Water

I have loved water all of my life. Maybe it was because I was born in Houghton, MI. Located on the Portage Canal, Houghton is called the gateway to the Keewenaw Peninsula; a peninsula that juts out on Lake Superior

When I was young, my mother always told stories about how much I loved the water in Lake Superior. How I wanted to wear my bathing suit all year long–she let me wear it under my snow suit. How I would relentlessly call out “to the beach! the beach!” How I didn’t care how cold it was in Lake Superior; I still wanted to go swimming.

We moved away from Houghton when I was four, so l only have very vague and fuzzy memories of that time. But I do know that I have a special connection to water, especially Lake Superior.

After moving out of the UP, I continued to love water. But we lived really far away, down south in North Carolina and Virginia. So instead of swimming in Mother Superior, I swam in pools.

Now I live in Minnesota, the land of 10,000 lakes and I am surrounded by water. All I have to do is walk for 10 minutes and I can reach Minnehaha Creek, Lake Nokomis or the Mississippi River. It’s a wonderful place to be.

But, even as I love the water near my house in South Minneapolis, it is not quite the same. So at least a couple times a year, I make a pilgrimage to Lake Superior. Sometimes in the UP, on the Michigan side, and sometimes on the North Shore in Northern Minnesota. I reconnect with the water and remember how much it shapes who I am.