Most any northeast wind reminds we dwellers of her western shore that Lake Superior has a ‘tude. We have at the far corner of the Lake , on average, 52 days of fog - gray, cold and clammy days each year, which send us running to the warm, woolen part of our closets even in summer. Most all the time she is cold. A frustrated pastor upon learning of the stingy response of his congregation to a funding appeal accused them of having the cold water of Lake Superior in their veins instead of blood. Ironically in later summer a gentle north eastern breeze can blow in warm surface water to our beaches and actually make it possible to place your body in the lake without turning numb.

These ‘summers’ turn the Nor’easter of Autumn, into the Gales of November - devourer of ships such as the Edmund Fitzgerald - much more dangerous than Spring Gales. In the Autumn, November in particular, the cold dry air from Canada meets with the warm moist air from the Gulf of Mexico. This unsettled air mass then further stirred by the summer-warmed water of the Lake can span ‘Witches’ with winds of 50 mph, gusts of 100 and 40 foot waves. Find a tight, warm dry place and watching a November Gale can thrill but first find a safe harbor!

This gale warning suggested I might see Lake Superior, the artist. The gales of Spring can encrust shorelines with ice that can be glorious to behold or, as this last gale, toss up huge slabs of ice creating shore sculptures. Lake Superior creates many beautiful things - somethings made quietly and gently. However, with this gale, she ripped off her winter ice and threw it into shoreline wonders.