Lesson 5 Assignment: Settings & Imagery

Everybody has, I suppose, a place that to them is what the words "beautiful landscape" describe. For me it's the mountains outside my grandfather's house in Montana. For you it might be a city skyline or a desert, a mesa or an island. It may not even be real. Wherever your place is, I want you to think about it because it's your assignment this week. Write me up an evocative, sensual description of your beautiful place, and keep it under 250 words (we did say brevity was a virtue). A1 Writing Academy, Writer's Toolkit, Lesson 5 Assignment

My Favorite Beautiful Place: Lake of the Woods, New York

         A light musty scent mixed with cedar, pine, and the aroma of percolated coffee aroused my senses every summer as a child in our cottage at Lake of the Woods, near the 1000 islands region of New York state. Flickers of morning sunlight danced about on top of crystal waves that rippled passed the bedroom window. It was a beautiful sight to see the first thing in the morning, the lake sparkling between thin poplar trees that grew along the bank outside the cottage. The rustic cottage was a simple three room camp in which grains of sand fallen from the bare feet of happy kids scuffed the linoleum beneath my sandals. Stepping outside, into the warm, clean air coupled with the sound of water lapping against the private sandy beach brought me peace. The small lake was nestled in a haven of maple, oak, and deep pine forest. Sporadic white birch trunks bowed out from the shoreline and hovered over the shallow water as if reaching for the lake in dire thirst. Just beyond the bay inlet, a tiny island of golden rocks and sand housed a family of loons. The sensual cry of the loon rose from the lake and echoed into the distance in a wild call of nature. What a thrill it was to spot one of these elegant birds, black with white speckled downy feathers, especially when it carried a young chick on its back as it swam across the lake.