Demo Day at the Great Northern Coffee House

A day at the Coffee House for the demo

9 x 11" Sketchbook - wc and ink

A nice day sketching and doing Zentangle® at the Great Northern Coffee House in Minocqua, WI.  The owner of the store bought the little sketch...which was nice.  I didn't sell any other art that day but the art will remain hanging until Oct 11 so I am hopeful!  And the big "Beef-o-Rama" event comes during this time (Sept 30).  So lots of people in town that weekend.   

Here at the cabin I am now falling into what call "the Limbo days". Being "in limbo" for the last 20 days between being home here and packing for home in Florida.  It's an annual event.

We got happy news Sunday that our power was finally restored.  BUT we also got word that Hurricane Maria is making disturbing progress in our direction.  This seems like kicking someone who has already fallen down, don't you think?  Please pray that this hurricane veers out into the Atlantic.  

Incidentally I looked up the phrase "in limbo":

An intermediate or transitional state, as in After his editor left the firm, his book was in limbo. [ Early 1600s ] Both usages allude to the theological meaning of limbo, that is, a place outside hell and heaven to which unbaptized infants and the righteous who died before Christ's coming were traditionally consigned.

I had no idea about this being a "place for unbaptized folks and folks who were born before Christ".  Think I will change the term to something else a bit more mild like "in transition" or  "feeling homeless" or "A bit detached" or ...any other ideas?  

A Tangle for Relaxation

The Diva's Zentangle® challenge this week are "squares overlapping" if I read it right.  I've been off-challenge for awhile this summer.  For one thing my internet up here is VERY slow especially during high tourist season.  After Labor Day it does speed up slightly. 

I did a quick flip through of my Mac n'cheese tangles and stopped on "Mosaik" which is portrayed in variation on the center of this tile.  

The whole drawing got sort of out of control at one point...you can tell I am slightly stressed out...and so I couldn't seem to stop.  I kept adding and adding beyond the time I should have called it quits.  

But the nice thing about tangles is that it doesn't really matter.  If you need to tangle than tangle on! That why Sandy Bartholomew called her book Yoga for the Brain.

And by the way, Sandy has a pretty amazing blog post this week.

Have a look at how to transform a closet into a creative art spot!

James Richards interprets Hurricane Irma

These sketches by James Richards  are a wonderful interpretation of Hurricane Irma.  James and his wife had to evacuate Siesta Key on the west coast but the storm hit him inland in Lakeland, FL as well.  Although he avoided the storm surge by coming inland.  I found his ability to do this amazing.  Click on his name to read his comments about doing this and how sketching during the storm relieved some of the anxiety.  

The Gallery Show begins

The show at the Northern Coffee Shop in Minocqua is now displayed as of this morning.  My friend Karla, helped me set up the display.  The top photo is the wall is in the back of the shop where the Lakeland Art League has a gallery and the second photo is one of the walls in the front of the coffee shop itself.

The shop is open 7-2:30 Wed-Sunday.  

215 Front Street Minocqua

The display will be there today through Wed October 11.

Lots of parking across the street in the municipal parking lot near the post office. And a delightful menu of quiches and fresh breads.

On another note here is the update from our lovely park in Leesburg, FL northwest of Orlando.

There was extensive damage from Irma but everyone is rallying.

This photo below is from the front of the main clubhouse where a wonderful old oak was torn up roots and all and one of our street lights came right up with it without even breaking the bulb! Think of all the years that old tree has made it...until this week.  

Reports tell us that our own home made it through unscathed.  Thank you God.  But some others were not so lucky.  No power there yet but hope by this weekend. 

Prayers for everyone who is living through the aftermath now...no power in many places, no AC, no showers, no coffee, no street lights, loss of belongings, angst from the noises of generators and chain saws, loss of sleep, loss of food and belongings, not much gas and frayed nerves.  We've heard reports of short tempers, and looting. These make us even more sad.   

Thinking of those in the path of Irma

"Irma" 4 x 6" Acrylic on paper

My hubby and I have the most delightful little home in central Florida just northwest of Orlando, FL.  It is a gated retirement park of about 1,200 homes.  It is the joy of our lives and we spend 7 months of our lives there...Oct-May.  

SO...now it is in the DIRECT path of a category 5 hurricane.

