Baby fish begin leaping to catch a net of bugs that hover just above the water’s surface, and when they fall it looks like rain. Their silver bellies catch the light in paparazzi flashes about me. They do this at the same time every year—just like the baby toads that hop across the beach, and the tiger swallowtail butterflies, punctually filling the lake bushes with their delicate yellow wings each summer.

The Wallenpaupack Lake Trail is a gentle, three-mile trip along the Big Lake. The packed gravel path is an out-and-back route that heads over the dike and past the Lake Wallenpaupack Visitors Center. Park in the lot near the intersection of Routes 6 and 507 to take this easy, lakeside walk.

There is a small island in Lake Wallenpaupack, visible from my family’s cabin, called Epply Island. My best friend and I decided to take a kayak trip to it for a picnic day while she was visiting me during my two-month stay there to escape the craziness of 2020. We explored, did some yoga, ate lunch, and tried out her mermaid tail. When some storm clouds rolled in, we headed back with sore muscles and happy hearts.

The Paupack Blueberry Farm is a local pick-your-own blueberry farm in Paupack, Pennsylvania. It has 3 fields open to to the public and homemade baked goods made fresh every morning! I highly recommend their oatmeal squares.

Jacobsburg Environmental Education Center is a 1,168-acre Pennsylvania state park near Wind Gap, in Bushkill Township, Northampton County in Pennsylvania, in the United States. The Jacobsburg National Historic District is almost entirely surrounded by the park.