Lakeview Park Oshawa
John Arkelian - Editor Artsforum Magazine
I had lived in Oshawa for some time before I ever became aware of Lakeview Park's existence. The fact that it came as a belated discovery made the place doubly special for me. Even now, some of that sense of 'happy surprise' about the place lingers: Suddenly, I have left the city behind. Getting there involves a dreary drive through busy commercial sections of the city (for me, the entire length of the city).
But, once there, it's like being in another place altogether -- with Lake Ontario spanning the horizon like a vast inland sea. It makes me think of the ocean, which, as a Maritimer once removed, I long for in my bones. On a windy day, the place has many of the elements of earthly beauty that most move me -- breakers crashing against the beach, cool air in motion about me, sandy beaches, blue waters reflecting the blue sky above, long vistas from the tree-lined boardwalk (and from Bonnie Bray Point), rocky ramparts lining portions of the shoreline, and a sense of serene solitude and freedom. In such a place, like the Atlantic seashore, my spirit shrugs off its mundane burdens and worldly concerns -- and soars. It's a year-round treat, but never lovelier than in my favorite of all seasons -- autumn.
And in the evening, the sun is on its way to a daily rendezvous with the distant horizon, while the crowds have evaporated, leaving me alone with my thoughts and the intoxicating beauty of a place that both is, and is not, part of the community in which I live.
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