
When the cold January wind blows down from the Canadian prairies, driving stinging clouds of snow snaking through the fields of dead cornstalks, making them rattle like dead men's fingers, I dream of living in some balmy climate where I could lounge about in my garden all the year around. But, in the fall, where would I rather be than Iowa, with golden sunshine reflecting off of bright blue water, and gentle breezes causing a thousand sparkling diamonds to flow in infinitely changing patterns across the surface. This is Coralville Lake, a seven mile-long lake, five minutes from our house.