Though it's referred to by some as an "inland sea," including on one of the tracks on Harp Strings, Lake Superior is not an ocean. It can, at times, kick up some huge and vicious waves -- the crew of the Edmund Fitzgerald, had they lived, would have been able to attest to that -- but if a storm isn't blowing, usually the waves are on the small side, normally too small for surfing. If everything is right, however, including a wind from the right direction blowing at the right speed onto a beach of the proper shape, there are occasionally places and times that appeal to the eye of the surfer.

There are in fact a few people, usually regarded as being of doubtful sanity by their neighbors, who actually surf on Lake Superior. Good surf is rare; when it comes, it's often during bad weather that gives one pause about wanting to have anything to do with being in the water. And, even in the best of conditions, Lake Superior is cold, cold as the north itself, carrying a breath of winter even on the warmest days of summer. In quiet sandy bays toward the end of summer, the temperature may reach as high as sixty degrees, but that's abnormal enough to be unusual. Given the lack of population and the rarity of the times when everything comes together, it's understandable why there isn't much of a surfing culture around the world's largest inland lake.

But there are always exceptions to the rule. For a while, Myleigh's undergraduate roommate Crystal had the only surfboard in Michigan's Upper Peninsula as far as anyone knew, brought there from the warm and sandy Florida shores. In spring and fall in those years when the weather wasn't too bad, Crystal and Myleigh had explored back roads and beaches within a hundred miles or so of Northern Michigan University, and they'd discovered several likely beaches that could get surf up. Randy joined Crystal surfing the Superior shore after that. For quite a while Myleigh had been content to sit on the beach and watch her friends turn blue in the icy waters -- but somewhere along in there she caught the infection with a little urging from Crystal and Randy and Buddha and Giselle. In her last year at Northern she was out there turning blue with the rest of them and enjoying it immensely, mostly regretting that she hadn't started sooner.

Randy had told Myleigh that the infection had passed along through the university, but only sparingly. From what he'd heard, there were still some Northern students who had their blood start rushing at a northeast blow -- but never more than three or four, and he'd never met any on his rare postgraduate excursions to the Superior shores. It was clear from the beginning that Randy wouldn't be able to make this trip -- he'd already committed himself to a fast trip to southern Michigan to see Nicole -- but he'd long been used to keeping his eye on weather reports, looking for the right combination that might bring surfable conditions on Lakes Michigan or Superior. Once in a while, a couple times a summer, the right conditions might combine with a chance to get away. Only two days after Spearfish Lake had been invaded by the Hollywood Tonight camera crew, Randy looked up from his computer monitor before going to work, frowned a couple of times, and while Trey and Myleigh looked on he called Blake to announce, "If that high continues to block from the east, you might get a couple days in on north-facing beaches. I think I'd want to look a ways to the west, Sand Bay or like that, rather than AuTrain. If the wind backs some, AuTrain or along in there would probably be better."

The announcement set off a mad rush in two houses, one on each side of Spearfish Lake. Within an hour, Jeremy had been left with his grandmother, and four people were headed north with five surfboards strapped to the top of a dark green Jeep Cherokee and Dick Dale and the Deltones blaring from its open windows.

Several hours to the north, including some winding around on back country roads that almost called for the four-wheel drive on the Jeep, they discovered that Randy had called it pretty good. It was blowing out of the north -- a strong breeze, even a wind, but not a storm. The waves weren't terribly big -- only waist high on the smallest of them, Myleigh -- but they were nicely shaped and well behaved. Under the circumstances the conditions couldn't have been better for a couple of infrequent recreational surfers, a beginner who had lain off for more than a decade, and a guy who had once been pretty good, but long ago.

Cold? Oh, yes, it was cold. Even with wet suits, it was cold, for wet suits will only stand off the cold of the water for so long. Even with severe gritting of teeth, about an hour was the longest anyone could take before having to spend time on the beach to warm up. But once out of the water, it was surprising how quickly the wet suits could get uncomfortably hot. They soon peeled out of them and lay in the sun to let the warmth sink into their lake-chilled bodies.

