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State University of New York Press - Beth Peyton

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96 pages

English

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After a year of devastating personal and financial loss, Beth Peyton and her husband, Jeff, moved to the hamlet of Maple Springs, New York, on Chautauqua Lake to pick up the pieces of their lives, certain to be in a place that they loved and certain of nothing else. As they worked to restore a neglected old house, the community, the beauty of the lake, and the old-fashioned sensibility of the place comforted them. While Peyton's story traces the couple's progress toward recovery, it also includes tales of the silly, colorful, and warm characters who became their neighbors and friends. Whether it's the mystery of Emil and Betty's lost blue plate, dead bodies in the water, or memories of karaoke at the Village Casino, Clear Skies, Deep Water is a testament to the healing power of rituals, friendships, the beauty of the natural world, and the possibility of grace. Filled with nostalgia about an America that has slipped, or is slipping away, it will resonate with anyone who has searched for meaning and home.
Acknowledgments

Prologue

Winter

We Are Introduced to the Lake

Our Lake

Boats

Cowgirl’s Prayer

In a Town This Size

Lake Time

Bodies

Spike

Summer of Changes

Barf Salad

Karaoke Night at the Casino

Falling Down

Wrens

Spring

Epilogue

Sujets

Memoir

Region

Regional

Informations

Publié par	State University of New York Press
Date de parution	30 janvier 2014
Nombre de lectures	0
EAN13	9781438451732
Langue	English

Informations légales : prix de location à la page 0,0848€. Cette information est donnée uniquement à titre indicatif conformément à la législation en vigueur.

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Clear Skies, Deep Water
Clear Skies, Deep Water
A Chautauqua Memoir

