One of my favorite things is taking someone to the Great Lakes for the first time - or describing how you can fly over them and see only hundreds of miles of glittering blue water and no coasts at all; how they have their own Coast Guard (the only lakes to do so); that the Earth’s rotation steers their currents; that they’re studied using ocean models; that they have wrecked more than 6000 ships - and watch them realize that the word “lake” is misleading and that they had no idea of the size and majesty of them at all.
Some fun facts about her majesty, Lake Superior:
It has a surface area of 31,700 sq. miles, roughly the size of South Carolina or Austria.
It’s incredibly deep and has enough water to cover all of North and South America to a depth of 12 inches.
Waves over 30 feet have been recorded.
Its deepest point is 1,333 feet, which is the third lowest point in North America
Its average temperature is around 36 degrees Fahrenheit (2 Celsius), which inhibits bacterial growth in bodies, diminishing bloating and gas, and frequently shipwreck and drowning victims to sink to the bottom and never be recovered.
Wheat Field with a Reaper | Summer Evening | Haystacks in Provence, Arles | Olive Trees with Yellow Sky and Sun | The Yellow House | Sunflowers | The Sower | Starry Night