To no one's great surprise Blake soon recaptured much of what he'd been away from for so long. He found Joe's old sixties-era longboard a little cumbersome in the short-coupled low lake waves, which was why he was glad he'd thrown in Joe's modern shortboard as an afterthought. By the end of the afternoon he was well on the way back to being the surf hotdog he'd been as a kid, rapidly recovering his old skills, outdistancing his companions.

What was rather more surprising was the way that Jennifer took to Randy's old mid-length board. Designed to be easy for beginners, Randy kept it around for people who wanted to try out surfing. It was really a little small for her, but after the first hour or so, she was getting good rides out of it, getting on the shoulder and doing cutbacks, whooping with joy as her long, braided blonde hair swung in the wind behind her wet suit. She was soon catching up to Myleigh and Trey and having fun. "Blake," they heard her call once when he got close. "Why didn't we do this years ago?"

"Never thought of it," he yelled back. "I always thought Randy was just telling stories."

They surfed for much of the afternoon, only taking their breaks on the shore to warm up. In the evening they set up tents in the grove of pine trees behind the shore, had some dinner, then went out and surfed some more in the cool of the long north-country evening. The light was starting to die before they gathered on the beach and built a fire, still wearing wet suits to protect them from the now-chilly breeze. For once, there were no guitars around the campfire, no harp, just four friends having a good time together, telling old stories and new ones until the flames flickered low, until they retreated to their tents back in the heart of the pines whispering with the sound of the breeze in the needles.

The surf was still good the next day. Fortified with coffee and breakfast, they were soon out on the waves again. Again, they couldn't stay out long in the cold water, but the need to take a break came at different times for each of them, so rarely were they all surfing at the same time, nor were they all on the shore. Along in the middle of the afternoon, Jennifer and Myleigh headed in at about the same time, carried their surfboards up on the sand beyond the breakers, and peeled out of their wet suits. Myleigh was wearing a brief but bright bikini, almost overpowering it, while Jennifer had on a conservative but nicely cut black one-piece that almost seemed dowdy by comparison to her younger companion. They lay back on their surfboards taking in the sun, while keeping an eye on Trey and Blake out enjoying the waves.

"They sure seem to be having fun," Jennifer said. "I'm sure glad you talked us into this, or we talked you into it, or whatever happened."

"I think we may find ourselves forced to do this again sometime," Myleigh grinned. "Perhaps we shall be able to discover the opportunity to do it over on Lake Michigan, where the water is usually somewhat warmer."

"We've got a couple months before you have to head back," Jennifer replied. "I'm sure the time will come when we're so tired of Whispering Pines that we'll be glad to take off a couple days."

"I suspect that if we plan to do it again, Trey will be making a fast excursion to his parents for his own surfboard," Myleigh said. "He does all right with Nicole's, but it's not the one he's familiar with."

"How did you ever manage to come up with another surfer at Marienthal?" Jennifer grinned.

"It was nothing more than sheer unexpected luck," Myleigh said. "I did not know that he surfed until I arrived at Buddha and Giselle's with Randy and Nicole, and who should I discover but the student who had been so kind as to be the stage manager at my concert? I confess, I do not know which of us was more surprised."

"So that's where you got to going with him?"

"No," Myleigh frowned. "We were but compatriots there, fellow surfers on the beach," she said. "Indeed, even after he became my hero by rescuing Blue Beauty for me, we have remained more compatriots and companions than anything else."

"Funny," Jennifer said. "The two of you look more like boyfriend and girlfriend to me."

"I wish I dared call him that, but I cannot," Myleigh shrugged. "He was a student of mine last year. We have become close friends. However, he feels there must be a certain distance between us while he remains a student, and I have come to accept that. Otherwise, I should be proud to call my hero my boyfriend."

