For the Love of Colonial Lake

For six years Colonial Lake has marked the rhythm of my life, constant and changing. It is the first thing I see when I get up in the morning and sip my steaming coffee, and the last thing I see before I lock the door, pull down the shades, and turn in for the night.  It is my sunrise and my sunset. It is my big sky country, where I can see stars and rainbows and full moons rising up over the colored roofs of this intimate city.

It is my daily reminder of bounty and beauty and that all people can co-exist.  From infants to the elderly, from college students to the mothers to the professionals, in all shapes and colors – we all find our center, here in the heart. Round and round its concrete walls and dappled, sometimes sparkling waters, we go. We walk. We sit. We contemplate. We play. We work. We provide for our families. We honor our families. We converse. We inspire. We aspire. We revel in the joy of doing absolutely nothing – if ‘nothing’ is feeling the sun on our face, the breeze in our hair, and watching the fish jump high…

Some may turn up their noses at its crumbling parts, at its murky shallows, but I say, Colonial Lake is like us. Layered. Complex. Beautiful nonetheless. It is not what we look like that is most important, it is what we offer up to the world.

By the way, if you feel the love too, come join The Charleston Parks Conservancy at the 3rd annual Party for the Parks, on the banks of Colonial Lake September 22 at 6PM.

 

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