth. At our hotel
we don't exactly close the door
on the chance he may be right: things

past have a way of making
now seem a bit more real. Marcel
seldom ventured beyond his door
in later years. Total recall
was obsession and love. The hotel,
on the 14th, displays its flags

for the troops of Desert Storm, flags
that have seen stranger things
than Bush at Mitterand's hotel.
At night not far from here, Marcel
sat in Square Louis to recall
better days. The mind is a door

that opens to many bells, a door
that swings on memory. A flag-
stone once caused Marcel to recall
involuntarily the things
that were his world and ours. Marcel,
we owe you more than a hotel

door labeled where he wrote. The things
that flag our minds are mute. Marcel,
no total recall in our hotel.

by American Poet Jim Barnes (b 1933)
in Paris: Poems by Jim Barnes

******************

Click to read more Bastille Day poems

Additional Bastille & Independence Day Posts
from previous years:

Bastille Day: Is There A World You Long To See?
Two Poems for Bastille Day
Eagles is Freedom
Carriker Barrel
Viva la Revolution

No More Forever
Andrea Dworkin
Liberté, égalité, fraternité!
If I Had a Hammer
Happy Bat - stille Day!

Indpendence Day 2009
Resident Alien
Red, White & Blue Pie
Who Needs Fireworks?!
May God Bless and Keep the Upstart Americans
Loving America the Al Franken Way
American Tune
Practice Pysanky, Practice Resurrection, Practice Revolution
I Pledge Allegiance

We managed the 70s and the 4th all in one outfit!

Accessorizing

Arriving in Style!
By land or by sea!

Thanks to Magan's Crochet Corner for giving expert advice when I inquired about the possibility of somehow turning all my old vests into an afghan. Magan advised to leave them as they are: "Crochet is having a comeback!" She was right! Thank goodness I resisted the temptation to unravel what turned out to be the perfect partywear! If you save something long enough . . . it might become cool once again!

In addition to vests, my mom specialized in large crocheted afghans, several still in use today by various members of the family; and Grandma Carriker made the best crocheted wagon wheel pillows, sadly all worn out.

Next Fortnightly Post
Wednesday, July 28th

Between now and then, read
THE QUOTIDIAN KIT
my shorter, almost daily blog posts
www.dailykitticarriker.blogspot.com

Looking for a good book? Try
KITTI'S LIST
my running list of recent reading
www.kittislist.blogsppot.com