That Dam-Lake

The water of the lake behind the dam was dead smooth, slopping very subtly against the stony banks, with the occasional fish jumping after flies. The sun's red-orange stripe painted a huge swath across the water, and all of us gasped at its beauty. The first time we'd ever come here -- me and Gray -- we had been so surprised by how beautiful and ancient this manmade lake appeared that we'd just stood, as Em was now, gaping. I don't think Mankind has ever made a more beautiful monument to Nature than that dam-lake.

Am I the Matter?