Kehler Lake

Kehler Lake

Along a murky-watered lake lies a neighborhood that a county would rather forget and time already has. Kehler Lake was my neighborhood whether I liked it or not. It is a town with a reputation so bad that people familiar with the area would often ask which side of "the lake" you were from. The answer determined what stereotype you are assigned. I spent most of my teenage years trying to escape the confines that were associated with the wrong side of Kehler Lake.

Most people from Central Florida have never been there, and many are not even sure where it is. The truth is there is not much to see. A township installed sign welcoming you to "scenic" Kehler Lake depicts a sailboat, but this is no resort town. The scenery there is actually rather drab. Dirt roads dotted with mud puddles beg for paving. Mobile homes with thin metal roofs are where most low-income residents call home. Many of these tin cans are rentals owned by people that live anywhere but there. Split-rail fences and cars without wheels are common of the landscape. Broken clothes pins hang from lines that stretch from tree to tree. Screeching birds attracted by the muddy driveways gave sound to an otherwise silent place. Train whistles or the laughter of kids playing in their yards is not something this neighborhood deals with. The extent of commerce in the neighborhood was limited. Kehler Station is a bi-level house converted into a mom and pop pizza shop. A mammoth of a man with a charismatic smile named Tom was often seen wearing a tomato-sauce stained white t-shirt. The delivery man would often take his children on his routes when money was too scarce to afford a sitter. Bicycles with broken kickstands litter the entrance to the convenience store as kids huddle around a PacMan game. A filthy door is propped open to help compensate for the lack of air conditioning. Across town is a newly-built liquor store named Kalli's. The local boozers are now with in walking distance of their poison.

The town has little to call its own. The mayor recognizes Kehler Lake only during tax collections. Over-burdened State Police stationed two towns over are seen only responding to calls. This is usually a domestic dispute featuring a man wearing a camouflage NASCAR hat and a sleeveless flannel