My name is Tzeporah Berman. I am from London, Ontario.

My waterbody is Lake of the Woods, located in Ontario.

When I was a child we would go to Lake of the Woods to visit my grandparents. My grandfather and Uncle Kenny were fishermen and my family ran the lighthouse. Some of my clearest memories from childhood are of watching my grandfather pull up the lines and clean the fish. I remember feeling so free on the lake and in awe of its power and size. In the afternoons we swam off the dock regardless of weather. In the storms we wore life jackets and bobbed in the waves. In the evenings and early mornings we sat in the kitchen watching the lake -- the sun, the weather, the birds all lifting, reflecting off the lake. Those visits to Lake of the Woods were pure joy and connection -- to my family and the Earth.