this past winter, for the first time in decades, lake superior completely (or nearly) froze over.

i live on a peninsula. when the wind arrives, in almost every direction, it has traveled over an icy cold lake to reach us. needless to say, spring comes slowly this year.

on sunday, my sister and i (and pup) set out to find breaking ice.

we found the tobacco river, straining at its banks as it careened around a corner and crashed into lake superior.

we found fishermen, in both the wild mouth of the tobacco and in the calm lake next to it.

we also found ice along the shore in lac la belle. there was no wind that day, so the sheets of ice were quiet and still.

the next day, i packed a picnic supper and we set out again.

this time, we made our way to big traverse bay. the week prior, a strong wind had blown ice floes ashore.

most of the ice shelving was on private property, but the ice that we saw was glorious.

and oh, the absolute stillness of the bay and the colors of sky & water.

perfectly simply completely wondrous.

as philip pullman said, “it’s worth being cold for that.”