Blessing: We are not there.  We are still in the north woods of Wisconsin.   THAT is a very good thing as we would be preparing to evacuate if we were.  This darling Florida place is a "manufactured" home (not site built) and they are not good shelter in severe weather.  

Worry: We have many friends that do stay all year round there and  now we pray that they get to safety and remain unharmed.  AND that our little homes can somehow withstand the storm.  

Huge storms like this seem to be happening more frequently  lately...and along with the fires out west the loss of homes from natural disaster is frightening.  Your home is your  "shelter" and it grounds you...and the loss of their personal space leaves people full of anxiety and sadness.  

So do keep everyone in the path of Irma in your prayers this weekend.  

Claims from Time A Rhythm Not Yet Heard

Upsa Daisy by Ginny Stiles
Acrylic 16 x 20

A Blessing for an Artist at the Start of the Day

by John O'Donohue 

from his book To Bless the Space Between Us

May morning be astir with the harvest of  night;

Your mind quickening to the eros of a new question,

Your eyes seduced by some unintended glimpse

That cut right through the surface to a source.

May this be a morning of innocent beginning,

When the gift within you slips clear

Of the sticky web of the personal

With its hurt and its hauntings,

And fixed fortress corners,

A morning when you become a pure vessel

For what wants to ascend from silence,

May your imagination know

The grace of perfect danger,

To reach beyond imitation,

And the wheel of repetition,

Deep into the call of all

The unfinished ad unsolved

Until the veil of the unknown yields

And something original begins

To stir toward your senses

And grow stronger in your heart 

In order to come to birth

In a clean line of form,

That claims from time

A rhythm not yet heard,

That calls space to

A different shape.

May it be its own force field

And dwell uniquely

Between the heart and the light

To surprise the hungry eye

By how deftly it fits

About its secret loss.

Happy Hour

Just a quick post to show a batik that I did a few years ago...not very large...maybe 8 x 10 on gallery wrapped canvas.  It is called 

"Happy Hour" and is based on a photo taken by my friend Mary Warren (see Flicker).  She took the reference photo in an upscale bar in Boston some years ago and I just loved the photo. I think I may offer it at the gallery in September.  

Just Passing Through

One of the marvels of the autumn season is the migration.  Birds and some butterflies.  The idea of the passing over our heads at night was renewed for me by David's poem below.

After I read through it aloud (as poems should be always read aloud) I paused and thought a bit.  And then I read it again slower.  "Passing through"...yes...aren't we all.  

Invisible Vistors

By David Budbill

All through August and September

   thousands, maybe

tens of thousands, of feathered

   creatures pass through

this place and I almost never see

   a single one.  The fall

wood warbler migration goes by here

   every year, all of them,

myriad species, all looking sort of like

   each other, yellow, brown, gray,

all muted versions of their summer selves,

   almost indistinguishable

from each other, at least to me, although

   definitely not to each other,

all flying by, mostly at night, calling to each

  other as they go to keep

the flock together, saying: chip, zeet,

  buzz, smack, zip, squeak--

  those 

sounds reassuring that we are

  all here together and

heading south, all of us just passing

  through, just passing

through, just passing through, just

  passing through.

Some art preparation for the Northern Coffee House Gallery Show!

Just a few more of my give-away book marks in preparation for the demo on Sept 16 (see sidebar). I included my "corner chomper" in the photo as I "chomped" all the corners on these and I can't believe what a difference that makes!  I left about half a dozen to do at the demo.  Also plan to draw and paint in my sketchbook!

So now I am sorting through paintings trying to decide which would make a nice display at the gallery.  I have a large 3 panel display board to use in the back gallery AND several spots on the front near the door to the restaurant which will take larger paintings. 

Several of the paintings are of local buildings...the one in front (diptych) is the famous Minocqua Brewery Restaurant and the little "house like" wc in the back right is the Minocqua Museum.  I also have one of the Thirsty Whale restaurant.  
The Zentangle® one toward the top is a series of "tree-like" tiles that is rather cool.  15 paintings in all ranging in price from $25 to $60.  

I want to get them all numbered and labeled ahead.  The daughters arrive for Girls' weekend tomorrow night and then friends come later next week for a few days.  Now is the time!  

Preparing for the Art Demo

I've mentioned before (on the sidebar of the blog) that I am going to be doing a demo on Sat September 16 from 9:30 to 2.  I'll be at the Northern Coffee Cafe and Gallery in Minocqua, WI.  It's just a little over two weeks away!  

