Lake Michigan at Bath Water Temperature

You know it's hot when the big lake hits 76 degrees Fahrenheit. MSU has many temperature-contour maps showing lake temperature. NOAA and the Great Lakes Environmental Research Lab has a contour map in color.

The amazing thing to me is Lake Superior. Look at all those water temperatures in the 60's!

When I was a kid, we took summer tent-camping trips all over Michigan, both upper and lower peninsulas. My parents usually took their vacations in August, the month they were married, and we would head north with a Chevy Suburban loaded up with a tent, sleeping bags, coolers, camping stove, and all of us on the sticky vinyl seats in the back.

(That Chevy Suburban might be the reason that almost every car I've had since I was married has been a Honda.)

I don't ever remember Lake Superior, or even northern Lake Michigan or Huron, being warm. One of the pleasures of camping "up north" in August was waking up with frost on the tent, especially when you knew that back home it was hot. Say 80 degrees.

It was hotter than 80 degrees yesterday, and by the end of the day my active 7-year-old son was pretty cranky from being indoors. So at 9 pm, past his bedtime, we jumped in the van (a Honda Odyssey, not a Chevy Suburban!) and I drove to the beach. We saw the enormous red sun setting in the lake, slowed down for a white-tailed deer, and took one of the two parking spots left at a tiny public-access beach.

Even at 9pm, the water was full of people. I told my son we would stay until we saw the first star, and he splashed into the shallow water's edge. I took off my shoes and waded in myself. There was the usual steady breeze off the lake, and I finally felt cool. Ahhh.

It is supposed to cool off to a high of 80 degrees later this week. Last night's low temperature was 80 degrees!

I didn't do anything in the way of knitting yesterday. I finished binding off one sock, and the second is sitting there waiting. Sunday I did get pattern 4 of the Sampler M KnitAlong finished, and then I knitted pattern 5. It felt nice to have something done.

Today's knitting goal is to finish binding off my second purple sock. (Today's non-knitting goal is to stay cool and try not to go bughouse from staying indoors.)

PS: Just had a look at Tatt3r's sites -- take a look at the pretty lace and another baby hat!

PPS: Sorry -- "bughouse" is a slang term meaning to go crazy. We might also say "stir crazy" or talk about having "cabin fever" from being stuck indoors, either in the heat or in a snowstorm.