Today was one of those days. After church I bicycled up the shore of Lake Superior. Given the forecast said 0% chance of rain, I did not check weather radar before heading out. Wrong move. Lake Superior generates its own weather, and the huge temperature difference between the cold waters of Gitche Gumee and humid air working its way northward from the Gulf of Mexico and Uff Dah.
The forecast may have been for zero rain, but liquid sunshine appeared in the form of an intense thunderstorm with small hail. I waited out the hail under a tree, but not the rain. The cold H20 felt good during my ride. Given the topography of the land, a thunderstorm can come up over the hill without much visual warning. Ancient Lake Superior had a shore which is about 1,200 feet above the current shoreline. When I want hill work for a bike ride I just turn left out of my driveway and am climbing for over four miles. Anyhow, the big lake is largest freshwater lake in the world by surface area.
From Wikipedia: “There is enough water in Lake Superior to cover the entire land mass of North and South America to a depth of 30 centimetres (12 in). The shoreline of the lake stretches 2,726 miles.”
It is interesting to note that the straight line distance from New York City to Los Angeles is about less mileage: 2,452 miles. My point is I don’t think most people realize just how big is my lake!
Oh yes … Hoot was out hunting this morning. My Great Horned Owls tend to snooze right at sunrise (5:20 am), but them come awake for a quick hunt starting around 7:30 am. By this point the bugs have started to appear deep in the forest … birds gather to eat the bugs … my owns gather to eat the birds. Grackles and Robins seem to be the target of opportunity for the juvenile owls.
