Dog Days of a Michigan Summer
Swimming in Lake Michigan isn't for sissies
Long in “How the Dog Got Its Days: A Skeptical Inquiry into Traditional Star and Weather Lore,” the “dog days” is considered a time when "all liquids are poisonous, when bathing, swimming, or even drinking water can be dangerous, and a time when no sore or wound will heal properly." — Old Farmer’s Almanac, 2018
This week Lake Michigan was 61° with 3’ waves crashing in. It is not my favorite place to swim.
The lake bottom is comprised of sand and silt and the water is a murky shade of brown near the shoreline. There is little visibility and I can’t see my toes when I dip into the water and start wading out to the sandbar. No matter. The water temperatures are unmerciful cold so no standing still in chest deep water staring out at the horizon to day dream.
I was okay with moving to this small community steps from Lake Michigan because there is or shall I say was a health club with a lap pool 3.5 miles from home. The club chose to eliminate and replace it with astro turf and fitness equipment six months after we signed the papers and moved into our new home.
The nearest swimming pool is (now) 11.6 country miles away, inside a high school that has limited lap swimming hours. This week it closed because somebody pooped in the pool. It might have been a kid, like everybody assumes, but likely it was the creep who parades around with his junk hanging out from the sides of his bright red Speedo thong. At any rate, once again I can’t go swimming.
Lake Michigan is a beautiful lake to observe and delight in… but like expressing admiration for mountains from a distance, it isn’t as energizing for me as warm ocean salt water.
"If you keep your head still, you can dilate your gaze so you can see far into the periphery—above, below and to the sides of you. That mode of vision releases a mechanism in the brain stem involved in vigilance and arousal. We can actually turn off the stress response by changing the way that we are viewing our environment, regardless of what’s in that environment."
Dr Andrew Huberman — Stanford University
Aqua is such a part of me that I negotiate rent, work, and sometimes relationships around my love of water. Long ago I had to find alternatives. Oceans aren’t always affordable or easy to live near, so I learned to hold my breath and sink to the bottom of the pool, competitively swim, and practice water ballet in lap pools. It came second to being at one with the seas, but I learned to love and appreciate the beauty of movement in water, no matter the medium. Except I can’t seem to get used to Lake Michigan. Yet.
Lake Michigan has a personality of its own.
It is a 307-mile long lake that is susceptible to rip and longshore currents. It has a ‘Bermuda Triangle’ of its own, located near Traverse City. Lake Michigan is the watery grave for over 300 shipwrecks. In 1998 and 2003 Jim Dreyer swam the length of the lake (proving me wrong, that Lake Michigan is in fact swimmable). Petoskey stones, which are pre-historic coral unique to Michigan, wash up along the shores and are fun to collect. Also nicknamed Lac Dauphin (Lake of the Stinking Water) it houses the largest fresh water sand dunes in the world.
My husband grew up near Lake Michigan and his love for fresh water sailing and water skiing are as innate in him as swimming in salt water is for me. He’s taken me out sailing where I experienced the magic of skimming across the glacial lake for myself, though I’m still hesitant about jumping into the deep blue water, no matter how refreshing it appears. I loved watching him work as he was at one with the wind and water. He shared a different way of seeing and experiencing The Great Lakes.
It’s Sunday mid-August, and today I checked the lake temperature. It reads 69.4° and winds are from the Northeast, 10mph.
I called the Aquatic Center and they reported the pool temperature of 74°had reopened sans the poop, with extended hours for lap swimming.
Dog days of summer be damned.
I’m going swimming.
I have never swam in the ocean but I believe I would enjoy it much more than Lake Michigan. Lake Michigan swimming is for kids. For some reason, kids don't seem to care about the frigid lake temps. I was one of those kids growing up near and as often as possible in Lake Michigan. Now I have a child and it takes everything I have to go in farther than my toes. Lake Michigan beaches are beautiful but I would choose lap swim in a pool over a dip in the lake any day.
"I’m going swimming" - Hurrah! I hope you had a great time. 😀