The cafe provides a rather nice window table and chair right near the entrance where the person doing the demo once a month sets up.  (They also provide lunch!!)

I am planning to do some sketchbook sketching for one thing and have some sketchbooks to show,  but then I am also going to do some Zentangle® as well.  Signage is important and so I thought I'd have some "tent" signs ready to put up. 

I thought I'd also have some "give-aways" ready.  Some small bookmarks each with a tangle on them.  I have done a little water color wash for the background using mostly bright mica-embedded watercolors called "Sparkling H2O".  They look nice in the light.  

Then I did some tangles on top of them.  I did a few with Brush-o water color powders on them which "explode" when you spritz them with water.  They are fun but a little dark for a background to tangle.  So on some of the others I'll sprinkle a little less rather than use so much.  I still have more to do so that will keep me busy the next few days.  

On the back of each is my blog address and also Zentangle.com which may lead some people to explore that direction.  I may bring a few completed Zendalas or a few books about Zentangle just in case I find some one really interested.  

Next I have to choose and organize what paintings I plan to bring to the gallery to hang on the 13th of September.  I need to make sure everything is wired for hanging and then give the club (Lakeland Art League) a list of the pieces I am showing.  There are tags to be filled out as well.  They will stay for a month (until Oct 11). The gallery/cafe is open Tues-Sunday 6 am to 2:30 pm.  

We had some company last Monday and Tuesday with my daughter Julie and her friend Kate here on their way up to Bayfield and the Apostle Islands for a camping trip.  It will so chilly at night as we have frost warnings now!  But they are hardy.   Then over Labor Day we will host my two daughters up for "Girls' Weekend" which usually involves a lot of laughter and quite a bit of wine! We'll finish up with friends Karla and Brent here from the 11th to the 14th.  After that it will the time of year to bring in the pier and store the boats again.  We'll be having fires in the fireplace by then.  Maybe even some snow!  

I dedicate my blog today to my old friend Bea Walker who passed away this morning in Ohio.  She was funny and smart and feisty and pretty and well read and always ready to learn something new.  Her presence in this world made it a better place and she left us a legacy of joy.  

Warming Up again...

A little sketch as a warm up.

Weather and company has kept me out of the studio and away from my outdoor sketching group!  Grrrr.

I did the sketch at Tula's Cafe late one morning this month...while waiting for Mary Gayle to come for lunch.

AND at the same time I wanted to touch base with Laura's weekly Zentangle challenge...I've been away a long time.  Her guest challenge is to make a tile that can be set into 4's in order to make a round Zendala.  

 So this is 1/4th of a Mandala!  

The Season Changes

The Sumac In Autumn by Ginny Stiles

Hearing Acorns Fall

Fall begins to whisper in our ears.

The glint of sun on the water is different now

and the days shorter. The roadside verge turns slightly yellow.

The ferns go first. Black eyed Susans wave about still…

the latest of the blooming flowers.

The forest flowers are subtle and few with any color.

Only my window box and hanging baskets of impatiens offer respite

from total green. Lichens and fungus turn bright colors on the trees in fall,

and there will be mushrooms. 

Sometimes we visit the bogs and buy fresh picked cranberries.

The last visitors have bid farewell and autumn begins.

I remember the clear air, translucent yellow birches that turn the very air golden and then some bright maples that turn red…all against the pines.

 I have not heard the acorns yet.  They should start bouncing off the roof soon.

I wrote this "prose" to my friend Autumn and she "re-arranged" the words slightly to be more like poetry.  (She's very good at stuff like that!). 

And indeed, early fall has begun here at the cabin in the north woods of Wisconsin.  After a cool, wet, gray summer that never seemed to blossom.  

I have my fingers crossed now that the fall will have enormous beauty and that the woods will gift us with color, piney smokey smells, and still waters on the lake.  There will still be time for the loons and for writing and reading on the porch.  And for sketching and painting.  

Greg has found some acorns on the path to the lake since I wrote these words!  

Mindfullness: Despair is Not an Option

Mindfullness

Below is part of an article by Robin Chancer.