"Maybe even more?" Jennifer asked.

"Perhaps, eventually," Myleigh sighed. "There are other issues between us that we have yet to resolve. I am not, however, ruling it out."

"Issues?"

"Yes, issues, though I cannot exactly put my finger upon them. Though we have become quite close friends, a certain distance remains between Trey and I that I cannot seem to close. I feel it must be more than the teacher-student formality, but I am in hopes that once he has graduated I shall be able to press beyond them."

"He's a heck of a nice guy," Jennifer said. "It sort of reminds me of me and Blake. You know the story on that. He started out as an employee. After a while he became the best friend I ever had, and then my silent business partner. We stayed that way, but we were years getting beyond that." She sighed. "At least part of it was my own fault. Somehow I'd mentally drawn a line that I wasn't willing to cross, and I didn't even realize it. I guess I was thinking, 'Why louse up a beautiful friendship?' It took Jeremy to push us past that."

"Jennifer, I fear I had not known that, at least to that extent."

"The heck of it is," Jennifer said, "If Jeremy hadn't come along, Blake and I would still have that beautiful friendship, and neither of us would know what we'd been missing. Myleigh, I don't like to sling advice around, but if you really like him, go the extra mile to keep from drawing lines with each other."

"I shall certainly try," Myleigh said. "I fear some of them may be difficult to cross. I do know that Trey seems quite awed, both with my command of English literature, and by my musical talents. If anything he may have become a little more distant since the experience in the Grand Canyon. To him, the creation of the tracks he recorded is nothing less than mystical, and I fear he does not know what to make of me."

"If it makes you feel any better, I'm pretty awed myself," Jennifer smiled. "And, it seems pretty mystical to me, too. Blake and I have written a lot of music over the years, but we've never had it just come to us like that. And, I can understand him being awed by your education, because I envy you that, too."

"Envy?" Myleigh frowned. "I hardly believe that."

"Envy," Jennifer said. "Hell, Blake awes me like that, too. He's just so damn good at everything. Do you have any idea of how long it's been since he's been on a surfboard? Look at him! There he is, cutting it up like some Southern California hot dog! Martial arts -- I'm not bad, but it's taken years of practice. Cooking? I'll never be as good on my best day as he is on his worst. I play a guitar pretty good now, although he was the one who taught me. There isn't a stringed instrument he can't play well, isn't bad on percussion and keyboards, can do brass and woodwinds and would be better if he practiced it some. Good with a mixing board, too, although Trey seems to have that knack. You know what I am, really, deep down inside? I'm just a high school graduate who can sing. I went to college one semester down in Nashville, and I got put on academic probation because I spent so much time trying to break into one of the record companies. There you are with a doctorate, for Pete's sakes, and an unusual but awesome talent that you barely realize. I may have been a big success by most people's standards, but when I measure that against people like you and Blake, I realize what I still am. Or at least, should be. But, he treats me like I'm some kind of goddess, and all the time I know it should be the other way around."

"Jennifer, I had no idea you felt that way," Myleigh said. "You need not berate yourself. I must confess to being in great awe of your accomplishments over the years."

"Most of which, Blake has helped me with or pushed me to," Jennifer shook her head. "Yeah, I have some talent, and for the most part I'm happy with how things worked out. But I look at what you've accomplished, and I wonder if I measure up. Look, I know you've never told me much about it, but I've talked to Randy. He's told me that you got most of the way on brilliance and a hard head, without much help from anyone. Oh, he helped a little, I know, and so did Crystal, but you'd never have made it if you hadn't done it yourself. I can't say that, and it makes me a little ashamed."

"In fact, they gave me a great deal," Myleigh said. "Mostly by their moral support, and showing their faith in me. I am aware that Trey doesn't think he measures up to me, but I value his support, his courage, his persistence, his attention to detail, much as I value your support and guidance and assistance. Without assistance of that nature, I could have accomplished nothing. I confess, I do not know why Trey remains so loyal to me while receiving so little in return, not that I have not attempted to give to him what I might."

