If you’re a Henry Wadsworth Longfellow fan, you’re familiar with Gitchee Gumee. But you might not be so familiar with Michi Gami. OK, Gitchee Gumee is the American Indian name for Lake Huron. And you’re probably ahead of me now, so you realize Michi Gami is Lake Michigan. But here are some fun facts you might not already know:
Lake Michigan is big.
Alright, so you already know that. Because it’s one of the Great Lakes. But did you know Lake Michigan is the largest lake, by area, in one country? Yeah, it’s located completely in the United States, and the states of Wisconsin, Illinois, Indiana, and Michigan make up its border.
The surface area of Lake Michigan is 22,404 square miles. That’s a lotta watta.
I visited the shores of Michi Gami, from one point or another, quite a few times during my road days. During bookings in Chicago, Elkhart Indiana, Green Bay and Milwaukee Wisconsin, and Muskegon Michigan. So, I can tell you, from firsthand experience, it’s a lotta watta.
And there’s actually a reason why I brought up all those Lake Michigan facts. They’re for kids who don’t often get to learn useful things. Like history, geography, science, math, and the beautiful English language. And because public schools teach kids how to feel instead of how to think, many of them end up in the craziest circumstances.
For example, I just read an article that said “multiple people were taken to the hospital on Sunday, June 23 following a boat accident on Lake Michigan in Racine,” Wisconsin. That’s just a bit south of Milwaukee.
Before I go any further, did I mention how big Lake Michigan is?
Ok, let’s continue.
“According to the Racine County Sheriff’s Office, deputies were dispatched to Lake Michigan, just east of the Reef Point Marina, for a report of two boats involved in a significant collision around 9 p.m. Initial information was that there were several individuals in the water with unknown injuries. While en route, deputies were informed that a third boat was on scene aiding the victims.”
Sorry, I gotta butt back in here. I forgot. Did I already share how big Lake Michigan is? 22,404 square miles. Pardon my interruption. Back to the story:
“The initial investigation appears to show that one boat was operating at a higher rate of speed when it collided with the second boat. The first boat was occupied by three people, including juveniles. The second boat was occupied by eleven people, including juveniles. All the occupants of both boats are currently accounted for. Multiple people were taken to the hospital. One juvenile was transported to Froedtert Hospital with life-threatening injuries. ”
Now, I don’t mean to make light of the story, especially since one juvenile had to deal with life-threatening injuries. But c’mon. Two boats managed to collide in a lake that’s larger in square miles than Rhode Island, Delaware, and Connecticut, combined.
As Longfellow, himself might say, that’s whole lotta watta.
And the story is just another example of why no kids should ever be sent to government indoctrination camps. They’ll never learn any of these Lake Michigan facts. Plus, I bet 90% (or more) of them would think you’re speaking a foreign language of some sort if you say:
By the shores of Gitchee Gumee,
By the shining Big-Sea-Water,
Stood the wigwam of Nokomis
Daughter of the Moon, Nokomis.
Dark behind it rose the forest,
Rose the black and gloomy pine trees,
Rose the firs with cones upon them;
Bright before it beat the water,
Beat the clear and sunny water,
Beat the shining Big-Sea-Water.
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Stay tuned,
