The Detroit River

I promised something big, and here it is. It's the Detroit River. It's one of the largest rivers in the world. As I hinted in the comments section in the last few days, Michigan is known for it's large amount of water. We are surrounded by our Great lakes, and the Detroit River is also a prominent watery feature.

I took these pictures from a viewing area in the city of Wyandotte. I used to come here to eat lunch when I had my first job. This area hasn't changed much over the years. I'm glad because it's a beautiful place to see the river.

This first photo was taken from the entrance of the pier that you see in the second one. Despite all of the snow you see everywhere, it was actually a very warm day. In the winter the wind off the water can chill you to the bone, but it was only a nice breeze today. Thissnow was melting fast.

From here you can see a little bit of how big this viewing area is. I took this shot from about the middle. There's plenty of room for a lot of people. Nobody was ready for the warm day, so I had this place mostly to myself.

This slushy snow is probably melted all the way by now. In some places the slushy water came up to the top of my boots. I was glad none of it seeped in to get my feet wet. In most places it wasn't deep at all. It really was melting fast.

I like this place in the summer, but the snow gave it a kind of charm for some reason. Maybe it was because it was so empty today. I really like being alone enough to have room to breath. I shy away from crowds, so this was almost perfect for me.

Look off to the left and you can see a factory in the background. I don't know what the place does, but it actually looks nice from a distance. You can see a nice clear blue sky above, and the far shore off to the right.

I like this picture. It doesn't show very much, but what it does show is great. From here I'm looking southward into Canada on the far shore. The Detroit river is the only place in our country where Canada is to our south. They teach that to every child in school here, so that we can tell everyone else. I just did my part!

The far shore of Canada is a great distance from here. This is obviously a very big river. That white you see at the front of the shore is a sheet of ice that stretches halfway across the river. As the day went on the sheet of ice actually grew closer and closer. I guess the dropping temperature made the water freeze kind of quickly.

They actually have to send special boats through here to cut through the ice so that passing ships can get through to do their business. In the front of the photo there is a lonely little mini iceberg floating by. I waited about five minutes to get this shot. there is usually much more ice out here, but the warm day reduced it greatly.

This last photo should give you a good idea of what this place looks like. I got this as I was leaving. You can see that the ice is much closer now. This place is beautiful whether it's summer or winter. Even the bare trees add character to this scene.

You can see the moon up high right between the two trees. The sky is still bright blue, but the sun is beginning to go down back and to my right. Something I didn't want to forget to mention is the lanterns that you can see periodically. They add a nice touch of beauty to the place. I was charmed when I first saw them.

There it is. That is my promised big thing. I hope it was all that you hoped it would be. It's not every day that you see a river of this size. I grew up around this river, and I feel strange if it isn't near. I feel like I might dry up or something. It feels like I'm in a desert even if I'm only twenty miles away from it.

The Detroit River and the Great Lakes make me feel safe, even though I'm a terrible swimmer. I don't get to see the lakes that much, but the river is part of me. I guess it will always be that way. I'm glad I came here on this day, I forgot how much I missed it.


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