My Watermark is Columbia Lake, BC.

It was mid December, I believe, of 2015 that I found myself wandering across the frozen Columbia Lake with no final destination in mind. I remember the sun setting, the pale yellow sky that accompanied it as it sank, and the cloud of my own breath that glowed before me as I walked.

I also vividly recall a homely red ice shack sitting alone; trails of wood smoke drifting lazily from its peeling roof. Of course, I cannot determine why this moment struck me as it did seeing as it was nearly -10°C and I was wildly under-dressed, but I suppose out of all my memories of the lake, this one strikes me as the most beautiful.

Columbia Lake is important to me not only because it’s where I grew up, but also because it provides something that we all can connect to. It’s the place where her son learned to swim, or his daughter watched the sunset; where the eagles have a home and where the mountain’s reflection lives in the summer. Really, it’s a beautiful lake that so many of us have an experience with, and I hope that it stays that way for as long as possible.