Maybe the Manitous

The Wilderness Within by Barbara Spring

It’s getting colder now on the Great Lakes. The water looks heavy, dense, and usually by Thanksgiving, the first ice begins to form on the shore. First one crystal grabs a grain of sand and then it begins and a stiff collar of ice forms along the shore on the eastern side of Lake Michigan. Maybe the Manitous is a poem from my book, The Wilderness Within.

Maybe the Manitous

Eastward rolling water
pellucid dense and slow
Karo syrup gloss or
flowing molten glass.
One crystal grabs
one grain of sand and
the beach blooms
with frost flowers—
a stiff white collar grows
all along the sandy shore.
Cold.
Icy winds blast.
Ice balls bob, wink, crash.
An eagle’s cry hangs
midair
above a white horizon line—
when sweetwater seas
freeze.
Late afternoon sun—
deep blue shadows on snow
manitous whisper to ice shelves
sibilant spirits speak —
murmur to structures below.
From Milwaukee to Muskegon
cold rollers flow, then splash through
ice volcanoes on the shore
troll caves and canon balls
shot from polar storms
or maybe the manitous.

Whitefish Run in the Great Lakes

Sophia's Lost and Found by Barbara Spring

Whitefish Run December

They speed upstream to spawn after dark
slick as ice and pearly white:
whitefish from Lake Michigan’s depths
torpedo home.
With sure instincts
with DNA of generations
with chartreuse eggs; with white milt
their sleek white shapes streak
through dark river waters
now starting to freeze.
It’s been this way in the Great Lakes
since Edenic times
when Ice Age glaciers melted away.
And now in this coldest December
anyone alive can remember
fishermen risk a walk the piers
wear cleats on their boots
tie themselves to something solid.
They jig rigged lines on the river bottom
and sometimes land a sleek, slick, delicious fish
while west winds howl.

Excerpted from Sophia’s Lost and Found: Poems of Above and Below.

This book is available from Amazon.com, Barnes & Noble and many other fine bookstores.

Surfing Lake Michigan

Two Surfers About to Enter the Washing Machine

My watercolor of surfers about to jump in the heavy waves. Steve Damstra took a photo of this scene and I liked it so much that I made a watercolor based on it.
This is a dangerous spot to surf. Lives have been lost here.

Maybe the Manitous

The Wilderness Within by Barbara Spring

It’s getting colder now on the Great Lakes. The water looks heavy, dense, and usually by Thanksgiving, the first ice begins to form on the shore. First one crystal grabs a grain of sand and then it begins and a stiff collar of ice forms along the shore on the eastern side of Lake Michigan. Maybe the Manitous is a poem from my book, The Wilderness Within.

Maybe the Manitous

Eastward rolling water
pellucid dense and slow
Karo syrup gloss or
flowing molten glass.
One crystal grabs
one grain of sand and
the beach blooms
with frost flowers—
a stiff white collar grows
all along the sandy shore.
Cold.
Icy winds blast.
Ice balls bob, wink, crash.
An eagle’s cry hangs
midair
above a white horizon line—
when sweetwater seas
freeze.
Late afternoon sun—
deep blue shadows on snow
manitous whisper to ice shelves
sibilant spirits speak —
murmur to structures below.
From Milwaukee to Muskegon
cold rollers flow, then splash through
ice volcanoes on the shore
troll caves and canon balls
shot from polar storms
or maybe the manitous.

Fall is in the Air

In the fall snow fences are installed to keep the sand from blowing across the road. In the late afternoon sunlight the fence casts shadows and the blown sand casts a shadow. In the distance is the pier with its fog house and light house. That’s how it is on the beach in Grand Haven, Michigan. There is a tang in the air and the fallen leaves crunch underfoot.

Food Webs in Lake Michigan

Here is a picture from Seagrant showing the food webs. Last year alewives were scarce and so fishing for salmon was so so. This year the alewives recovered and large salmon are being caught.

Lake Michigan salmon and trout

The river smells of fish and sometimes the small silvery alewives will jump out of the water when they are being pursued by Chinook salmon, coho salmon, brown trout or steelhead. It’s that time.

People have been catching salmon over twenty pounds this year and good size trout. They are being caught in the estuaries and tributaries to Lake Michigan.

Read more about fishing in the Great Lakes in The Dynamic Great Lakes available at Amazon.com and Barnes & Noble.

Trout and Salmon Caught in Lake Michigan

The fish are running upstream to spawn and the fishing is heating up.

Columbus Ships Sail to Muskegon

As published in the Grand Haven Tribune

Muskegon

The Pinta and Nina, replicas of the Columbus ships, are scheduled to arrive at the Great Lakes Marina in Muskegon on Wednesday, Aug. 24.

The Nina was built completely by hand and without the use of power tools. Archaeology magazine called the ship “the most historically correct Columbus replica ever built.”

The Pinta was recently built in Brazil to accompany the Nina on its travels. It is a larger version of the archetypal caravel, which historians consider “the space shuttle of the 15th century.”

Both ships tour together as a new and enhanced “sailing museum” for the purpose of educating the public and school children on the caravel, a Portuguese ship used by Columbus and many early explorers to discover the New World.

Their homeport is the British Virgin Islands and they are operated by The Columbus Foundation.

While in port, the general public is invited to visit the ships for a self-guided tour. Admission charges are $8 for adults, $7 for seniors and $6 for students ages 5-16. Children age 4 and under are free.

The ships will be open Aug. 25-28 from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. The ships are scheduled to depart from the marina, 1920 Lakeshore Drive, on Aug. 29.

The Nina visited Grand Haven in August 2004.
I visited the Nina when it came to Grand Haven. This is worth seeing.

Pier Fishing in Lake Michigan

Read more about Great Lakes fish in The Dynamic Great Lakes.