BETH PEYTON
Cover photo courtesy of Beth Peyton
Published by State University of New York Press, Albany
© 2014 State University of New York
All rights reserved
Printed in the United States of America
No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission. No part of this book may be stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means including electronic, electrostatic, magnetic tape, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise without the prior permission in writing of the publisher.
Excelsior Editions is an imprint of State University of New York Press
For information, contact State University of New York Press, Albany, NY www.sunypress.edu
Production by Diane Ganeles Marketing by Kate McDonnell
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Peyton, Beth, 1956– Clear skies, deep water : a Chautauqua memoir / Beth Peyton. pages cm — (Excelsior editions) ISBN 978-1-4384-5172-5 (pbk. : alk. paper) 1. Peyton, Beth, 1956– 2. Peyton, Beth, 1956—-Homes and haunts—New York—Chautauqua Lake Region. 3. Chautauqua Lake Region (N.Y.)—Social life and customs. 4. Chautauqua Lake Region (N.Y.)—Biography. I. Title.
F127.C7P49 2014 974.7 95—dc23
2013025551
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
For those we’ve lost, and all we’ve found
Contents
photo gallery
Acknowledgments
Prologue
Winter
We Are Introduced to the Lake
Our Lake
Boats
Cowgirl’s Prayer
In a Town This Size
Lake Time
Bodies
Spike
Summer of Changes
Barf Salad
Karaoke Night at the Casino
Falling Down
Wrens
Spring
Epilogue
Acknowledgments
Thank you to all of the wonderful family, friends, and neighbors who have been with me—with us—along this journey, through thick and thin. Those included in the book were chosen because they supported the narrative, not because of their importance in my life then, or now. Thank you for sharing your memories, your photographs, your stories, and for letting us in.
I am truly indebted to the faculty, staff, guest writers, and my chums from Carlow University’s low-residency M.F.A. program. Under the firm guidance of Director Ellie Wymard, PhD, I was blessed to study with both Irish and American writers. The Carlow community was beside me as I walked a pretty dark path, always pulling me toward beauty. They are beside me still. I am grateful for the ringing language of the Irish, and for that glorious sky that helped me see my own sky more clearly. Thank you for helping me persevere.
Jane Candia Coleman, my manuscript mentor and dear friend, helped me find my voice. In writing for her, I learned how to write for myself.
Thank you to Kathy Cherry, artist extraordinaire, who captured my story and the spirit of the lake in her wonderful maps.
I would be remiss if I did not acknowledge those involved with the literary arts at The Chautauqua Institution. Their celebration and support of reading and writing have helped me never forget the importance of books. The Institution is my center for lifelong learning, and just a quick boat ride away.
Thank you to Amanda Lanne, my Acquisitions Editor, Diane Ganeles, my Production Editor, Kate McDonnell, my Marketing Manager, and the rest of the staff at SUNY Press. I am truly grateful for their support, dedication, professionalism, and friendship. They made this process a blast.
Thank you most of all to my husband, Jeff Hunter, for being fully present and for having the courage and humor to live this life with me.
A version of “Karaoke Night at the Casino” appeared in The Jamestown Post-Journal January 28, 2012.
Prologue
I live on Chautauqua Lake. I love the way the word Chautauqua rolls off my tongue, the hard and soft sounds of it. Visitors describe the place as quaint, but I can feel a more ancient spirit here sometimes—a spirit at least as old as the name Chautauqua itself—just beneath the surface.
The dictionary defines Chautauqua as any outdoor summer meeting, but the movement that swept the nation around the turn of the nineteenth century, providing education combined with popular entertainment, lectures, concerts, and plays, started here, on Chautauqua Lake, in Western New York State. The name Chautauqua is derived from the Seneca language and most commonly is thought to mean “a bag tied in the middle,” or “two moccasins fastened together.” With its upper and lower basins cinched together between Bemus Point and Stow, on a map Chautauqua Lake does look like it’s tied in the middle. As with everything else here, there is more than one story, and as a result, both the meaning and derivation of the name have been debated. The word Chautauqua may actually be derived from the Cherokee, and may also mean “the place where one was lost,” “foggy place,” or “the place where the fish was taken out.” To me, Chautauqua is all these things—and more.
Since the late 1800s, Chautauqua Lake has been a vacation destination point for the wealthy from New York City, Pittsburgh, Buffalo, and Cleveland. Located in the southwesternmost corner of New York State, the lake is large, over seventeen miles long, with a surface area of thirteen thousand acres. With an elevation over thirteen hundred feet, Chautauqua is one of the highest navigable waterways in the world. Even though it is in close proximity to Cleveland, Pittsburgh, and Buffalo, it has the feel and climate of a mountain lake, and is a good place to beat the summer heat.
On the map, the lake looks like a misplaced Finger Lake. Although it is not considered part of New York State’s Finger Lake system, it was formed by the same glacial mass as the Finger Lakes. They were carved when the glaciers came down, while Chautauqua was made when the glaciers retreated. The glacial activity left a wonderful layer of rich topsoil, in addition to a beautiful lake, and despite the cool climate and long winters, the vegetation and foliage are lush and green. The old-fashioned things look best here: hydrangeas, lilacs, roses, and rhododendrons. The cemeteries and the gardens in some of the old places contain tree hydrangeas, an heirloom variety with an upright habit, covered with heavy flower heads throughout the summer and fall. The blossoms weigh the trees down as they turn from white to pink, to rust, and finally, to the color of linen. The dried flowers provide winter interest in dining rooms, on porches, and in dormant gardens. Irises bloom in perennial gardens and grow wild along the creek beds, and in the spring, the roadsides are covered with white, pink, and purple phlox. Gladiolas burst forth in fields in late July. Buckets filled with cut glads ring the lake and grace porches until Labor Day, a sign of welcome.
Locally grown fruits and vegetables are sold at stands all summer long and into the fall. Regular truck garden produce—tomatoes, onions, squash, melons, corn, and beans—is abundant. Peaches, apples, blueberries, strawberries, and even figs are available, although the fig trees must winter under shelter. The area is famous for its grapes. Concord grapes and little champagne grapes are the most common, and many growers in the area supply grapes for Welch’s, which has a plant in Westfield, just over a big hill from Chautauqua on Lake Erie. Local wineries are beginning to experiment with vinifera grapes but have a long way to go to catch up with wineries in the Finger Lakes that are producing truly exceptional wines, both white and red.
Trees are tapped to make maple syrup and other products, like maple cream, unsurpassed as a topping for toast, at least in our family. I’m not much for sweets, but something about maple cream is irresistible. Although the only ingredient in maple cream is maple syrup, the process of heating and whipping the syrup to make the spun cream brings out a nutty flavor, and to me, it tastes as if I were eating both the syrup and something of the woody tree at the same time. Maple products are for sale at several stands, sometimes on the honor system where scuffed coins and crumpled bills are left in a coffee can.
The largest population center on Chautauqua Lake is the city of Jamestown, known chiefly for manufacturing furniture out of the maple, cherry, oak, and other hardwood trees that circle the lake and cover the hills beyond, in addition to its claim as the birthplace of Lucille Ball. The rest of the lake is ringed by hamlets and villages of various sizes, including Bemus Point, where the old ferry still runs, connecting with Stow at the narrowest part of the lake; Mayville at the north end; and Celoron at the south end. Born in Jamestown, Lucille Ball spent much of her youth in Celoron, and which town can rightly claim her is a sticking point among the locals. Point Chautauqua is a residential community designed by Frederick Law Olmsted, of Central Park fame, and Midway Park, a small amusement park located next to Maple Springs, was established in 1889 and is still operational.
Chautauqua Lake is perhaps most noted for The Chautauqua Institution. Started in 1884 as an “experiment in vacation learning” for Methodist Sunday school teachers, the Institution, as it is known, is another little hamlet on the lake with its own zip code and just a handful of full-time residents. During the summer season, the place is a thriving pedestrian community, drawing thousands of people from around the world. While the Institution is loose