Category: Summerville

Rechargeable People

black and white photography, Summerville

I’m all out of deep thoughts today. Sometimes you just need to sit down and calmly recharge. It’s okay. Even Kal-El ( aka Superman) needed a day off to just go be Clark Kent. However, I’ll take a quiet spot on the lake over a frozen fortress any day.

This fishing peer on Summerville Lake in West Virginia is one of my many fortresses of solitude. It’s not that I’m really alone there, it’s actually a popular place. But it’s also a place where I feel free enough to put away the person who the world sees. I can tuck my cape into my shirt, slide on my glasses and pretend to be normal for a little while.

Taking a walk 1.11.18

Color Photography, Summerville

I  had an opportunity to venture out beyond my normal routine today.  As I walked along the trail at Salmon Run I found this natural threshold.  There was a homestead close by at one time but the mountains are quick to reclaim anything that isn’t maintained.  Perhaps the threshold here is a warning.  “Beyond this point you must leave the outside world behind”.   As I walked on a little further the forest began to strip away the domesticated part of my spirit.  My feral nature returned.  I could smell the wood and stone.  I could hear the scampering of small feet just out of sight.  The birds are chirping but something caught my attention.  There was a hole in the noise. If one stays very still and listens the forest will tell you what is happening around you. As I tracked the silence a jogger came down the path.  Once he and his dog passed the noise came back.  

It was good to get out of the house even if only for a few minutes.   Today was a good day. 

Morning Drive 

Color Photography, Summerville, travel, Uncategorized

Early on the morning of August 21st 2017 I stopped by the roadside park at Summerville Lake in West Virginia.  The shot was taken by placing the camera directly on the road.  The road crosses the Summerville Dam which is a Flood control dam. My grandfather was a engineer who helped build the dam.  Below the lake is the flooded town of Gad. The traditional way of naming Dams and Lakes built during the flood control project had to be suspended to prevent a scandal.  The local community just couldn’t allow the existence of “Gad Dam” and “Gad Dam Lake “. The resulting history is somewhat of a local joke today.

I spent a large part of my youth on or in the lake.  By the time I was 16 swimming from the beach to the campground was a ritual way to celebrate the opening the summer lake season.  Just to left of the road here there’s a cliff where I used to dive.  I’m guessing the drop was about 60 feet high from the surface of the water and the bottom of the lake is about the same.  We’re not allowed to have such adventures there today.  Unfortunately a person was injured because he dove from the wrong spot.  The Corps of engineers decided to ban diving altogether.

On the right side of the road is the Gauley River. The outlet for the lake creates class 6 rapids and so that spot is popular with rafters and kayakers.  The river is a great place for trout fishing.   There’s a local story about a specific DNR officer who came up on two guys fishing.  When he asked to check out their licenses one of them dropped his pole and took off running downstream. After a harrowing chase the officer finally corners the fisherman and once more demandsfor the license to be presented.  When the fisherman produces the license everything checks out. No laws were broken.  The two men are completely out of breath from the chase.  Panting heavily the officer asked why the first man ran. “You have your license and there’s nothing I can charge you with ” he said.  The fisherman replied “yes, but my friend didn’t have one.”

If you come to West Virginia,  Summerville Lake is a great place to have some summer fun. Just don’t jump from cliffs and if you plan to fish you better have a license.  The DNR officers travel in pairs now.  😉