Whipple Dam, Late Summer

Time is slipping away, and it is turning into late summer. Around Labor Day (the first Monday in September), most of the local state park swimming areas typically close for the season. One of the things we hadn't done yet this summer was to swim at my favorite central Pennsylvania swimming hole - Whipple Dam State Park - and it felt as though time was running out. And so on this day, we finally got there.

We had not visited Whipple Dam since mid-April, and on the day that we last visited, we had a nice meal at Couch's Restaurant and Grocery at McAlevy's Fort. So we decided to do just that. We started with a fine hot lunch at Couch's (the hot turkey sandwich with fries, gravy, and cole slaw is my favorite) and then made our way over to Whipple for a swim.

It was a trip that almost did not happen. The weather has been very hot and muggy here, with frequent thunderstorms. It's almost as though it is now trying to make up for all the rain we did NOT get all summer long.

I don't want to ask for any credit for the change, but my husband and I DID purchase four big buckets of driveway sealer last weekend, with intentions of sealing the drive. That might be sort of the equivalent of doing a rain dance.  ;-)

Conditions had been so dry here, for so long, but now everything is damp. When the sun comes out after rain, it's like a tropical rainforest, 100% humidity, and almost hard to do the basic stuff, like breathe.

There was a chance of rain or thunderstorms later in the afternoon, but we thought we could move ahead of it. When we came out of Couch's, we headed straight to Whipple Dam, and when we got there, huge dark clouds were gathering. I had this horrible feeling that we might arrive there just as the storms hit, thwarting us from swimming.

So we parked the car and got out, and the first thing we noticed was how much more comfortable it was there in the woods than it is back in town. It was breezy and green and shady. (And so we remember that in olden times, the rich used to go up into the mountains to vacation in summertime to escape the heat.)

We already had our suits on, so we grabbed just our towels and the car keys, and walked quite expeditiously over to the swimming area. Was it my imagination, or was that thunder in the distance? No, just a car door, my husband assured me. And so I practically RACED to the swimming area and fairly tossed myself in.

The water is low there, and the surface of the lake is dotted with millions of tiny white flowers. I have never seen it that way before, and while it was awfully pretty (and the dragonflies seemed to like it), I imagine it is a sign of some bad thing. Probably an outcome of the recent drought.

Almost as soon as my husband and I got in the water, the dark clouds opened up and the rain began. Gentle rain, dropping on the surface of the water. The raindrops made concentric circles; the reflections of blue sky and white and black clouds rippled out like layers of oil paints atop the waters. (If only my eyes had cameras; if you could see what I saw!)

What a spectacular sight to see from water level. How interesting to swim in the rain. Wait, what was that rumble? Just a nearby aircraft, not thunder. Whew! And then as it was raining, the huge dark cloud broke, and sunlight rays shone from the middle of it.

Suddenly, light out of darkness: the place was lit up like a dramatic moment in a movie or a picture from the Bible. I stood in the water in the middle of the swimming area with my arms raised high in triumph! I was finally swimming at Whipple, for the first time this summer; and for the first time ever, in the rain!

We were so happy and conditions were so bizarre out that my husband and I actually sang as we swam. His was CCR's Have You Ever Seen the Rain; mine was Love Reign O'er Me, by the Who. (Just swimmin' and singin' in the rain!) A tiny blue damselfly tried to sit on my head and it was the cutest thing ever. I hope I dream about that.

Lots of people got out of the water as soon as the rain began, and we marveled at that. If you are wet already, who would mind a little rain? But by the time the rain stopped and the clouds departed, my husband and I were pretty much the only ones swimming. When the rain stopped, everybody else jumped back in.

Whipple Dam is a great photo venue; it is such a pretty little lake, and the park - with its CCC-era structures - is like a throwback in time. The main photo is the view of the lake just after we finished swimming. There weren't a lot of people there yet, and I liked the way the tree and the vegetation framed the lake. The swimming area is directly across, right by the blue boat.

One of the things I love most about Whipple is the fancy bugs there. Whipple's dragons and damsels have graced quite a few of these pages. And on this day, the dragon-and-damsel show was fantastic. I took quite a few photos of them, and I am including one in the extras. I don't know what variety it is, but isn't it a marvelous fancy bug?

There is one thing I did not tell you that I will share with you now. This weekend was a special occasion for us, for it was 30 years ago on August 13 that I first met my husband-to-be, in a laundromat in State College. I was reading Lolita, and engaged to marry someone else.

But then Mr. Tall, Dark, and Handsome walked into my life, and that was the end of my dating career. First meeting: August 13. First date: August 27 (he took me to Roy Rogers in downtown State College).

The weekend after our first date, the first Saturday in September, to be specific, we rented a boat at Prince Gallitzin and had our first kiss there. So this weekend, we celebrated the anniversary of the first time we met. I can't imagine a better way to celebrate it than with a fine meal out and such a wonderful afternoon at Whipple Dam.

So that was the context of our weekend. By the time I was done taking pictures after our swim, the clouds had gathered again, and we beat it for home. We arrived there about 15 minutes before the storms resumed: this time, thunderstorms, with lightning and thunder. There would be no more swimming at Whipple on this day.

We had somehow, against all odds, managed to run between the storms to get in a swim that mattered so much to me. It's quite possible that we may not make it back. So this may have been my first, and possibly the last and only, swim at Whipple Dam for the summer. 

My last look at the lake was very much like the first. Just like this. Framed by trees. Water reflecting the sky. Cool green hills. A nice breeze. People having old-fashioned fun on the lake and picnicking under pavilions on the shores. (Was that steak on the grill that I just smelled, from a distance?) The adventure that almost wasn't; but that turned into a really fine summer day.  :-)

The soundtrack: Pat Benatar, with Run Between the Raindrops. It is one of her best, I think. Have a listen.