Walking Lake Anne

The other day, looking for some adventure, I ambled around Reston's Lake Anne. I started at the landmark Heron House, the 16-story condominium building that was the epicenter of Robert Simon’s bold bid for urban density in suburbia. Lake Anne Plaza doesn’t feel very urban today — or very dense for that matter — but I know it’s a work in progress. I find a path that hugs the lake, cross a little bridge and walk past town houses adorned with native plants, witty sculptures and small fountains.

In the distance, I hear the clang of a metal ladder as it’s leaned against a house. Someone is painting. I stroll along South Shore Drive, steel blue water winking between the trees, and imagine what it must be like to live beside a lake, to take a daily measure of its moods and colors. From the looks of the canoes and kayaks along the shore, this lake is not just observed; it is experienced.

Before long I’m at the far end of Lake Anne — and Wiehle Avenue, which I thought was farther east. Foot travel often surprises me this way, showing me connections that car travel cannot. As I swing around to the northern shore, I catch a whiff of simmering grains and the sharp-sweet scent of cinnamon. Rice pudding? My stomach rumbles, and I walk faster, back to my car. It’s never far away in the suburbs.