Ice melting at Second Sand Beach
You wonder about the story of our lives here in the Upper Peninsula?
It could be summed up in two words: Ice melts.
Ice melts on the bays.
Ice turns blue, shaky, unstable.
Don’t walk on it.
Turn, instead, toward Spring.
We’re sure it’s coming.
It might even be here.
Ice melting on Keweenaw Bay
On my way to town this weekend I paused at Second Sand Beach, and later along the Keweenaw Bay, here and there, snapping pictures of the melting ice.
I love its subtle patterns.
Nature reveals pattern after pattern in line, shadow, scope.
She wows you, even when you’re dreaming of Spring and part of you wants the ice to drown in the bay, now.
Red lighthouse across from Sand Point
There’s a freedom in simply allowing nature to express what she wants to express.
If she wants Winter in May–can we relax into that possibility without wanting something different?
(OK, OK, maybe we can’t at times. But at times we can. My favorite activity these days–bar none–is watching the snow drifts melt. I pick a snow drift to watch every day. And melt they do. It’s fascinating entertainment.)
Bird flies above ice
It feels like my freedom comes when I accept *what is*. Even if that acceptance involves resistance.
Is it spring in your neck of the woods? Or are you still courting Winter, still allowing her to exist while also longing for warm breezes, spring wildflowers, morel mushrooms?
Lake Superior Spirit 
Here in NW CT it feels as if Spring is taking hold and settling in. Snow patches and ice have been gone a little more than a month. It feels so great to be so warm and to have things growing and budding. I had dandelion greens for supper. (early supper, tonight…) Hang in, Spring should be up your way soon!
Kathy – I love how you take us into the moment….no matter what that might be. Acceptance of whatever “is” brings with it a sense of peace. Love your bird!
Aaahhhh…the calendar says it is spring..so it must be! We have had some gorgeous days..and some chilly days…and a whole bunch of very windy days. Our snow has long since melted..but it is not what I would call a typical spring in SW Ohio. Morels are very elusive in this neck of the woods…but we did stumble across a gorgeous little waterfall in a different section of a hunting preserve that we frequent, and that I had never seen in 30+ years of hunting shrooms in. So, as my daughter says, a silver lining. I am more than ready to get out and plant my veggies, plant my flowers, and have a beautiful yard again..but we could be much worse off! What will be will be…
Glad you are back!
Your melting ice is very beautiful. I think our spring is almost over. Summer has been trying to nudge its way in with heat, humidity, and the ever not-popular array of insects. The mosquitoes are already whining. The ticks and deer flies can’t be far behind. I’m trying to be accepting of “what is” when it comes to heat, bugs, and early summer humidity. The colorfulness helps. Everything is beginning to look lush and full of life.
I got to close the gates today! No more plows and the pile has melted enough for the gates to swing closed. Although it was pretty funny how the temperature dropped 3 degrees after crossing from Iron into Baraga County. Now the cleanup begins. 🙂
Is the lighthouse the one next to the Ojibwa Camp Ground? Love the pics!
Yes, indeed, it is that very lighthouse, John.
It is surely spring here: wildflowers, warm breezes, frogs, baby birds chriping in nests and green hills.
Sometimes the melting ice and the melting snow make great shapes. You probably missed my ice melting photos. http://lisaspiral.wordpress.com/2014/03/24/happy-spring/ I was much more impatient than you have been. 🙂
Our spring came early this year, but I think our winter went east too.
Kathy – What wonderful photographs you’ve woven throughout your post. It’s definitely springtime here in Boise. We’ve had mule deer, quail, and a fox traverse across our back yard, and the neighbor’s garden is getting ready to burst with color!
Our very last snow (on the property – there are still some drifty clingers) melted away on May 1. It feels like a whole new world without it 😉 And just wait until your snow is gone. The very best thing then will be to watch how much things green up! I promise it’s far more fun than watching paint dry!
In all honesty, I am a touch (just a tiny one) sad that all the lake ice has melted (well, near here. There’s still ice on Lake Michigan) I love the patterns it forms when it gets rotten, and I love to hear it tinkle as piles of it clink back into the lake.
We’ve looked for morels, but nothing yet. You know I’ll blog all about it when we do find some 🙂
It’s a mix of warm and chilly days here,oh and rain 😀 Everything in the garden is bursting into life, spring is here
Kathy, your pictures are lovely! Spring is finally settling in here in MN. Warmer temps are making the grass grow and turn green now…our neighbor was out mowing with his huge landscape business mower and the smell of fresh cut grass lifted my spirit right away 🙂 But starting tomorrow evening the weather is going to be nasty with severe storms so I hope people will be safe. They say we’re in for large hail, heavy downpours, strong winds and possible tornadoes from tomorrow evening until Friday morning. I hope if the rain heads your way it will melt all the snow and ice that’s left up there so springtime can emerge and warm your spirits up there ♥
I decided a long time ago that Mother Nature doesn’t really value my opinion about the weather. Whether I like it or not, it will do what it wants. So, I decided to not let it bother me. I’m known as “the one who never complains about the snow.” Some people think I LOVE winter. That’s not the case so much as I just try to appreciate each day for whatever it offers. This winter has gone a bit long, though! Great photos, Kathy!
I thought we had a long winter. I can’t believe you still have ice so I won’t complain about our cold wet spring.
Love the photos, Kathy. Actually, fall is coming to the southern hemisphere, so things will cool down a degree or two or five in the coming months. We are still REALLY close to the equator.
Hugs from Ecuador,
Kathy
I actually love the spring we are having this year even though I join in with the complaints that it is not warm enough yet–I love gradual spring–so often in this southern most town in Ontario we hop right to summers–and our summers are hot and humid and air conditioned–what fun is that?
Lovely photos.
Spring brings loads of pollen and sniffles here!
I believe we have the last ice in Lake Michigan right offshore here in Leelanau. Beyond the Manitou islands the lake is clear, but the passage is still very full of ice. Meanwhile, in the woods, spring beauties are blooming, and trillium are on the verge of blossom. What I say is that Up North is too big a place to have only one season at a time. 🙂
Ice melts. Seen only in the deep freezer when we have no currents 😉
Nice to know the differences our nature has to provide, and how nice to admire them. Thank you, Kathy 🙂
It’s so odd to think that you’re still seeing ice, when it’s been in the mid 80’s here. I’ll send some of that warmth your way 😉
Love that picture of the lighthouse.
It still looks so so chillingly cold! Would you say you’re going with the floes?Haha! Spring seems to have come and gone here in NM, Kathy, and now we’re courting summer. You’re right there’s a freedom in taking nature as she comes. Only I am having a hard time with 90 degrees in early May!
This is my third time to write a comment here. Maybe number three is the lucky charm. For some reason my comment keeps flying away.
Anyhoo, I’m thrilled that you are now back wriiting. Really you were sorely missed. i love the lighthouse in the photo. I just happed to like those jewels that seem to be a beacon of hope.
I want to be the bird in your photo Kathy. Compelling photo, lovely.
We’re loosing our spring greens, the hills are already quite brown. We’ve had a lot of early (unseasonably) warm weather so it feels more like summer than spring.
Yes, thinking about acceptance and resistance, and their dance.
I hope you have even fewer snow drifts today, 6 days after you published this post, and are having a lovely Mother’s Day! It is finally feeling like spring here – we even had a touch of humidity and a thunderstorm yesterday, and I mowed the lawn! All good signs of spring.
I can’t accept it all, Kathy. How do you do that? xo
Ice melts is still a theme on Lake Superior on this side of the lake, however, I think the theme has just about run its course (thank goodness!)! Hoping summer or an extended fall makes up for it!