The Dynamic Great Lakes for our Planet

A critically acclaimed non-fiction book.

 

 

I wrote my non fiction book, The Dynamic Great Lakes to share some of the important information I have learned over the years, even before the first Earth Day. The book has a search inside feature on Amazon.com with key words, reading levels and now it is available for the Kindle reader. It is also available at Barnes & Noble and many other bookstores.

Above all, it is a book that encourages people to take care of the planet. It’s the only one we have.

The Dynamic Great Lakes

A Critically Acclaimed non-fiction book about the five Great Lakes

The Dynamic Great Lakes is available in the new edition at Barnes & Noble online or in stores. It is also available at Schuler Books and Music, The Bookman, Amazon.com (paper and Kindle edition) and many other fine stores.

The Dynamic Great Lakes is available on Kindle

Now available on Kindle

To learn about the Great Lakes and their interesting features, The Dynamic Great Lakes is for you.

Now updated in a fourth edition, Amazon has made the book available on the Kindle e reader as well as in paperback. The book is concise and suitable for all readers.

The Singing Sands

The sand on Lake Michigan has a high content of quartz that causes a high pitched sound when a toe is dragged across the wet sand. The little sprite pictured above is enjoying the beach immensely. Keep an eye on little ones at the beach. Keep a watch for rip current warnings. If a red flag is flying, no one should go in the water.

Great Lakes Influences

I live on Lake Michigan and I have lived on Lake Huron. I have traveled to Lake Superior, Lake Erie and Lake Ontario where I watched a meteor shower while camping. All this freshwater has led me to write. I wrote a non fiction book, The Dynamic Great Lakes that is critically acclaimed. It shows how each lake has changed and changes. It is especially about what lies under water. These lakes are magnificent.

I have included many Great Lakes inspired poems in my books, The Wilderness Within and Sophia’s Lost and Found: Poems of Above and Below

In the Cool Dunes

Gifts of the west wind and the glaciers
cool dunes rise above the windy beach.
For thousands of years the dunes
grew tall and then the sand began to sing.

The sand sang of quartz from Wisconsin
and of ice mountains grinding
through, of Lake Michigan currents
and November winds that blew.

Quartz and hematite granules sang
as young girls wove garlands of wildflowers
from the wooded dunes:
bloodroot, Dutchman’s breeches, hepatica,
trillium, violets and Pitcher’s thistle.

They played in dappled shadows under
sassafras, witch hazel and choke cherry trees.
Bewitched, young boys carved their names
beside names of the girls they loved
in the smooth gray bark of beech trees
while silent deer and young wood ducks watched
in the cool dunes.
–Barbara Spring
excerpted from Sophia’s Lost and Found: Poems of Above and Below

Running on the Singing Sands

I love taking kids to the beach. Here is a watercolor of a very active child running on the wet sand as waves pound in.

Singing Sands of West Michigan

The Singing Sands

The singing sands of West Michigan are so called because of their high levels of quartz. When a toe or shoe is dragged across wet sands a high pitched sound may be heard. These sands really do sing. Read more about the geology of the Great Lakes in my book The Dynamic Great Lakes available at Barnes & Noble and many other online book stores.