A reflection about the nature for the “Eco-Literature” class at Newark Academy (Mr. Jon Downs). 

It’s a cool autumn day. and a grey sky hangs over the frigid waters of the lake. Old leaves float near the shore from which, just three weeks ago, we swam. A harsh wind blows from the northwest, disturbing the red and brown reflection of the hillside across the lake. It’s the kind of wind that would make the sailboat tilt. It carries the sent of firewood warming some house on the opposite shore. I can almost smell snow in the north wind.

My dogs slowly roam the shore of the lake. They’re in no hurry, and they seem proud or their accomplishment: the geese that they chased off the grass every day have finally surrendered, and are on their way to warmer lands. This is the dogs’ shore now, and any small creature that dares to enter this ground will have a hard time escaping.

One of them decides to take a swim, perhaps the last one of the season. They both look over the lake, as if they can’t wait until it freezes over and the space where the geese always escaped to will finally be theirs to roam.