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| LITTLE SPIRIT MOON |
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| RED SKY AT NIGHT, SAILOR'S DELIGHT |
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| A NOR'EASTER LASTS THREE DAYS |
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| A "THOUSAND FOOTER" |
Monday, 9:00 AM. 22 degrees F at the ferry dock, 20 on the back porch. Wind WSW, calm at present. The sky is cloudy and overcast, the humidity 92% and it is snowing lightly. High today will be in the upper 20's, becoming colder with wind and snow tomorrow, followed by temperatures in the upper teens to mid-20s with snow showers for the rest of the week. We are living in the Bayfield snow globe once again.
The next week or so of posts will be retrospective topics concerning Bayfield, beginning with today's post about weather and the Big Lake.
Lake Superior is the largest body of fresh water in the world, 31,000 square miles. It creates its own weather systems and influences wind, temperatures, rainfall and snow depth, considerably altering the continental climate of the land masses surrounding it. It has influenced the endemic Native American cultures which lived on its shores, and every aspect of immigrant life, from logging and mining and farming to trading and manufacturing, and continues to dominate life today on its shores and its waters.
A few of my observation of the lake at Duluth several years ago:
- The fog drifts in and out, alternately dense in early morning and
then disappearing, to reveal all it had hidden: "Things seen and unseen,
known and unknown," a metaphor for the mysteries of life.
- The spruce trees sway and dance in the north wind, while the white caps toss smaller boats to and fro like flotsam on the water.
- Wraith-like, the shape-shifting fog billows over and about the waters, revealing or hiding all at its pleasure.
- Nine small white power boats, possibly a fishing fleet, head out
from the harbor entrance, fanning out at last in groups of three. One
lone, spire-like sail boat remains behind. The boats appear to be no
more than white caps as they recede in the vastness of the lake.
- What looks like a very small boat sits a half mile off shore, its
wind screen glinting on and off in the sun like a beacon, as it bounces
about on the choppy water.
- Threading the needle: A laker the length of several football fields
steams at ten knots towards the harbor entrance, a concrete channel
perhaps three times the length of the ship, and scarcely wider. The ship
is deftly piloted into the narrow opening and it quickly passes through
this "eye of the needle"into the safety of the capacious harbor to
load or unload its cargo.
- Evening: The waters are becalmed, reflecting the the blue sky and
gray-mauve clouds. The sky is akin to a painter's canvas, the colors
applied with broad, sweeping strokes. The raven sits on its perch, and a
few gulls coast by, deftly riding the occasional updrafts.
- The ancient spruces, still visible in the twilight, sway to and fro
in the increasing night wind, stately performers in an ancient tribal
dance. Now they are increasingly animated, encouraged in their
gyrations by the strong breeze. They need chants and drums, and a fire
to dance around, to reflect their wild images into the burgeoning dark.
""By the shoresof Gitche Gumee, by the big se Shining Water, Stands the wigwam of Nokomis, Daughter of the Moon Nokomis" thus begins Hawthorne's epic poem Hiawatha, a collection of tales gleaned from Ojibwe stories about their demi-god Winneboojo. Read it to gain insight into the great lake and its original people.
NOR'EASTERS
Art Ode
When I was a kid
My father, of Lake Michigan
said:
A Nor'easter will last three days
Here on the Lake called Superior
The Ojibwe's Gitche Gume
Hawthorne's Big Sea Shining Water
The winds blow fierce, dangerous, forever
and a Nor'easter lasts three days
'Twas a wild, November
Nor'easter
that doomed the Edmond Fitzgerald
that sank it with all of its hands
deep in the belly of the monster
The lake, it is told
has a heart that's too cold
to ever give up its dead
As old lake captains say
'bout the storm that sad day
'twas a Nor'easter that lasted three days
November 11, 2017 was the 42nd anniversary of the tragic sinking of the Edmond Fitzgerald with all its crew of twenty-nine. As the old lake captains say, "The lake is boss."
