The Beach at Long Lake

I had my first swim of the summer today, and it was glorious. The water at Long Lake is definitely warmer than either the Atlantic Ocean or the Minas Basin. The beach is unsupervised, but there's a buoyed off area for little kids, and it's very shallow even well beyond the buoys. It was a perfect afternoon, with the temperature in the mid-twenties and the sun moving in and out behind the clouds.

Throughout the weekend a beach volleyball tournament was going on, with several nets set up across the beach. However, there was still plenty of room for sunbathers and castle builders. This one, with its wildflowers and feather decoration, had the name Castle Desiree etched in the sand.

I met a woman from Cambridge Bay, slowly making her way into the water, when I was getting out. She said she's been swimming in the lakes further north, which are warm because of the intensity of the sun up there, even though the air temps aren't as high as in Yellowknife.

Turns out she lived in Yellowknife when I did in the late 70's, and helped get the Wild Cafe going. Married to an Inuk, she's an artist and consultant in Inuktitut. We had a grand old yak, standing in the water.
I'm getting to be a master at striking up conversations with strangers. This weekend I was on my own--and other than phone calls to the family--it was me, myself and Susan. So, if I don't want to talk to myself, I have to find people to chat up!