Save The Lakes! Its a campaign issue now!

Sunset over the Mackinac Bridge
which spans the Straits of Mackinac, the point where Lakes Michigan and Huron meet

Most of you probably know that I was born in Traverse City, Michigan and spent a good portion of most of my summers in Michigan, on the Old Mission Peninsula

Cheesy Touristy Poster of the Peninsula

Here is a picture from my own collection of photos ( I believe taken by Travis):

Sunset on my grandfather's beach at Old Mission with his sailboat the "Norah" buoyed in the harbor.

To be honest, I would rather NOT show you these pictures;

Lake Michigan at Sleeping Bear Sand Dunes National Lake Shore



Split Rock Lighthouse, North Shore of Lake Superior

Travis at Split Rock Lighthouse, Lake Superior

My older sister Martha and I playing on the Lake Michigan Shore



My mother during my parent's honeymoon on Isle Royale National Park, Lake Superior

I would rather NOT share this amazing beauty;

Fall on Lake Michigan's Door Peninsula

The Bruce Peninsula, Lake Huron

Sunset on Lake Superior, Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore

I would rather NOT post the incredible facts about the Lakes, which I am about to post....

For Example:

did you know....

The Great Lakes from Space.




*...The Great Lakes contain roughly 22% of the world’s fresh surface water: 5,472 cubic miles or 6.0×1015 U.S. gallons?






Lake Michigan and Lake Huron from the Space Shuttle Columbia



*This is enough water to cover the 48 contiguous U.S. states to a uniform depth of 9.5 feet




Sunset over Lake Huron



*...The Great Lakes coast measures approximately 10,500 miles (16,900 km) and Lake Superior alone has over 2,750 miles of coastline?



(California only has 840 miles of coastline! (hehehe))


*...Lake Superior, the largest of the five Great Lakes, is by far the largest body of fresh water in the world by surface area?




Travis at Whitefish Point, Lake Superior


*It covers 31, 820 square miles.

(Lake Baikal in Russia only covers 12, 160 square miles! (Hehehehe ))

*....Lake Superior is 350 miles long?

(To give one an idea, the distance from L.A. to San Francisco is 347 miles!)

(Another example, the sate of Utah is approximately 350 miles long!)

*...Lake Superior is 160 miles wide?

(The distance from New York City to Albany is 148 miles!)



Me and Lake Michigan at Sleeping Bear National Lakeshore


*...Lake Huron is 158 miles wide and
Lake Michigan is 118 miles wide!

(Long Island is 118 miles long from Brooklyn to Mantauk!)

* The combined surface area of the Great lakes is approximately 94,250 square miles?

(That is nearly the same size as the United Kingdom...
and larger than the U.S. states of :
New York
New Jersey
Connecticut
Rhode Island
Massachusetts
Vermont
and New Hampshire
... COMBINED!)


A satellite image of the Great Lakes

I didn't want to share all of this because....

Well, you know when you get something really really good to eat? For example, when Heather Anna Corrigan Herrick bakes you the famed and fabled Cake of Nutty Goodness for your birthday.

Of course you want to eat as much of that amazing cake as you can, but you also wanna share it, of course.

You're a decent person. You'll share it with a couple people. People you care about and trust...

...But then they tell more people and those people tell more people and pretty soon the Cake of Nutty Goodness is all gone and most of those people just came there because some stupid travel magazine printed some article about how the Upper Peninsula of Michigan is one of America's best kept wilderness secrets.... ahhh ahhh I mean....they just came there because someone told them how good the Cake of Nutty Goodness is....

Fall on the Old Mission Peninsula, Lake Michigan

Point is:

...well, I don't want you to go there or move there and mess it up for those of us who already live or go there.



Travis, Me and my Mother on the Norah, Grand Traverse Bay, Lake Michigan

The Lakes have suffered enough from people using and abusing them.

Shipping on Lake Superior

They have been polluted, over fished and fished out, invaded by non-native species that mess up the food chain ...

Zebra Mussels, an invasive crustacean. They are EVERYWHERE!

...and the surrounding land, lakes, and rivers that support the health of the Great Lakes have been severely damaged and misused.

A Great Lakes freighter leaving Lake Superior and entering the Soo Locks near Sault St. Marie.

Winter storm on Lake Superior

But, I suspect after seeing these pictures and reading these facts and figures you might wanna go there and explore these vast amazing bodies of water and discover the beautiful wildernesses and fascinating towns on their shores.

A port at sunrise, Lake Superior

Mists over Lake Huron

Okay. Okay. I'll let you visit. You could even live there if you really wanted to.

But please please please respect them. Love them. Be careful with them and educate yourself about how fragile and important they are!

My brother Andy and I playing on the shore at Old Mission, Lake Michigan

You see I love them so much.... their water is in my blood like holy wine!!!!. (ooops.... sorry Joni, its just such a damn good line that it pours out of me from time to time)

Me talking to the seagulls near the Straits of Mackinac on our annual drive from home in Minnesota to the cottage at Old Mission

AND perhaps most importantly, take a minute, click on the link below, have a read and then you'll realize that even the Lakes have become connected to this election.

A lighthouse near Isle Royale, Lake Superior

So if you wanna save the Lakes, you know who you have to vote for....

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20081017/ap_on_el_pr/candidates_great_lakes;_ylt=Aql7W6.oj0_eENMwMdWOfOFsnwcF


THANK YOU so much for reading and caring!!!!

I hope you all have a place as loved and special to you as the Great Lakes are to me!

God bless!!!