Chapter 18

I studied her profile with a feeling of such deep love, that I wondered how I was able to restrain myself. My eye followed the contours of her face, which was highlighted against an intense blue sky. An occasional large wave would shoot up some spray, filling the background with tiny droplets of water. How could anyone be so beautiful? How could my heart soar within me to such highs of emotion? I went back to the top of her forehead and followed the line, once more, down to her chin. I broke the sections down and studied each inch. Once again I was amazed.

We were lying on a blanket on a beach in South Carolina. Anna was on her back. I think she had fallen asleep. I was lying on my side and gazing upon the side of Anna's face. The feelings of affections that were welling up inside of me were so intense, that I wanted to stand up and shout to the whole world.

"Do you know how lucky I am? Can you even grasp the beauty of this woman?" I wanted to shout my proclamation to anyone who could hear.

Something startled me from my daydream and I realized that I was indeed lying on a beautiful sandy shore. Anyone who thinks that the coasts in the south are the only places that have sandy beaches has evidently not spent much time in the north. Unfortunately, the profile lying next to me was that of my sailing partner, John.

The beach I was on continued for at least a mile. Amazingly fine sand lay underneath my towel. Crystal clear water lapped at the shore line. It was an incredible place and it rivaled many of the other places I had visited.

John and I had hiked along the trail in the woods. John had been in a hurry to reach the sandy shore, but I had been more intent on studying the flora around me. Wild flowers bloomed, a narrow spring trickled, and various ferns displayed their foliage. I found the walk to be a place of hidden beauty and discovery.

Once we had emerged through the woods, we had searched for a place to sit on the sand. I noticed one other couple on the beach and it was very evident that they were in love. They were frolicking in the water and the guy would occasionally lift the woman above his head. Their laughter was carried to us on the wind, as we studied the amazing world unfolding around us.

It must have been that couple that had sparked a memory of the day on the beach with my love. Unfortunately, it had also aroused feelings in me that I would not be able to ignore. I knew that the feeling of missing my girl would probably nag me for the rest of the day. I decided to get up and go for a run.

The sand on the beach was soft, much like that of South Carolina. However, it was more of a light tan in color. I ran as far as I could before the rocky ledges appeared, and then I turned and ran back. I did this route several times before I felt I had received a sufficient workout. Several more minutes of stretching and some exercises and I was ready to re-join John, who I noticed had fallen asleep.

I gazed out over the water of the largest fresh water lake, by surface area, in the world. Everywhere I looked was bounded by islands. We would need to go north several miles to finally get to the big expanse of wide open water.

I walked down to the water's edge and watched as the waves came crashing in. Just before the raised arc would hit the sand, the water would curl, and for the briefest moment, you could see a linear streak of aqua inside the crest. The water would then roll over and scatter onto the shore.

The area near the shore was more of a tan color, due to the visible sand at the bottom. As your eye traveled further, the water would become more of an aqua color. Past that I would see streaks of purple, interspersed with blue and aqua. With the pastel blue sky above, and the faint streaks of white clouds, it was indeed a day to be enjoyed to the max. I figured it was the closest thing to being on the ocean for a person like me, who lived in the center of the continent.

A few commercial fishing boats could be seen chugging back to their docks. Their diesel engines produced a low rumble, which I found to be very pleasing to my ears.

The biting flies finally discovered us and we decided it was time to move on. It had been so relaxing to just sit and enjoy the peacefulness of the world around us.

On the hike back along the trail, I spotted several mushrooms I had not seen before. I saw some shelf fungi, coral fungi, and best of all, a group of chanterelles. I gathered the fresh ones up to be used with our meal on the boat. I found the hike to be very interesting, but I think John was more intent on just getting back to the boat.

We climbed into our dinghy and headed back to our vessel. The sun was low on the horizon by this time. It would not be long before the darkness crept in.

As we were settling in, we noticed that another boat had anchored relatively close to our location. It must have come in while we were at the beach. I usually prefer to have as much privacy as possible, but not everyone enjoys those same ideas.

I started up the grill, which was attached to the railing on the boat, and proceeded to fry our steaks and the mushrooms I had gathered. John set about making a salad and cutting up some bread. It wasn't long before we found ourselves enjoying a delicious meal. There we sat, out in the open, on a beautiful summery night. As we ate, we watched as the sun set behind the trees of an adjacent island.

Eventually it became very dark. We could see a few flickers of light from the other boats in the distance, but the rest of the world around us was bathed in darkness.

As I gazed over the side, I could feel a sense of depth and mystery in the water below. I imagined what it would be like to fall overboard and sink into the water to a point where the sun no longer could penetrate. I thought about the many sailors, in the area, who had died in that very same way. I recalled several of my favorite movies where the unfortunate person could be seen as they descended into the chasm below. I was once again thankful for our modern conveniences, where, with the flip of the switch, the whole area could be bathed in bright light.

Having had a good day, I headed for the cabin and a good night of sleep. The boat was rocking, ever so slightly, and I figured it would be just the right amount of movement to usher me off to dreamland. I was not getting any reception on my phone, so calling Anna would not even be possible that night.

I slept very well and I believe John did also. At any rate, I did not hear much of his usual snoring. We actually slept longer than we normally would have.

The next morning, I was the first one through the hatch door. I was very surprised to see a dinghy, containing three ladies, heading in our direction.

When they were close to our boat, one of the women called out;