A taste of the arctic in Michigan

I'm rather ashamed to admit it, but, what with one thing and another, we hadn't seen Lake Michigan since winter came. That changed Saturday when we took Lucy for a walk... and what we found made us stop and exclaim in amazement: ice packs that look like the arctic, right in our town! An open space of shallow water perhaps a foot deep and ten feet wide separates shore from the first apparent dune, in actuality a pile of ice heaped up by the lake storms, sprinkled with brown windblown sand. Farther out are more ice ridges, separated by dark ice easily thick enough to hold a person walking. After the dunes of ice end comes the huge expanse of pack ice, low white rubble that extends to the horizon.... where a dark line shows open water. 

Cynthia told me that ice fishermen often venture out on the ice and sometimes must be rescued when changing wind opens leads and strands them in the open.

Of course, this just makes the fake palm tree near us even more silly.... in a way that makes me smile at the delightful incongruity rather than scowl.

And, speaking of cold and things that make us smile, we just got the sweater that Lisa made for Lucy... 

Very nice sweater and it fits perfectly and look very cute.... although I kind of prefer Lucy in what I call the "tribble cut" she wears in the winter (shaggy, long, silky fur) and nothing else... I've always preferred simplicity and being able to scratch her back.