My Childhood: Seccombe Lake

When I was a young boy, my dad and I would take regular trips to magical place - a small park in San Bernardino. This park was not typical by any means. Oh yes, it had the usual playground equipment, jungle gyms and such, but it also contained a small body of water known fondly as Seccombe Lake. Although small, the lake was surrounded by a path and regularly stocked with fish.

Here are some pictures from a recent expedition to Seccombe Lake.

I loved this little lake from the very first glimpse. It was a magical place for an inquisitive young man. To begin with, there was the lake itself, which was very shallow (just a few feet deep at the shores), warm relatively clean and unspoiled. It is U-shaped, with concrete banks and park benches all around. It’s most redeeming feature was that it was home to an enormous number of ducks and birds. Also, it was full of little fish, such as minnows and bluegill.

A path made it’s way around the entire lake, following the curvature of the shore. This path was lined with plants, which continued down into the water in places. I remember huge yellow sunflowers, milkweed, small bushes with purple flowers and an assortment of other weeds and thistles. These plants were thick in some places and thin in others, which resulted in a huge number of small paths, all practically demanding to be explored by children. Perhaps the greatest feature of the lake, in my mind, was the huge number of insects and other animals that lived on, over and under its shores.

The insects were awesome to my young eyes. Especially the dragonflies... I was fascinated by the dragonflies. I used to spend hours and hours just looking at these wonderful, colorful creatures as they flew from plant to plant. Sometimes I grabbed a few for my insect collection, but more often I just watched them ripple in the sunlight.

I loved this lake, and was always enthusiastic when my dad and I would spend some time there. I loved to get out my little fishing rod and tackle box. I’d run down to the car and wait excitedly, wishing my dad would hurry up and kiss mom so we could get on with the fun.

We’d get to the lake and wander around the banks, looking for a good spot to fish. Then we’d pull out some chairs, sit down, and bait our hooks. My dad took great pleasure in this small exercise. With a great show of ceremony, he’d open a little bottle of fish eggs, and put one on each of our hooks.

Then we’d each throw in our line and wait for something to bite. After a few minutes something always would. I’d jump up and down excitedly, and haul it in. Of course, it was always just a little, tiny fish, but it was fun anyway.

Before we arrived at the lake, we would sometimes stop at a fish and tackle shop for our supplies. This was a very interesting experience all in itself. Fishing tackle more than fascinated me. There were sinkers, floaters, feathers and lots of pretty colors, strange shapes, wiggly things and lord knows what else. These brief trips to the tackle shop were almost as fun as the visit to our lake.

Another thing that I loved was observing all of the creatures in the water. Not just the fish, but all of the other life as well. I noticed right away that the lake was alive with animals - everything from tadpoles to mosquito larvae, from frogs to waterbugs. The life in the water was absolutely fascinating to watch and interact with.

Ah, those were great days indeed. Just me and my dad (and sometimes my mother and sister) having a relaxing day in the sun. I learned lot from these experiences and gained a perspective on how life in this universe interacts and works together. I could see how everything lived in the same little universe and cooperated in their daily lives. I saw how the tadpoles became frogs, how the larvae became mosquitoes, and especially how each and every creature was important to the other.

These little excursions really gave me an understanding about how we all need to live together and cooperate in this world. How each and every person, creature and even plant is part of a greater whole. It was a very important lesson which would become critical in my later life.