18 Feb The Upside of a Cold Snap
I have to admit. I was getting rather crabby with the day after day of freezing cold weather. Bundling up every morning and starting a car that moaned and groaned, covering faces with a triple wrapped scarf, and dreading filling the car with gas because it meant that your outside time in wind chill may be 5 minutes or more. Cold so bad that it hurt……HURT…..my bones for a good hour after exposure. The jokes about moving to warmer climates weren’t even funny anymore and our Midwestern stamina was being slowly defeated.
And then the ice (ahem) sea caves started getting a little attention. Unique. Spectacular. A gift
from Mother Nature are headlines. The trek to the caves became a pilgrimage for photographers, families, and thousands of people each day drawing crowds to our beloved Bayfield, an area accustomed to summer crowds, but traditionally hunkered down in the winter months.
So just like that….an upside. This kind of exposure is not just a tourist boom in an area like Northern Wisconsin. It’s a reminder to all that our space is unique and special, and should continue to enjoy a measure of protection from opportunists who don’t understand the impact of polluting that space with short term ideas that yield long term destruction.
I spend every summer marveling and sharing the majesty of the caves with retreaters but an ice snap like this one provides a whole unique way to appreciate their beauty. Even though this is a rare site, my hope is this national attention will bring a stronger focus to protecting this sacred space. Take a moment to Like the page Friends of the Apostle Island Lakeshore and help us preserve the ice cave phenomenon.
Photo credit: Lucinda Kemmet