The Ice Dam

January 11, 2025

“This spit looks like it was man made,” reflected Serena as she walked arm in arm with the man of her dreams. 

John could sense the high cement walls where the water was gently lapping with that push noise it made. The fact that it was on both sides of the spit made it a little unnerving for him. “It is man made,” he started. “Back in the 1800’s this was the railroad bed for an experiment.”

“A railroad went across here?” she asked.

“As the countryside opened up for settlement they wanted to find a way to move people and goods quickly from Cobourg to Peterborough. They decided to build a railroad but the lake was in the way. So they built a bridge across the water from this side of the lake to the other.”

Serena gazed out across the water as they neared the end of the spit. “I gather it didn’t work,” she reflected as she looked at the water dotted with islands across the lake.

John felt great contentment to have Serena here with him. He became more relaxed as her self assured nature didn’t demand anything from him. 

“They forgot one crucial element in their plan,” he said.

“Oh, what was that?” questioned Serena as she turned to look at John.

John turned towards Serena as he felt her arms wrap around his body. He couldn’t help but smile as he tried to picture what they looked like out here on the pier. 

“They forgot how brutal Canadian winters are,” he began as her lips touched his. 

“Oh,” she reflected as he kissed her back.

“Ice in the spring destroyed the bridge,” he said in small breaks, all but abandoning the story.

“You know so much,” she reflected.

His ice dam had been blown apart as his fingers felt the lines on her face, acknowledging the happiness she felt with each movement as they explored her reflection of joy. She was the one for him after all.