Jennifer smiled. "You know, I've heard men say that there's no way they can figure out women. I don't know why we women should think we should be able to figure out men."

They weren't alone on the beach, although there weren't many other people around. It was just as well, as it was heading into the July Fourth weekend, and they hoped to be heading south for Spearfish Lake when the mobs of people were heading north for the long weekend. Still, the sight of something as strange as surfboards on the Superior shore could not help but draw some attention. As Jennifer and Myleigh talked, they noticed a couple in their thirties walking up the beach with two younger kids with them. "Wow, I didn't know anybody actually surfed on this lake," the woman said to them as they got close.

"Oh, my, yes," Myleigh said, sitting upright. Jennifer could see the husband's eyes pop out at the sight of Myleigh in her brief bikini. "I have been doing it on occasion for some years now."

"Isn't it awful cold?" the man said. They could see he was wearing a Walkman, and a CD was spinning inside; he'd taken his headphones off to talk with them.

"It is a little bracing on a hot day like today," Myleigh conceded. "But not intolerable. I have been here in April when there is still ice in the lake, so today it's really rather moderate."

"It is a little chilly," Jennifer said, sitting up to be sociable. "I used to surf a little when I was in California, and the water was pretty comfortable. But this is just fine."

"You from around here?" the woman asked.

"No, Kansas City," Myleigh said. "I'm just up here for a while to work on a project, and we decided to take some time off."

"Well," the man smiled. "There's got to be more surf here than there is in Kansas City."

"That's a fact," Jennifer smiled. "Just out of curiosity, what are you listening to?"

"Interesting album I ordered on the Internet a while back," he said. "Called Harp Strings. Jazz Celtic harp, would you believe?"

"Yeah, that's pretty different," Jennifer said. "You like it?"

"Terrific album," he said. "The gal who does it used to play in Jenny Easton's band, and she did a solo album. I never used to care much for the twangy hillbilly Jenny Easton, but she's done some nice stuff in her last few albums, and I noticed this one on her web site."

"Yeah," Jennifer frowned. "I kind of like her newer stuff, too. I'll have to check that album out. Heart Strings, you say?"

"Harp Strings, you know, like what angels play."

"Thanks," Jennifer said. "It sounds interesting."

"Bob, we ought to get going," the woman said. Jennifer got the impression that Bob was getting much too good a look at Myleigh in her string bikini for his wife's comfort.

"Well, thank you for the tip," Myleigh smiled at him broadly. "Please have a good day. Perhaps we shall see you again."

"See you around," the woman said. "You have fun surfing."

"Oh, we will, thanks," Jennifer said.

As the couple walked off, Jennifer and Myleigh exchanged big grins. As soon as they were out of earshot in the roar of the crashing surf and the blowing wind, Myleigh said in a low voice, "I fear I had difficulty keeping a straight face."

"You did just fine," Jennifer smiled. "It's simpler that way."

"I cannot imagine what he would have said had we identified ourselves," Myleigh laughed.

Jennifer shrugged. "He wouldn't have believed us anyway," she smiled. "I mean, hey, he's had to have seen your face on at least a couple album covers, and mine on who knows how many, but he would never have expected to see us here even if we told him so. All he saw is a good-looking babe in a bikini, and a thirty-something blonde woman in a conservative swimsuit, but neither of us in surroundings that he'd expect to find us in." She sighed for a moment and went on. "Sometimes it's nice to be anonymous like that. Just consider yourself lucky if you never get to the point where you have to worry about it."

"Yes, I've always understood how fame has hung heavy upon your shoulders," Myleigh said. "I dare say I'm just as happy to be anonymous."

