National Parks and Lakeshore areas on Lake Superior and Lake Michigan

This is a wonderful time of year to visit national parks on the Great Lakes.  Pictured are Lake Superior and Lake Michigan. Each place is unique.  On Isle Royale there are wolves, moose and hiking trails that go through thimbleberry bushes.  At the Pictured Rocks there are boats that can take you past the beautiful rock formations.

Sleeping Bear Dunes on Lake Michigan is a wonder with its high dune and trails.  And the Indiana dunes are not quite as high, but both of these areas have been built by waves and the prevailing west winds.

Marram Grass Builds Sand Dunes

Marram grass holds sand in place on the shores of the Great Lakes when westerly winds blow.  The roots of marram grass are a fine network that help build sand dunes.  I wrote this poem:
 
                                     














 Marram Grass

Roots of marram grass weave fine

webs under the sands as

a network expands

thousands of feet.

Stalks bow down to west winds

and multiply season after season

until the tasseled dune

waves with green grace.

Each year the dunes grow higher

in tasseled grasses

in marram grasses’

loving embrace.

 

         __Barbara Spring

         Sophia's Lost and Found: Poems of Above and Below
 
This book is available here:
http://www.amazon.com/Sophias-Lost-Found-Poems-Above/dp/1424125448