Reading Journal #2- Once More to the Lake by E.B. White

When I read my father’s essay, “Once More to the Lake”, I did not realize how much that lake in Maine meant to my father. I thought it was a regular vacation with my dad. Little did I know that the lake had a significant part in my father’s childhood? My father, E. B. White, is basically famous for Charlotte’s Web and many other children books and essays. However, “Once More to the Lake” truly appealed to me because my father expressed how he appreciates his memories of the past and the present. This affected me to really discover the significant of my childhood memories with my father.

When my dad told me we were going to a lake for a week’s fishing, I could not have been more excited. I never had been exposed to the beauty of nature. I guess that is what the city does to you. When I arrived at the lake, I was enchanted by its beauty; enchanted by the freshness of the air, the beautiful colors of the woods, and the calmness and sparkle of the water. But when you’re a child, you do not really appreciate stuff like that. All I wanted was to catch a fish! When something is so stunning that it makes you change your perspective on the world, you often can’t describe it by words. However, my father perfectly described it in “Once More to the Lake”. His descriptions of the lake gave the reasons why the lake was significant to his childhood. It gave the reasons why such a place can be shared through the bond of a father and a son.

As I was reading “Once More to the Lake”, I did not know how much my father saw himself in me. I did not know that I resembled him as a child. The essay showed how much important it is to relive your memories, especially the ones that affected you the most. It makes you want to be a kid again, to live life without no worries, the same feeling I had with my father at the lake. Thinking about it, I wish I could relive that memory. But the most important thing about families is that you can share that memory with later generations. I wish I could go back, and drink Coca-Cola with my dad at the side of the road. But I will relive that memory with my son. I will take my son to that lake, so that he can learn the significant of it, so that he can pass it on. And that is the most important part about generations, especially between a father and son.

Your Son,

Joel White