STEAMBOAT DISPATCH
Letter to the Editor
Route 2
Lower Chateaugay Lake
Editor,
Steamboat Dispatch
Blair Kiln
Dear Esteemed Editors of the Steamboat Dispatch
I find myself, once again, compelled to share with you a most curious and inexplicable sight that I witnessed upon the shores of Lower Chateaugay Lake last night—an occurrence so rare and eerie that it shook me to the core, harkening back to those unsolved mysteries from the Shatagee Woods Mystery Hour! I speak, of course, of the sudden and unanticipated appearance of the aurora borealis, shimmering in spectral hues above the blackened treetops. It has been decades, I assure you, since such a celestial spectacle graced our skies—but this, dear sirs, was unlike any northern light I have ever beheld!
With trembling hands, I fumbled for my camera, as though possessed by the same wild energy that seemed to ripple through the very air. The aurora, barely visible to the naked eye, revealed its secrets only when viewed through the long, slow gaze of my camera’s night setting. And oh, the magic that was thus unveiled! The sky seemed to twist and writhe with ethereal colors, as though the veil between this world and another had momentarily been torn asunder. But, curiously—unnervingly—what should have been a darkened landscape was instead lit as bright as midday! The trees—those towering sentinels of the woods—glowed with an unnatural brilliance, casting long, warped shadows upon the shore. How could this be? The sky itself seemed to pulse with life, yet no sun nor moon shed light upon the scene.
And so, I ask you, esteemed Editors, does this not hearken back to the peculiar legends of Chateaugay Lake, and particularly those whispered tales of the Shatagee Woods? Oh yes, we know the old stories, passed down through hushed voices at dusk. The ancient woods, they say, are home to more than mere animals. It is said that the trees themselves—those same trees that shone so brightly last night—are imbued with an otherworldly energy, perhaps remnants of those who came before, those who knew how to harness the hidden forces of the lake and sky. Could it be that last night’s strange light was a glimpse into some ancient power still at work in our midst? Could it be that the aurora was not entirely of the natural world, but rather a manifestation of those hidden energies that occasionally stir beneath our feet, waiting for the right moment to reveal themselves?
As I stood there on the shore, bathed in that eerie, impossible light, I could not help but think of the old sea serpent tunnels beneath the Narrows, long abandoned, but never fully forgotten. Those tunnels, they say, have strange properties—distortions of time, ripples in space. Perhaps the aurora was drawn to those very tunnels, feeding off whatever lurks below, amplifying its brilliance until even the trees themselves could not help but glow with stolen light.
I shall attempt to capture this strange event once more, but I warn you, dear Editors—this is no mere celestial phenomenon. There is something far older at work here. Watch the skies, and perhaps, just perhaps, you will catch a glimpse of the other world that hovers just beyond our own, waiting to bleed through in moments such as these.
Your ever-watchful correspondent,
An Old Codger,
Lower Chateaugay Lake
What mysteries of Chateaugay Lake haunt you?