By Lindsay Martell – One of my favorite memories around Lake Norman isn’t even mine.

It belongs to my husband and my daughter; but it feels like a tether between the three of us. A living snapshot I treasure as if it were my own.

On a cloudy morning in late 2020, when the pandemic still clung to us in the most unrelenting way, I had outpatient surgery in Charlotte.

At the time, hospitals maintained a strict no-visitor policy, which meant my husband and daughter couldn’t stay. I gathered them into a family hug before they left, and they watched as I was led to pre-op, their faces mostly hidden by masks.

My daughter, then seven, needed a distraction. Big time.

Ramsey Creek is a Lake Norman park that is muggy, buggy, and, on that day, the perfect respite for our daughter. Surrounded by steam coming off the grass, my husband watched as she clung to the handles of the zip line with the ferocity of a determined second grader. She jumped and soared, the cable barely sagging under her little-kid weight. She hopped on again and again and again. It was everything she needed on that day.

When my husband picked me up, she bounced with joy in her booster seat; happy to see me, yes, but also bursting with stories of the fun she had, how warm it was, and the speed at which she flew.

Ramsey Creek is still an escape for us, especially now when outings with no agenda are so rare.

On a recent Sunday, we grabbed sandwiches and loaded potato soup (my daughter’s fave) from Jason’s Deli, leashed up our dog, Dug, and set out for the kind of picnic you have when your kids are pretty much over it, but still polite enough to know it means something to you.

Spreading out an old tablecloth on an ancient-looking table, we ate and looked out at the shore of Lake Norman, the blue sky mirroring the stillness of the water.

It’s a place that doesn’t evolve much from season to season. Only in the dead of winter will you find it mostly uninhabited, save for a few bundled-up moms, desperate to give their kids some much-needed outside time.

I avoid it on the summer’s hottest days, when the crowds take over, and the mosquitoes are out for blood, and I’m on the cusp of melting into a puddle of bug spray and sunscreen.

The days when it’s warm but not scorching, buzzing with life but not packed, are my favorite. I bring a book, or put in my earbuds, and savor the lush green space around me.

Ramsey Creek reminds me that suburban parks can be restorative and healing. It’s a sanctuary that always feels like home.

*The title is a derivation of the John Muir quote: “Keep close to Nature’s heart… and break clear away, once in a while, and climb a mountain or spend a week in the woods. Wash your spirit clean.”

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Milling About is a column about life around Lake Norman, written by Lindsay Martell. The column name is a nod to life around the lake and our town’s mill history.

Lindsay Martell lives in Birkdale with her husband, daughter, and a scruffy mini mutt named Dug.