"Fame hasn't always been a happy thing to have," Jennifer admitted, realizing that she was feeling moody again but not wanting to push it aside for once. "The nice thing about moving back to Spearfish Lake is that I didn't have to worry much about being anonymous. The people there have always seen me as the hometown girl who made good, and came back home because she'd had her fill of it. It was the right move. I've always wanted to keep that kind of atmosphere out of Spearfish Lake, which is why we went through that rigmarole the other day, and is also why we tried to not make a big deal out of it. I hate people like that camera crew invading my privacy, but that's sort of the price I pay for what I used to be. But to have it bother my friends and neighbors, well, I really hate that. Fortunately, it doesn't come up very often."

"You have done well, to keep it under the degree of control that you have managed," Myleigh commented.

"Yeah, it went pretty good there, for a while," Jennifer said. "Look, part of the reason I've always been a little picky about having things like that happen is that I value my privacy. I've never minded about showing Jenny Easton off when we're on tour, but damn it, Jennifer Walworth lives in Spearfish Lake, and she doesn't like that stuff." She sighed, and went on. "You realize that Jenny Easton is basically Nashville-Murray's creation, and Jennifer never liked it much."

"I know," Myleigh said. "It was one of the first things I ever knew about you. Randy had warned me of it long before I ever came to Spearfish Lake. Once I met you I realized just how correct his warnings had been."

"I've spent twenty years hating that Nashville-Murray image," Jennifer said. "I never was a honky-tonk girl at twenty, and damn sure shouldn't be trying to act like one at forty. You know, we had as much fun doing Saturday Night as anything I've done recently, but that was just absolutely perfect Jenny, the party girl, having a good time in a honky-tonk. I've got a few years, but when Jeremy's ten, I don't want him to figure out that his mother is fifty and acting like she's a twenty year old who likes to hang out in bars. That is not the image of me I want him to grow up with. If I'd realized it last summer, we never would have done Saturday Night at all. But it was already pretty well along before I realized I was pregnant, and besides, it was so damn easy to put on Jenny."

"I do believe you're overstating it," Myleigh said. "Many people know you for Wonderful Winter World, and you never tried to portray that sort of image."

"No, but it was knocking around the edges. I always figured that people thought I was trying to act clean. I always wanted Winter World to be a family thing, and it turned out that way. The problem now is that I need to have Jenny grow up, and grow up fast. That's why I told that joker Oldfield that there won't be any more old-line Jenny. Oh, I might put out an album of unreleased early recordings from the library sometime, but it won't be until Jeremy has grown up."

"You know," Myleigh said thoughtfully. "I always thought Jenny was a fun person to be around for a while but would be hard to live with. I frankly prefer Jennifer."

"I've been there, I've done that, and I know it," Jennifer said. "That's nothing new."

"True," Myleigh said. "But there are very few people who know Jennifer in comparison to the vast number who know Jenny."

"You're saying that I should do something like a Johnny Cougar to John Mellencamp transformation? It worked for him, but it took years. It might be something to consider, though. But, Jenny does have name recognition that's valuable."

"Which is doubtless why it took years," Myleigh said. "And, I'm not necessarily saying that it need be done quickly, or at all. But, I do think that people should be allowed a look at Jennifer Walworth as she really is. It might well be the first step down the path you seek."

"But," Jennifer frowned. "I'd hate to lose the anonymity that Jennifer has, if only to keep things like the other day from happening around my friends and neighbors."

"Come, think about it," Myleigh said. "Has it really helped? Surely it is no secret where you live, or you should not have had that camera crew there in the first place. Granted, the distance involved is a factor, but I should think that unless something really untoward happens, such annoyances should be a minimum for that reason alone. But should something of a nature that would set off a media feeding frenzy happen, the name would mean nothing."

"It's made me feel better about it," Jennifer frowned. "But, yeah, you might have a point. You've given me something to think about, anyway. And really, I don't want to think about it right now."

"Jennifer," Myleigh grinned. "While you have also given me much to think about, I do have one question that I must present."

"What?"

"Are you ready to slide back into your wet suit and enjoy some more of this marvelous surf?"

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