Perfect Day on Lake Erie

Yesterday was hot in Northeast Ohio so we decided to head for the Big Lake. We arrived at Mentor Headlands around 4:30 PM and there were hundreds--probably thousands-- of people there already. The huge sandy beech, about a mile long and a 100 yards wide, could easily accommodate everyone. The Lake was calm, the only ruffles created by the many jet skis and boats out on the water. The sky was blue and cloudless. The air temperature near the lake was about 85 degrees and the sand was scalding hot. We set up right near the wild east end of the beach, next to the sand dunes.

I had to get into that water right away. The water at first felt chilly, though it was said to be 75 degrees. But soon I was in and swimming around, as was Linda. In the next few hours we were in and out of the water several times. There were lots of families around; there was a large group of teenagers, maybe a high school graduation class. As far as you could see there were people, both on the beach and in the water. More than I've seen in years. Around 6:30 we had a little supper--sandwiches, grapes, a peach, and a pop. Around 7:30 we made our last foray into the water. I put my eyes right at water level and looked in all directions. I thought, this is one of the most perfect moments of my life (The German line from Goethe's Faust entered my mind: "Verweile doch, du bist so schoen!" Please stay! Thou art so beautiful!").

After leaving the water and sitting back in our chairs, Linda noticed that Colin, our 2-year-old grandson., was coming with his parents, Julia and Ed. When he saw us, he began to run. He actually ran right past Linda, whom he calls "Nana," and to me, whom he calls "Brrr." For some reason, I have become his favorite lately. Colin started collecting lucky stones, the rounded milky quartz peculiar to the Chagrin and Grand River watersheds. He knew to give them to me; he knows I like lucky stones.

Soon the sun was beginning to set, this orange-red ball sinking into Lake Erie.The time of the sunset was strikingly early, about 8:13--summer is about over. Though we didn't see the "green flash," we did see one of the most beautiful Lake Erie sunsets ever. The picture below was taken 4 years ago at the same spot. And that's what sunset looked like last night--the perfect day on Lake Erie.

The Green Flash at Sunset

Most people have never seen the Green Flash at sunset, but Linda and I have seen it once--a couple years ago on a late summer or early fall day. We had eaten supper at the Firehouse Winery right at lakeside in the town of Geneva-on-the-Lake in Ashtabula County, Ohio. After dinner we climbed down the rickety cast-iron steps to watch the sunset on the small pier jutting out into Lake Erie. The day was cloudless with very low humidity and the sun began setting over the lake in the west. As a joke, we always looked for the "Green Flash" in such situations. I had read about it in one of Chet Raymo's books ("Honey from Stone," I believe). But we had begun to think that this green flash was a myth, and that it was not ever to be seen. And then, for a second or so, we saw it, clear as could be. We felt incredibly lucky, incredibly blessed. It was like the Rainbow Sign in the Old Testament, a sign of hope.

I thought of this because of a little article in yesterday's Plain Dealer (February 2, 2009) in the column by Bill Sones and Rich Sones called "Strange but True." The article quoted lines by Jules Verne regarding the green flash: 'If there is a green in Paradise, it cannot be but of this shade, which most surely is the true green of Hope." The article also mentions web pages of San Diego State University astronomer Andrew T. Young called "An Introduction to Green Flashes" where the physics of this phenomenon is explained (http://mintaka.sdsu.edu/GF/).

The Green Flash is a phenomenon that delights both astrophysicists and poets. It's a sign of Hope.