It has been my goal not to get into politics on my blog.  But the current situation brings me to re-consider.  Robin is a professional therapist and she is writing this article to address what she sees as a growing problem of depression among many people regarding the current state of affairs in our country.  My current pre-occupation with reading Dark Money has brought me into the realm of some serious thoughts about all this.  You can read the full article here.

The part about using "mindfulness" as a help in steadying one's course was useful to me.  As I so believe that "attention" and "mindfulness" play a large role in life.  Despair is not an option!

"Mindfulness —essentially, the art of shifting attention — is revolutionizing mental health care. Current research in mental health demonstrates enormous benefits to mindfulness practice. In order to promote well being, we can learn to practice mindful attention both to the present moment and to the good as we understand it. Faced with a frequently depressing, maddening world, this can mean focusing intently on the inspiring work going on around us in a multitude of spheres. Each time you feel hopelessness creep in, focus your attention on the kindness, generosity, and good will around you. We are witnessing an unprecedented blossoming of activism. If our eyes are tuned to the light, we will find the light — in the surge of donations to ACLU, in churches offering sanctuary to immigrants, in town hall meetings packed with civically engaged citizens — everywhere.

Each time the tapes of despair and anger play in your mind, doggedly shift your focus. The mind will wander, again and again. Each time it happens, we notice the anxious thoughts, and shift our focus back. The anxious mind will scream, “How could our President cut Meals on Wheels? What a monster! Those poor people!” Then, shift focus back to the good, “The program has seen a 500% increase in volunteers since the cuts were proposed. Maybe I could get involved!”

You may object, “But I can’t just forget all the terrible things going on!” You are right. Mindfulness is not about forgetting. It is about shifting focus to what is most immediate and most helpful. We help no one by staying in our anguish for long. Bernie Sanders said it best: “Despair is not an option.”

Studio Time in August

I thought I'd start out this morning with something really bright and cheerful.  Greg and I use inexpensive pocket folders to keep our life organized.  I mean we have a folder for just about everything.  They are lightweight and travel well too.  So when I find a stack of them on sale at a garage sale...like 5 for 50 cents above...I grab them.  Nowadays since I have a mono print system at hand I decorate them in happy, funky ways just to please myself and make a happy statement.  The acrylic paint helps to make them sturdier too.  It takes me like half an hour to do this and the cheery folders get stacked in a vertical file near my desk for use (or replacement of old folders).  

Now this is not as "colorful" but hopefully it will be some day soon. It is what I am working on right now.  This is a very FIRST draft of a house painting commission I am working on.  I used to do quite a few of these "in the olden days" just after I retired.  It was fun to do and I think it appeals because I enjoy interesting architecture and the challenge of making something that will bring folks pleasure.  But they take a long time and are quite challenging.

Often the house is one that folks want to remember.  And, in fact,  the owner has this house up for sale so wants to remember it.  This sketch is on tracing paper and will be when I get it right...the basis for transferring the house to watercolor paper.  I've penciled in the shadows thrown by the afternoon sun on the lawn and roof. 

It's a lovely home in Lake Geneva, WI and I took reference photos last spring in May when we were heading north.  Now I need to have it done so that I can deliver it in October heading south.  

Although it's not completely obvious in the sketch, the house is landscaped beautifully (the owner is a master gardener) and it is surrounded by lush woods.  Everything is so green in May in southern WI it almost takes your breath away.   So I am awaiting the owner's ideas about the floral colors and since I took the photos the garage doors have been replaced.  So I need photos of those.

I will then sit down with scrap watercolor paper and start to play with colors.  I want to give the sky a spring blue with some fluffy clouds. The house is a lovely mauve brown with slightly darker shingles and barn red shutters. It will be challenging.  And a lot of work.  But hopefully I can do it justice.  

ps. have you noticed that the Halloween decorations are out in the stores now?  Sigh.

Making reminders of Blessed Memories

Friend Florie took this photo of me last week during out outdoor painting session at Camp Jorn.  Once in a while we get really nice weather on a Thursday morning.  Rare.  But possible.  I posted this sketch already (scroll back one).  

I am reminded this morning of how important visual reminders become over time.  Sketches or photographs both.

Did I mention I just finished reading Being Mortal by Atul Gawande recently.  I am sure I did. 

Garrison Keillor's blog posted a sweet/sad little poem that reminded me of this book again and of the visual reminders.

