Our guests in town today, who venture out by the the Lake, are among the most fortunate of the season. The warm 20 mph southwest wind will disheveled the best coifed hair on your head ( if you have any ); it will push you along or push you over; it will throw dust in your eyes; it will billow your shirt or lift your skirt. It’s a teenager learning to flirt.

Today we feel the full embrace and attention of summer.

Let me explain how it works here. A wind like this from the northeast in late August (somewhat cool but no longer frigid) will drive in warm surface water at this end of the Great Lake, but the breakers create rip currents that can kill the unwary. Today’s wind from the southwest usually bathes us in warmth, heat even, but drives the warm surface waters away. Dip your body in the calm water at the shore and you may suffer thermal shock.

Mostly, Lake Superior is not a warm bathtub but a beer cooler.

I went swimming once this summer and realized I have lost a lot of my upper body strength in the past months. I walk; I cross country ski; I hike; I cycle, so I have beautiful and strong legs. From the waist and up I look like I’m retired.

In the hearing of my brother, I mused about getting some equipment to lift weights. He reminded me that 16 oz cans of soup from the grocery store weigh exactly 1 pound - a good place to start. (He’s an expert these day, having just finished working with a professional rehab specialist after his shoulder surgery.)

Soup cans might be the way to go. If my resolve for nicer abs falters, I can eat the soup!