Time Elapsed, Refecting the Past

E.B. White has a stellar habit of writing compelling stories. His tale, "Once More to the Lake", is just one example of his vivid and clever writing skills. In this passage, White tells of his experiences at a lake that he, as a boy, visited with his father. The peacefulness of the mornings, the joy of long afternoons fishing on the lake, and refreshing summer swims, White portrays in diverting detail the happenings of his childhood visit to the lake. What seamed like forever after his visit as a boy, after the years had rewarded him with a family of his own, E.B. White tells of how he returns to his childhood vacation sight. Bringing his son along, White is struck by the preservation of the lake. He writes about the strange expeirence as he watches his son repeating his own childhood memories. It was as if he was looking down upon his past self. Like a dream, White watches his son, wondering for a moment whether he himself was the boy or the man he appeared to be. The realization hits E.B. White like a bolt of lightning, the realization that time is a vaipor. White watches the years pass by him, one day a boy and the next a father. Life is short and should be cherished because one moment it's there, the next it's gone. E.B. White portrays this fact through this odd yet compelling tale of his own experiences in "Once More to the Lake".