Blue and Blue

When we first began considering moving to the city we live in, I was greatly comforted by the fact that if I got to the point where I was feeling clausterphobic amid all the trees in the amply forested land that I would be able to see clearly to the East, across Lake Superior from a multitude of vantage points.

I used to think that it was just a personality quirk of mine that I liked a good old tree, but didn’t necessarily want to be surrounded by them all the time, that I didn’t necessarily need to live amid a lot of trees even though they were nice to visit. I’m a girl who grew up on the plains. I haven’t really ever even cared for scraggly old shelter belts. I fully appreciate the beauty of a land that is wide, open, and obstruction free. I love a 180 degree view of the sky and it’s ever changing moods. The thought of not moving back to North Dakota was devastating to me during most of my years in Wisconsin. Whenever I mentioned my need for an unobstructed view of the horizon to Wisconsinites, however, they looked at my like I was an absolutely bizarre person for not instantly falling in love with a forest or two. And so I thought my need to see what’s coming my way was just . . . well, one of the strange aspects of me. Recently, though, I have been blessed with several other neighbors who grew up in North Dakota too, and they’ve ALL mentioned tree-clausterphobia to me before I even brought up the subject!

All of those neighbors, and myself, take comfort that we can walk about three minutes to the east and look down on an amazing stretch of waterscape. I long ago fell in love with the expanse of Lake Superior, and it grows on my every day. There is nothing better than a quick view of that ever-changing water to lift your spirits. It might be grey, shrouded in steam, mist or fog. Often it is an amazing, dazzling shade of blue that sparkles and twinkles in the sunlight. If someone could actually capture that pigment of blue in a tube of paint they’d be rich, I’m sure of it. In the morning and evening it takes on pink and purple hues, and on any given day it shows a multitude of shades of green.

I love it. I love discovering new, unsuspecting places with amazing views of the water. Being able to see those beautiful clouds just fills me with bliss.

Here are some views of the lake from the beach last weekend on a cloudless almost spring day: