LAKE EFFECT

Last night I went to a pot-luck, family reunion with friends, honoring great grandparents who spend their winters now in Florida. They’d come back to Coopersville for Christmas. Great grandpa and I were the only old men there and we sat on the fringe while young moms passed their babies around and their men huddled around chips & dip, arguing football and politics. I’ve known GG Pa for a long time but haven’t seen him in a while. We’ve had good conversations but last night, all he wanted to talk about was how wonderful, warm Florida was and how awful, cold Michigan is. He was obligated to several generations of descendants, had to be there and couldn’t get his head around the idea that I was there by choice. It happens every year, somewhere; somebody condescends on snow and cold, in favor of January golf and sun tan lotion, somewhere else. I don’t try to defend winter any more. I spend a lot of time in the South and they shiver in the summer heat, just at the thought of winter up North. They think I’m nuts but southerners tend to think that of everyone who lives north of Atlanta anyway. I don’t love being cold or snow down my neck but I dress appropriately and it’s not an issue. I just listen and nod, shake my head now and then and look for a chance to change the subject. 

It had snowed all day and the temp never got out of the teens. I spent the day in Grand Haven, taking care of auto license and bank business. The wind was whipping in off the lake with more snow in the air than on the ground, close to a white-out. I holed up in my favorite coffee shop, waiting for the wind to lie down. Got back to the house just in time to strike out for the pot-luck. It was still snowing when we got back to the house but no wind. The forecast called for 4 to 6 inches of lake effect so I swept off the deck railing and figured to check in the morning to see how much actually fell. 

I love lake effect snow. When dry, frigid, arctic air plunges down out of Canada, Wisconsin freezes. When the same air heads east, across Lake Michigan, it gathers up moisture and warms up just a little. Then, over Michigan’s land mass it cools off again, condensation and “Voila” Lake Effect snow. It comes down soft and slow, like teenagers sneaking in after curfew. I remember back in ’97, we woke up to a foot of lake effect. Snow was  walled up 6 or 8 inches, maybe half an inch thick on the power lines; looked like a curtain except it was on top of the wire. Once the sun hit it, it collapsed in seconds. This morning would be overcast but the sun was in no hurry to rise. I stepped out on the deck and there was a riff laid up on the rail, 4 to 6 inches, just like the forecast called for. Winter’s not so bad after all. It’s December and I’m ready for a change. Autumn was great with all the color and balmy afternoons. I’ll be ready for spring before it comes but for now, snow crunching under my feet and lake effect snow sounds just right.