 The poem reminded me more of saying good bye to my own homes after I sold them...sometimes I take photos of the empty rooms.  They become reminders of "blessed memories" in those spots.  

On Closing the Apartment of my Grandparents 

of Blessed Memory 

by Robyn Sarah 

And then I stood for the last time in that room.

The key was in my hand. I held my ground,

and listened to the quiet that was like a sound,

and saw how the long sun of winter afternoon

fell slantwise on the floorboards, making bloom

the grain in the blond wood. (All that they owned

was once contained here.) At the window moaned

a splinter of wind. I would be going soon.

I would be going soon; but first I stood,

hearing the years turn in that emptied place

whose fullness echoed. Whose familiar smell,

of a tranquil life, lived simply, clung like a mood

or a long-loved melody there. A lingering grace.

Then I locked up, and rang the janitor’s bell.

A morning on Rest Lake

Last Thursday turned out to be a splendid morning.

The breeze was gentle, the temperatures just right.  4 of us joined together to enjoy delightful few hours painting and sketching at a local YMCA camp on Rest Lake.  Don't you love the name of that lake?  REST Lake.  There is another lake near us called Sunday Lake.  I like that name too. 

There were tons of kids (about 8-12 ages groups) all over the place and they had lots of large tents set up sleeping probably 8 kids.  Joyous shouts and the tinkle of laugher accompanied us all morning.

I had not been there before.  Very nice camp.  Brought back lots of memories of my years as a Girl Scout both as a camper and a counselor. 

The fierce totem pole seemed to feature many turtles.  And an eagle at the top.  The door knobs here on the lodges were small canoe paddles.  (I loved that!) I got some nice shadows on the tent.  Afterwards we had lunch in Manitowish Waters.  

I have tried hard to be better about getting to the paint outs this year.  Even (as you may remember when it is only 50 out there!)

Life has slowed slightly now as August approaches.  All the grandkids that are coming this year have come and gone.  I am a little sad about that.  Greg has closed up the loft and put the ladder away for the season.   We expect some adult friends up...one in August, two in September.  

And I am hoping that my two daughters will come up for "Girl's Weekend" over Labor Day.  We did that last year and made some lasting memories.  I adore those two girls!  Never get enough of them.  

My memoir is going slowly and I do need get more disciplined for that.  I am easily distracted and get off on various small projects or have to get to town for one thing or another and time slides along. Or I get into a book on the summer porch and am lulled into another time and place.  I really will  try hard this month!!!

Hoping to publish more from the library later this week as I have some photos to share.  But internet connections are SO slow here at the cabin.  

Have a good week everyone.

Godwinks

The Great Cats is a puzzle we just finished at the cabin...over about a week or so.  One of those great puzzles that you just pore over when you wake up early or you have a few minutes in the late afternoon or evening.  See if you can put in a few pieces.  The painting is by Peter Kull.  It was about an 8 in a one to ten range of difficulty with 10 being HARD.  Lots of oranges and browns made it pretty darn challenging.  But we enjoyed it.  Found it at a garage sale for 10 cents.

The need to write and the need to paint both comes sometimes like some overwhelming urges that threatens to take my breath away or make me dizzy.  It’s hard to describe but if you are a writer or an artist you will understand.  I cannot think that other creatives feel quite the same but perhaps they do…dancers must dance, singers must sing, knitters must knit…

After I have been inundated these past days with a lot of people and commitments that keep me from both of these “fundamentals” for awhile and I begin to gasp at the neediness of my creativity.  It often comes after I have been reading a lot too…suddenly the reading of another’s words just begin to make my finger itch and soon I am off and running again.  To what audience I have no idea.  (Maybe it is because Autumn likes to read my blogs.)😜

In my youth, drawers filled up with old papers and short stories that never got finished.  Once I discovered sketching, notebooks began to fill up too.

I just finished reading Being Mortal by Atul Gwande and am full of thoughts like “what is courage?” and “When the end is near when is enough enough?”  It has caused me to think about what I value most and would most hate to have give up.  After the company of my husband and children and I think it would be writing and painting.  Time alone in a good quiet place in the comfort of birds and sunshine.  Like the cabin or my studio in FL (in good weather). 

This week there has not been much time for “contemplation” but that makes the quiet time all the more sweet when it comes.  Chores are done, the wine is poured, the wind has switched around to the south and there is sunshine.  Guests are gone and 

I pick up the book I’ve chosen to read next…like a treasure sent by the gods of happiness.  A new book.  

