To the Lake!

Someone's back and heading to the lake!  These images are from the archives.  Even after all the travel on the other side of the globe, this shore of Lake Superior is one of my favorite places in the world.  Happy heart.

Night light

The fireflies and stars are sprinkling bits of light tonight, which reminded me of a much cooler night this spring when northern lights danced over Lake Superior.  Bundled up in layers, I meandered along the beach, listening to gentle waves tease the shore, calm water echoing the shimmering light above.

(Click on the image to see a larger version.)

Winter Extremes

A few weekends ago, for the New Year holiday, I visited Michigan's Upper Peninsula, the Keweenaw Peninsula specifically. It snowed each day I was there. On this particular day, I went skiing with a dear friend, who didn't mind my putzy pace and photo breaks every few minutes. Even though the sky was mostly blue, snowflakes drifted down the entire time we were out. Though some may disagree, particularly those who don't enjoy the perpetual task of moving snow to keep the pathways clear (!), the Keweenaw has the best of winter conditions: lots of snow and moderate winter temperatures, both of which are due in part to the surrounding body of water, Lake Superior. Keweenaw County's snowfall is ~ 181 inches for this winter to date. The 82-year average is 187.4 inches, the record high is 390.4 inches (1978-79), and the record low is 81.3 inches (1930-31), as recorded on the Keweenaw Snow Thermometer.

When I lived in the Keweenaw, I learned to enjoy the abundance of snow and to make the most of it by snowshoeing and skiing. Returning to live in northern Minnesota, I've had to re-adjust to a guaranteed part of Minnesota winter: the severely cold temperatures. I spend less time outdoors and whenever I do go outside, I'm dressed in 3-6 layers. When the temperatures reach well below zero, which has been the case this week, I even make a point to wear my snowpants as I drive to and from work - all in the name of comfort. The local newspaper noted this week that the temperature here in Ely was colder than in Antarctica. This morning the low temperature was -38 degrees F. Any way you say it, cold is cold, -20, -30, -40, once it's that cold, it all feels the same to me as I scurry around, just one more anonymous bundled-up person moving about the town of Ely.

Which would you prefer to live with, to have the bragging rights to: severely cold temperatures or overwhelmingly large amounts of snow??!?

Windows

I look out.  I look in...  I see remnants of the past woven into the fabric of who I am today.

On the edge

Tenaciously surviving on the edge, a scrub oak sits on a high bluff above Lake Superior on the Keweenaw Peninsula.  Sometimes life feels like this.  Hanging on in a wondrous place where ferocious storms are sure to cycle through...  but, what a view!