Reflections on Ice And Fog

Marquette’s light house stands tall and proud for all to see. (MarquetteMagazine.com photo by Roweena Langin)

Lake Superior’s icy grip continues to hold strong. 

Marquette, MI – I love experiencing the different seasons that the U.P. has to offer it residents.  The smell and beauty of cherry and apple blossoms in spring. Come summer, the smell of fresh cut grass and the way it feels under my bare feet. The vibrant colors that fall brings us. The beautiful scenery and activities only winter brings. I love it all.

The one big thing that drives me nuts about winter is its need to drag out its life towards the end of the season. This year is not an exception. In fact Mother Nature seems to be taking it to the extreme this year. It is mid May and there is still ice on Lake Superior. For several months I have been watching the ice on the lake break up, drift off shore and all but disappear leaving open water as far as the eye can see and the delusion that winter must finally be over, only to wake up the next day to find a sheet of ice covering the lake once more.

Marquette’s lower harbor where ice and sky meet. (MarquetteMagazine.com photo by Roweena Langin)

The lake’s peculiar behavior has created some gorgeous scenery around the shores of Marquette. The ice has created some amazing formations that grab my eyes and leave me transfixed in wonderment. How does the lake make ice that is found in a clump but at the lightest touch brakes apart into smaller and equally beautiful formations?

Like a ghost an ore ship makes its way through fog and ice in Marquette’s Lower Harbor. (MarquetteMagazine.com photo by Roweena Langin)

The temperature differences between the lake and the surrounding atmosphere is creating the perfect formula for fog. The other day I was lucky enough to see an ore ship pull into the Lower Harbor cl0aked in a blanket of fog. The fog glided over the whole harbor creating the illusion that everything was floating in the air.

So while you wait for the beauty of spring I recommend taking some time to walk along the lake and look at the ice. But you better hurry! The ice will not be around for long.

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by Roweena Langin

When I was a little girl my parents taught me how to use a camera. I spent my photographic childhood in 4-H taking photos so I could enter them into the yearly county fair and have them judged. I have a BFA in photography from Northern Michigan University. My favorite photographic subjects are sports and nature. My dream career is to be a sports photographer working for a big name team or media. I have been a volunteer photographer for the Beacon House in Marquette for some of their fundraising events. In May 2014 I became a contributor with marquettemagazine.com.

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