This one I picked by the title and by the back cover at a recent garage sale.   Not the way I normally pick books by recommendations and by reading reviews.  I was struck by the title which was made more amusing since I have been working all week on a jigsaw puzzles picturing tigers and lions.  The title is The Tiger’s Wife by Tea Obreht.

The first chapter begins when the main character’s grandfather dies of cancer (a disease he has kept secret from everyone except his granddaughter).  And the cultural rituals around the keeping and nurturing of his soul begin.

So I am to begin to read about end of life just as I finished another one. Sharon Feathers would call this a “Godwink”.  Another way to look at serendipity or coincidence as perhaps not exactly as random as one might think.  

Sketching Moments for Remembering

There is a spot on my summer porch at the cabin by the lake that is a "cozy" spot and a place where I can play quiet music.  Here I curl up to read, write on my laptop (the memoir, remember?), have my wine in the late afternoon with hubby, or sometimes take a wee nap.  

These sketches are views from that spot.  Done in a 9 x 11 mixed media Strathmore sketchbook.  There is room for 4 to sit and have a comfortable conversation which I think is the ideal number for a chat.  

The larger sketch faces toward the lake (west) which we easily see just 90 steps away through the lovely old pines and oaks.  With the windows open we hear the loons call and see the ducks swim by.  We hear the pontoon boats out for a ride and fishing boats going by.

An ideal spot of a pot of daisies and stacks of books and my binoculars in case I see something new at the bird feeder.  The hummingbird feeder hangs just outside the window off to the north side. We often here their little "motors" as they drink.  The smaller sketches face north.  

So this is probably THE favorite spot I have here at the cabin or maybe on the deck at the pier on a still summer late afternoon would be a close second.  Sketches like this provide one with an amazing way to bring the moment back.

Pure nonsense!

Well, here I go again with a new device to try to learn about!!!  You'd think since I have an Apple iPad and an Apple laptop, this iPhone would be a no-brainer.  Well to the contrary!  Phones are a different animal.  

I thought it might be fun to decorate my case (Otter Box as my daughter recommended) so that if there were many black iPads around I'd have no difficulty seeing which one was mine!!!

Pure nonsense.  I have a lot of art stuff sitting and waiting and here I am making pure nonsense.  The decoration is Zentangle®, of course, and the pattern is one of my favorites called "Lollywimple".  

I used fluid acrylic paint for this which I loaded into a Molotow refillable ink pen.  These are extremely messy to refill.  You should have a "refill" device that you buy separately but I've always just donned rubber gloves and put a lot of newspaper down, put on an apron and pulled it apart.  This pen was new so the first fill is a no brainer.  

Acrylic is pretty "hardy" but I expect with all the use the case will get it will eventually wear off.  But easily repainted.  

Weather day is nice today (amazing, huh?) as the north woods just whips from one type of weather to another!  47 degrees last night and 75 in the afternoon...15 and 25 degree swings every week and every day.  Try to plan something?  Forget that.

Just enjoying it when it turns nice...that's the key.  

Have a good week!  

The weather will be good...when pigs fly?

9 x 11 sketch in Strathmore Visual Journal 90# paper...watercolor and ink.  

Only 4 artists showed up today and we froze our buns off.  The Greenhouse/Nursery in Boulder Junction, WI (about half an hour from my cabin in Lac du Flambeau) is a very nice venue for painting.  If it were sunny.  If it were warm.  

But nope.  Temp was about 52 with a stiff wind and never a touch of sunshine.  It didn't rain but that about the only thing going for the weather today!  All of us felt our fingers grow numb from cold on JULY 13th!!!

The greenhouse was bedecked with flowers and then outside was this tiny little cottage in which they sold garden equipment and coffee and doodads for our garden like wind chimes and little metal pigs with wings.  All the shadows you see are fake.

We did a lovely lunch afterwards and much laughter and good conversation.  Then I was off to get some groceries in Minocqua and home by "tea time" (which was NOT on the pier unfortunately).  I decided we needed a comfort dinner and did my apple/pork chop bake.  This felt so "fall-ish".  It kept the cabin warm and we are full and sleepy...curled up reading on the sofa and watching darkness descend over the lake.