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August 07, 2005 - Sunday, 11:35 p.m.

We went out on the pontoon for most of the afternoon, all the way to the southern most part of the south lake. Kathy clarified for me that Lake Metigoshe was NOT man-made. I must have misunderstood her friend from work when I asked him about the lake. My guess is that the way the �mountains� or hills formed was to leave a set of valleys that didn�t really have any outlet other then a very small stream and over time it just filled with water on it�s own. Kathy said that from year to year the water level varies considerably. I suppose because the lake is dependent upon rain fall, no river or stream runs into it, just out of it if the water level is high enough. Anyway, it�s a beautiful lake surrounded by beautiful homes and cabins.

I actually got some sun while I was here. I�ll actually go home with color. Can you believe it? I remembered that Phil told me that his search of the internet about tanning told him that what actually activates the melanoma in the skin to tell it to produce thus causing you to tan is actually activated by the amount of sunlight that reaches your eyes. So the suggestion is to NOT wear sunglasses. Therefore, today I left off the sunglasses most of the afternoon in the boat just to see. Anyway� I did get some sun, but I am not sure I got much on my legs, which is where I was really trying. For the most part I am lily white. These here legs rarely see the light of day. However, today they saw HOURS of sunlight. Still, not much color. My arms, shoulder, back and my face all did get a little color. I really didn�t burn for the most part, which is great. Just a little bit on my back and shoulders, so I did good.

I also spent a good deal of time gazing into the water and watching the shoreline. Really lakes for the most part are murky pretty close to the surface, lots of weeds growing in the water. I noticed that the sunlight permeates the water only about six inches to a foot. You can see it light up that area and then it�s murky beyond that. I know that my brother-in-law, did some diving at the lake last summer and mentioned how terribly hard it was to see anything. I am sure this lake is exactly the same. I can�t help but keep my mind from wandering to an imaginary view of the depths of lakes. There is something unsettling about thinking about the depths of a lake, for me it is MORE unsettling then looking out a plane window at the ground thousands of feet below me. I think it is because I can see what the ground looks like from the airplane, but in a boat I can not see the topography of the bottom of the lake and it�s like this huge mystery. Some how my mind just sees it as a flooded area, I imagine trees and hill side surface type topography simply covered by water. I can�t seem to envision what it looks like in reality. Not knowing what is below me allows my mind to wander and has a tendency to give me the creeps. It�s really very silly, but it�s true.

Tomorrow I�ll be up early and on the road and headed home. I still thought about Phil today, but it wasn�t as much as a few days ago. I am sure I�ll think about him a lot as I get on the road again. It was a nice break. No feeling like I needed to figure things out, or decide what I am going to do or not do. That has been exhausting� it was really nice to not dwell on that for a few days. This has really been such a nice visit. Everyone here seems to be doing really well, and that is comforting.

Tonight we just watched a movie after dinner. We watched most over �Ever After� which was on regular TV. It was on while we ate dinner, and then we watched the end of it. After that we watched �Timeline�, getting done at nearly midnight here. My laptop still reads Mountain Time, as do my posts.

I really should head to bed and try to get some good sleep. I am really still planning to hit Sturgis tomorrow. It�s a little scary, it�s a little outside of my comfort zone, but I really want to do it. I am trying to hold onto that feeling of bravery that I gained. A part of me has wanted to do that for a long time, so�. I am just going to do it. It�s the same with wanting to get a tattoo. I have wanted to do that for a long time too. I just need to get it drawn up and then just go DO it. I�ve figured out what I want and where. Now I just need to get it down on paper so I can take it with me to get it done. I�ll keep ya�ll posted. ::smiles::

Sweet dreams� M.