Monday, 4/30

I can't say I'm surprised the ice is still here.

Greetings from Marquette on a Monday, a Monday where we finally have ground not covered with snow. It's all melted the past few days, except for those piles where plow trucks stacked it up during our big storm a few weeks ago, and I have a feeling that the almost summer-like temperatures of the next few days will get rid of whatever's left.

There does, however, remain this--

That's Marquette's Lower Harbor, where past the breakwater there's nothing but ice. Notice how inside the breakwater it's open water, and outside it's not? That's because, apparently, the northerly winds we've been getting the past few weeks have pushed all remaining ice onto Lake Superior's south shore, and it seems like every single surviving piece of ice on the lake has made a home in the bay just off of Marquette's Lower Harbor.

It's weird; you can drive along the lake shore and even out to Presque Isle and see open water everywhere. But in the little (and not so little) coves and inlets you see so many chunks of ice that it appears the lake has frozen over. Look at the picture I took of the bay again. Looks like a solid sheet of ice, right? But it's not. It's hundreds of thousands or even millions of little chunks of ice bobbing up & down upon the waves, all pushed to the shore by a steady wind, a wind that thoughtfully leaves us all these little reminders of winter.

Not that we really wanted the reminders, mind you.

Like I mentioned before the next few days will bring almost summer-like temperatures, aided by a wind that should be blowing from the south. Hopefully, those winds will then blow the chunks of ice back out into the lake, where they will either dissipate or be blown along the shore to some other bay or cove or inlet.

After all, I think I speak for everyone in Marquette when I saw they've been visiting us long enough.

****

Before I go, let me introduce you to Loraine's new car!

That's her 2018 Chevy Sonic we picked up Saturday. It drives nicely, it's incredibly quiet, and we both think she made an excellent choice. In fact, I'm looking forward to getting behind the wheels of it when we head downstate at the end of next week. It's also quite the change from her last car, the neon green Mazda. In fact, one of the first places we stopped with it was the grocery store, and when we walked out after shopping we were momentarily perplexed. Instead of looking for a bright green car, we had to look for a black car in a sea of other black vehicles. It took a few seconds of disorientation, but we finally did pick it out. Hopefully, that's just be a one-time thing.

Otherwise, we may have to put a neon green flag atop it so we know which one it is!

(jim@wmqt.com)