Books

by Eveline Horelle Dailey

Lessons from the Lakeside

I grasped nothing at all on my seventh birthday. Too many new rules and new responsibilities, I was to know about ethics and boundaries but no one told me what the words meant. I already knew to speak only when spoken to. I knew the word NO, but was not allowed to use it. Reason, wisdom, boundaries, ethics; I decided never to use any of these words. I simply did not know what they meant and they all sounded rather mysterious and menacing.

Many years have passed since this birthday, and observing life on the lake became the channel a wild Mallard Duck and a free spirited American Coot used to teach me lessons of life from a perspective I had never before visited. Reason, wisdom, boundaries and ethics became my companions.

I submit this work as it was given to me, from an intuitive window of my mind. Once opened, I had to learn the language of my own acuity. Observations were my coaches; I had to learn the subtle differences between confusion and chaos, I had to learn and understand the emotional variances between compassion, tolerance and acceptance.

Today, with plenty of reflective time, I found a doorway and followed the path laid before me. I entered a passageway and found the age of my own reason. This work is not one of science but one of heart. It is the child within that can receive the writing. During the voyage through the corridors and the many chambers of the heart I began a new way to digest this food. The servings may bring laughter or tears as they did me.

This is a true story, a couple of birds told me so.

I had been watching life on the lake, where we had just taken up residence, when I remembered my “Grand Daughter” was approaching her seventh birthday. I was in the process of constructing a garden in the city and between great planning and work sessions I spent relaxing times observing Mallard Ducks and a kind of water birds named the American Coot. I decided to write a story for my granddaughter, much later on she received many pictures glued on construction paper and bounded with ribbons. There was no story to be told with my pictures.

During the process of preparing this picture book, something happened; the universe must have understood an unspoken quest. Soon after the last picture was glued, a wild duck and also a coot befriended me. I named the duck Moma and the American Coot the Black One.

Not long after the first encounter I began to hear about the ways of the universe.

Then I heard: “Life is a gift from forces unseen, it is to be enjoyed, it is not a gift for the control of others. If you learn only that, you will find great happiness.”

Consider, watching your behavior through the eyes of my muse, Moma. Consider further finding your own “age of reason” as the little Black One showed me.

Lessons from the Lakeside represents the new “Jonathan Livingston Seagull” of the 21st century to usher in a new chapter of societal transformation. Its effective use of anthropomorphism to impart wisdom provides a powerful literary device that delivers spiritual nutrition in an era when people are starving for universal truths and solutions. As such, it also captivates reader in an attention-deficit society that sometimes would rather her the mystical “truth” from “Moma” a mallard duck, than from a human. Lessons from the Lakeside has the potential to serve as literature’s next cultural phenomenon.
Catherine J. Rourke, Editor and Publisher – The Sedona Observer

I think this may be the best, most personal, story of one person’s struggle to remain awake and present, in touch with the wisdom that comes through in each and every interaction, if only we’re awake enough to experience it. Struggle, persistence, renewal and love, describes for me each day in the garden. The willingness to maintain an attitude of not knowing, allowing wisdom to come through was an unexpected delight.
Mark Stafford Dailey – Computer Scientist

What a beautifully written book! It has such a nice flow and rhythm to it, with a few surprises too. I inspired and excited. I believe I can apply some of Moma’s lessons to my own life. Lessons from the Lakeside is a book to be enjoyed by everyone young and old. People of all backgrounds can read it over and over again. I truly believe this book is going to take off like wildfire.
Nancy Peterson- New Mexico

The sneak preview of the manuscript Lessons from the Lakeside gave me solace and the courage to pause and listen to my inner-wisdom. Thank you for our contribution.

Anonymous