(Describer) Title: SchoolyardFilms dot org Environmental Films for Schools, For Free!

[loons calling]

(Describer) The sun rises over a ridge.

(Describer) Mist drifts over water.

(female narrator) This is Squam Lake, New Hampshire, U.S.A.

(Describer) Tree branches extend over the lake.

But it's more famous as Golden Pond.

(Describer) The surface does reflect gold light.

This is where the Oscar-winning film starring Henry Fonda and Katharine Hepburn was filmed in 1981.

(Describer) Lily pads float and rushes wave in the breeze. The mist gets thinner.

But the lake's real-life cast of characters are a far more entertaining bunch.

[upbeat guitar music playing]

(Describer) A beaver smacks its tail. A loon looks around, and flaps its wings as it moves through the water.

It even has its own Katharine Hepburn, Karlene Schwartz.

(Describer) She paddles in a kayak.

For four decades, she's lived with the lake's every mood and gotten to know it better than anyone.

(Describer) Her gray hair back in a ponytail, she walks on a trail. Red leaves appear among the green ones.

Karlene is the perfect guide for spending a summer on the real Golden Pond.

(Describer) A loon dives. Title: A Summer on Golden Pond

A Summer on Golden Pond

[guitar music playing]

(Describer) Title: Narrated by Cary Rosillo Schwartz walks through a forest.

(Describer) She rides her kayak.

(Cary) Since she retired from teaching biology, Karlene spends most of her time on Squam Lake. So what draws her to this place?

(Describer) Schwartz

One thing I love is the variety of experiences here. The scarlet of the tupelo leaves drifting along the shore, the wet smell when the waves are high, or the chipmunks and red squirrels with its birdlike call, thinking they own the world. These things make the lake a very special place.

(Describer) Lilies are yet to open beside lily pads, and insects fly around the reeds. A wooden building stands by a dock.

[guitar music ends]

(Cary) As summer begins, Karlene heads out onto the lake in search of some early visitors.

(Describer) She looks through binoculars.

Perhaps the lake's most graceful inhabitants, loons.

(Karlene) I think that people feel loons are loony because no other bird I know of makes a sound like a crazy laugh.

(Describer) Schwartz

[loons calling]

(Describer) They look like ducks with black heads and white bottoms.

(Cary) It's not just their crazy call that gives the loon their reputation.

[upbeat banjo music playing]

(Describer) They flap their wings like they're about to fly, but they stay on the surface moving forward.

(Describer) Two of them speed across together.

(Describer) One ducks underwater.

Loons take the business of defending territories very seriously. Just never seriously enough to take off.

(Describer) The two of them keep flapping, their white chests moving through the water.

[banjo music ends]

(Describer) They finally stop.

With their piece of lake, the males soon attract a mate and prepare to start a family.

(Describer) Two of them meet and circle each other.

As the trees become flush with leaves, the work of another lake resident becomes increasingly obvious.

(Describer) Schwartz

You can see the gnaw marks the two big front teeth have made as they took down the stump for dinner.

(Describer) A sleek beaver moves through the water.

Most often I look for a V-shaped wake in the water. And they dive if you get too close to them, slap the water with their tails, which sounds like a person diving into the water.

(Cary) The beavers have eaten wood all winter, but now there's something more succulent on offer. The lengthening days encourage the water lilies and the beavers will happily munch on their flowers for hours.

(Describer) One does, and another searches for more.

(Describer) Two loons swim together.

By midsummer, the loon chicks have hatched and are on the lookout for food.

(Describer) With its beak, an adult hands-off a small fish to a younger one, who's more brown.

[loons calling]

But until they lose those downy feathers, it's up to Mom and Dad to fish for them.

(Describer) It waits as the parent dives, then comes up again.

These younger ganders are far more adventurous.

(Describer) Several of them swim together.

As far as the fish are concerned, they are just out to cause trouble. They may lack the wings, but you can't fault their enthusiasm.

(Describer) They quickly swim around, ducking their heads down briefly.

(Describer) Three dive at once.

It's warming up. But the cool lakeside woodland still yields a few surprises.

(Karlene) When I walk early in the morning,

(Describer) A deer appears.

I sometimes will meet a deer coming toward me

(Describer) Schwartz

through the woods. [chuckles]

And the deer usually stands very, very still.

(Describer) Two stand together.

Sometimes they bolt and flash their white tails.

(Cary) And you can also find tails of an altogether less fluffy kind.

(Describer) Schwartz

I have seen porcupines. Sometimes you'll see them walking in the forest. They might be nibbling on hemlock seedlings or other leaves that they find on the forest floor.

(Cary) Even climbing trees.

(Describer) A big one walks onto branch, but hangs down, and drops off. It moves on with its black fur and white quills.

Back on the lake, the ducks can squeeze in a late brood and take advantage of the first fruits of the year.

(Describer) Ducklings scurry on the shore to get in the lake. Schwartz

One day, under a blueberry bush, I saw the hen duck leap out of the water, grab the low hanging blueberry fruits, and eat blueberries from the water. I was mad initially, it was my blueberry bush. But then I thought, "You have enough to share."

(Describer) With ducklings around her, the duck pulls down more berries. A duckling tries it.

Was wonderful to see. [chuckles]

(Cary) But not everyone cares for Squam Lake as Karlene does.

[engine revving]

(Describer) A speedboat passes.

(Karlene) I have lived on other lakes that aren't cared for,

(Describer) Schwartz

where my family had a camp in my youth, had the wetland filled with houses. The loons don't nest there anymore. They don't even stop by for lunch. So it makes a difference if people take care because these things matter.

[guitar music playing]

(Describer) In the forest, she gets a little salamander to crawl onto her hand. She picks it up.

(Describer) Then she moves it and sets it back down. Schwartz

Today I moved a single salamander that was trundling right down the middle of a dirt road. It headed right back for the middle of the road, but at least I felt I'd given him a chance.

(Describer) Sunlight glows behind clouds beyond hills. A red leaf falls in the water.

(Cary) When you've seen as many summers as Karlene, you know what's worth saving. The beavers are building winter lodges, the young loons grown and ready to leave. As autumn arrives, Karlene is left hoping that others will come to share her love of Golden Pond.

(Karlene) Whether it's through the eyes of a three-year-old that hears a loon's crazy laughter for the first time,

(Describer) Schwartz

I hope it eventually comes to everybody.

[loons calling]

[guitar music playing]

(Describer) Titles: Film Editor: Simon Bell Online Editors: Christian Short, Tim Sanderson Produced and Filmed by Tom Fitz A Schoolyard Films Inc. Production Copyright 2009 Accessibility provided by the US Department of Education.

Accessibility provided by the U.S. Department of Education.