Today was a glorious day to spend outdoors in Michigan's Upper Peninsula, with temperatures approaching 70 degrees in many spots. So far this year, that is the warmest it has gotten and I am sure we will be seeing many more warmer days ahead. I didn't want to miss out on this opportunity of enjoying the nice weather, so I ventured out and took a short drive near Lake Superior and enjoyed a nice walk around the immediate area that includes part of the local university's campus (mainly the sports complex). I wasn't surprised how many people were out enjoying the beautiful weather like me. I saw many people walking, running, biking, roller blading, and even saw one girl on her skate board AND talking on the phone at the same time. Now that's something I never saw before. There were also a lot of people raking their lawns, sweeping their sidewalks, and collecting brush to put on the curbside for the city to pick up next week. People were really making the most of this beautiful weather and I can't say I blame them. After the kind of winter we've had, especially one where it didn't seem it would end, today made it all worth it.
But a bit of news I stumbled across on various local media sites left me a bit saddened. It just goes to show you that up here, our pristine environment can become polluted. No, we're not immune to these issues that occur in more populated areas. A tug boat pulling a barge close to shore touched bottom which caused it to start leaking oil into Lake Superior. It's unknown how much of the oil spilled into the lake but the U.S. Coast Guard does have the area surrounded so that the spill doesn't move further out into the lake. From the sounds of it, they may have the oil cleaned up by the evening, which sounds very promising. So I guess it's not as bad as it could've been. For one thing, because of a light wind, the containment area was smaller than if it were a windy day. And after all, it was only a tug boat. Just think if it were one of those ore frieghters that frequent our shores or a barge carrying oil? Now that truly would be a mess. It's safe to say that the wildlife in the area should not suffer from this since environment officials were quick to respond and those on board of the tug reported it rather quickly. But I am sure there'll be some ramifications because of this spill.
On my way back from my walk, I drove nearest to the oil spill on the lakeshore and as I approached, I could smell oil in the air. I also saw the barge and tug boat out into the lake, and upon sawing them both, I grew pretty angry. Then I saw the containment bouys in the lake that were keeping the spill confined and watched as people walked along the bike path and peered out into the lake at the same time, trying to see if they could see anything new. And really, what was there to see? I did notice people looking up to the sky and sheltering their eyes to the sun. As I looked above and trying to focus on my driving, I could see a helicopter, probably one from the Coast Guard, surveying the spill to see if it is contained. Still, it just all seemed rather sad to me that this had to happen. Apparently the tug was steering the barge too close to shore and hit bottom. I am sure it could've been avoided, but there's not much that can be done about it now. But I was pretty surprised to see the crowd near the lower harbor, whether they were enjoying the weather like the majority of people were today or not. I was still pretty impressed to see the crowds walking along the shore and it almost reminded me of the festivities around the Fourth of July. If it was because of this big news event around here or because of the weather, I guess that can be debated for awhile.
So anyways, despite that rather unfortunate news event, today left me in high spirits. It's amazing when the weather turns nicer and really lifts the spirits of everyone. Not only did it feel and sound like spring, but it also smelled like spring, too. You can smell things coming alive, particuarly the grass growing and beginning to green up. It's a wonderful time of the year, in fact, one of my favorites. When you're able to be outside without having to bundle up and brave temperatures below 32 degrees, it doesn't get much better than that. We're upon my favorite time of the year and I'm excited for it.
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