june laKE

early august,2008.
We had the good fortune to be able to take a trip to june lake, ca thanks to jeris hospitality. she owns a beautiful two story home there. it has a large wooden deck that overlooks gull lake with june lake in the distance. the setting is idyllic. located on the eastern side of the sierra nevadas not far from mamoth lakes resort and mono lake. we set out early in the morning - its a good six hour drive taking highway five out of town then the 14 to palmdale and lancaster. those are very interesting towns located in the high desert with a veryhigh gang population. when the housing prices skyrocketed folks moved out of the los angeles area where they could not afford the rents or home purchase prices. some chose to move out of state - to las vegas or phoenix, others chose the high desert area, including many gang bangers from south los angeles and east los angeles. some people left to escape crime and gangs, were they in for a surprise. the 14 eventually cuts through the mojave desert where the heat hits you like a wall. i had the same reaction one february in chicago when i stepped outside the hotel and the cold was so severe and pervasive thati had to struggle to catch my breath, same struggle with the mojave heat. from there the 395 heads north through the small towns of lone pine and independence. to the left rise the high peaks of the sierra nevada, including mount whitney, the highest point in the 48 contiguious states. to the right lies ancient lake owens, long since dry, thanks to ever growing and ever thirsty los angeles. once a lush valley today only the dry lake bed remains with salt flats and dust storms that wreak havok on the health of the residents of that valley, who were once engaged in a bitter and often violent battle with los angeles over water rights. today thanks to the courts and the save mono lake committe a truce has been called and the streams that feed owens river run free once again. how long will it take to heal and restore that valley to its lush past is most probably beyond our lifetimes. perhaps our grandchildren will fish and swim in that river. Close to lone pine are the ruins of manzanar, concentration camp for japanese americans during world war two. a small marker marks the spot. there are some old concrete foundations, nothing more to mark the place where so many dreams died in that dead valley. Up ahead the town of bishop is picturesque.and we stop at jacks waffle house for a good meal. from bishop it is only one more hour to june lake, passing other well known lakes especially for fisherman - convict lake, lake crowley, and more. we pass june lake and in a couple of minutes we arrive at the home. but i cringe for there are stairs, many stairs leading up to the landing and the main entrance. there is no other way. i must walk up those stairs, which i do with lots of help, thank you fernie and miguel. the inside is very well done and she has a library! i pick out a book on the ghost town of bodie and another on john adams, a founding father and relative of samuel adams the ardent revolutionary. i realize immediately its going to be a very relaxing and enhoyable 4 days. a couple of days later we make our way to june lake, rent a pontoon boat and set out on the lake. it is a most beautiful high mountain lake fed by snow runoff, the water is very cold.. the lake has a nice beach on one end. many years ago when my sons were small we camped there and swam in that lake. there is a boulder that juts out of the water about 50 yards from the beach. my son, sal was about ten years old and he wanted to swim to the boulder as we had seen others do. so we set out for the rock. i had one eye on the rock and the other on my son who was swimming next to me. when we were about half way there i looked down and noticed the color of the water had darkenened indicating it was quite deep there. i looked over at my son who was swimming not three feet from me with even strokes. a sudden fear gripped me. what if something happened. what if he panicked, swallowed water and began to drown? then another feeling came over me, a peaceful one. i knew i would save him somehow. i might have to dive down deep to retrieve him. how many times would i have to dive? it didnt matter. i would keep diving until i had him. it was then i realized what a powerful force is that of fatherhood. we eventually reached the rock and were able to climb up onto it quite exhausted but happy we had reached our goal. the jays and the gulls were making a ruckus above and about us but we ignored them and rested in the sun.