Ice

As you can see from the view from our cabin's front window above, ice has choked the shoreline in front of our cabin and for miles and miles to the west and east for the last few days. We'd never anticipated seeing ice on Lake Superior as late as the Memorial Day weekend, but now they're saying it will linger into June and in some places even into July.

Winds and currents have caused the lingering floes to collect in several places along the southern shore of the lake, according to the two-day-old map below. They're pretty, but they're affecting boaters and fishermen whose craft aren't sturdy enough to shoulder their way between bergs. We hear that in Bayfield, Wisconsin, off the Apostle Islands, the harbor is so choked with ice that the ferry to Madeline Island is having a hard time, and both commercial fishing craft and pleasure boats are remaining ashore. As a consequence, Bayfield is all but deserted on what should be the opening weekend of the tourist season.

I've thought that maybe in a future novel Steve Martinez could chase a bad guy through ice floes in the sheriff's Boston Whaler on Memorial Day. But would anybody believe that?