Breathing With the Lake

Winter in Duluth can get rather long.  To help curb the effects of Cabin Fever, a true Minnesotan will find ways to keep their sanity during the long, grey, cold winter.  Case in point, a friend of a friend made a luge run in their backyard.  It starts about 7 feet from the ground, features about 5 turns, and is as solid as they come.  Plus its bitchin' fun. 

There are the usual cold weather suspects: Regular sledding, ice skating, skiing (of the down hill variety or cross country kind), but something that goes unappreciated around here is our beautiful Lake.  Its perhaps even more beautiful in the winter; today a friend and I went on an adventure so see the ever changing landscape of Lake Superior.  Sure, it was 4 degrees above zero with 10 below wind chill factor, but a true Northlandian knows how to dress for the weather.  We even managed to break a sweat.   Taking pictures, however, was down right painful as my peach colored fingers turned bright red in a matter of moments.  I could not return my hands into their cozy mittens quick enough.  Still, I sacrificed my fingers in order to get some decent photos. 


It may have been sunny, but it was Cold.

  We ventured out on the mountains of frozen sand and ice, across all the "frozen cottage cheese" (as Beth called it), all the way to where the great lake opened up and allowed us to see her breathe.  Watching and listening to the frigid water rise and fall in sync with my own breaths made me realize that our Lake truly is Alive.  




Frozen Cottage Cheese

 I seldom take for granted the beauty that surrounds me everyday, and feel so fortunate to live in an area that experiences all the seasons of the year.  Sometimes, though, I wish that winter lasted a wee bit shorter.  We are in the unique phase of our winter (a phase Beth tagged as Winter/Spring) where hope abounds.  Hope for the warmer weather and longer days. 

A few years ago I captured some beautiful scenes of our gorgeous Lake in the heart of winter.  Seeing the photos are pretty, but seeing it in person is breathtaking.

If you listen quietly, you may just be able to hear her breathe with you.