Near Muskegon Lake a long, low horn sounds from the distance like a train whistle in the night or the fog, but lower. It sounds throughout the city for miles, quite different from the high, lonely note of the light house. More like a tremendous cord from a giant's pipe organ.
The 1000 foot long freighter sits in harbor or unloads its cargo for a day or two and departs.
We made a pilgrimage to the channel between Muskegon Lake and Lake Michigan with the boys a few days ago and watched with a crowd of other people as the large ship passed through the channel. Like a short lived tail gate party. The ship moved glacially, blasting its horn for the jammied, waving children in the evening light. A tiny looking person waved from the tower. A tiny looking person waved from an open door in the side. Children all along the channel of the warm spring evening yelled to get notice from the ships crew "Goodbye!!!!"
Anglers,with buckets and several rods each, waited patiently for the ship to pass before they re-cast into the the channel. They'd be there all evening, then early in the morning, through the summer and through the winter.
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For all the notions of Michigan and manufacturing as an insperable pairing, the Michigan I know also has deeply nautical roots.
My father ran away to join the merchant marines...my grandfather set out to sail around the world in a ship he built himself on the haul of an old World War II life boat, but got caught in a November storm that dashed his boat along the rocks near the Michigan thumb.
A friend of mine grew up in a Coast Guard family moving from harbor town to harbor town, finally settling in West Michigan where his father served
The lakes create 523,000 jobs in Michigan and 1,510,000 jobs throughout the Great Lakes region.
Great Lakes jobs by industry
Manufacturing --> 994,879
Tourism and Recreation --> 217,635
Shipping --> 118,550
Agriculture / Fishing / Food production--> 118,430
Science and Engineering --> 38,085
Utilities --> 10,980
Mining --> 10,003
The spring is here...and the lakes are coming alive again with activity. The fishermen along the channels and shorelines are growing in number. Shipping activity and lake grows and carves the water with green corrugated wake. Visitors make their way to the Big Lake during incoming spring thunderstorms to watch the fury and the massive waves roll in. Ice cream stands along routes toward the Lake have awakened, selling their soft serve ice cream, pulled pork sandwiches and onion rings again.
An easier season is rolling in. Farmer's markets will again be stocked with bushels of affordable produce. Heating costs will plummet and windows will open.
We're bringing the kids down to the lakeside again. We're sitting on our front porch hearing and watching the thunderstorms roll in. It's spring