have i mentioned how much i love lake superior?

my sister helen and i went to great sand bay one afternoon to take pictures. the water seemed astonishingly warm. i don’t recall that side of the lake ever getting warm in all the years i lived there. i only remember icy waters. not that lake superior ever really got that warm anywhere – i was much tougher skinned then and could actually swim in cold water – but that was definitely one of the colder sections.

(the thought of icy waters reminds me of a time i jumped into devil’s washtub, down the way from great sand bay, one fourth of july. i don’t know a good way to describe devil’s washtub, except to say that it’s on a rocky cliff side of the lake and there is a hole, surrounded by rock, with an opening near the bottom where the lake comes in and out. that day, i jumped in without checking the water temperature first. it was so cold that when i hit the water, i couldn’t breathe, and i bobbed up and down in the water, slightly panicking and trying desperately to catch my breath so i could climb out again.)