Keoka Lake – An Elixir for Life’s Woes

By Carey Palmquist (Sister of Paige Nalipinski and long-time visitor to Keoka Lake)

The air. The water. The sky. The trees.  The smell. The loons. The People. All the reasons I love Keoka. 

My Aunt and Uncle (the Masons) bought a home on Woodland Trail years ago and generously invited us to fall in love with the magic of Keoka just as they had, and of course, we were smitten.

One summer about 15 years ago, my husband and I were visiting with friends during a particularly brutal heat wave that frizzed our hair, soaked our skin, and demanded we find relief from the oppressive temperatures.  After a long drive, we eagerly pulled clothes off our sweaty bodies like Velcro stuck to velvet, shimmied into our suits, and ran down to the lake like kids on Christmas morning.  No tender toes dipped gently into Keoka’s shoreline, no graceful climbs down the dock’s ladder – just unadulterated surrender to the lake’s cool, crisp water.

But that’s not what we found.

Of course, the lake had warmed with the rising temperatures, and our plans were foiled as we leapt into the Keoka bathtub without the watery coolness we’d anticipated. As we brought our wet heads up from just below the surface and wiped our eyes both from the lake water and disappointment, my husband moved closer to the beach with defeat, but then suddenly released a joyful hoot: “Come stand here. Right here.  In this spot!  It’s freezing cold here!” It was an underwater spring. We all descended on my husband’s coveted spot, like a dog pile at the Super Bowl, horsing around and (lovingly) pushing each other out of the way for our turn to stand on the secret spring.

None of us geoscientists, it took only a moment to deduce there had to be more than one cold spring bubbling up below the surface of Keoka. Within minutes, we were swimming like goldfish in a bowl, round and round in circles, stretching our toes down to the mud, muck, and rocks, seeking out our own cold spring.  Finding pay dirt, we took our places, looking like a chess board – each of us standing sentry on our cool spot and laughing in absolute joy at our discovery and relief from the heat. We stayed in the water until our fingers wrinkled and only climbed out hours later to feed our waterlogged bodies.

It's not a metaphor to equate lake life with healing, comfort, joy, and happiness. Keoka is an exceptionally magical place, and I am so grateful to have connections in this tiny sliver of heaven and thank the great “Keokans” for always welcoming us for a drink, a meal, a chat, pickle ball, and a refreshing swim in the crystal-clear waters of Keoka Lake.