Once More To The Lake

It's always a nostalgic experience to return to a place one once visited as a child. E.B. White relates to this phenomenon in his account of a return trip to a lake that he visited many times during his younger years. Throughout his visit, he struggles to draw a line between the past and present; even though time has altered several aspects of the lake, he is too caught up in the almost eerie similarities between his visits to pay much attention to the physical changes that the lake has gone through since his youth.

White begins the essay by reminiscing on his visits to Maine's Belgrade Lake as a young boy. Longing for the "placidity" of this former vacation spot, he decides to make the trip again with his son. On the ride there, he ponders "how time would have marred this unique... spot". Upon arriving, he assesses that things are basically how they were when he last left. Not only does he experience some of the same sensations that he did as a child, but moments from the different trips seem to blend together as well. However, he does note some disappointing changes that have taken place on the lake. For one, two-wheeled car paths, as opposed to the three-wheeled wagon paths of his youth, mark the road into the site. Also, the experience of arriving was no longer there; instead of being greeted by friendly campers to help unpack, his son and he simply parked under the tree and hastily moved his belongings from the car to the cabin by themselves. Although White clearly notices these signs of the inevitably changing times, he plays them down. He is consumed by the illusion that his son is his former self, and that his current self is his father. This entrancement helps him to block out some of the tangible differences between the lake of the past and the lake of the present. His experience forces him to face his own mortality; the degradation of the lake over the years plays a subservient role in the essay.