May 17th: Lake Eire

May 21st

This past Sunday I traveled to Mentor and hiked in the forest that is adjacent to the yacht club and boarders Lake Erie. It was a fairly warm yet windy day and I was surprised to see so many people out and about. During my hike, I came across quite a few bird watchers who, outfitted with their oversized cameras and binoculars, were observing birds in the wetlands and among the canopy of the trees. As soon as I stepped out of my car I was greeted with a fantastic view of a wetland. Seagulls, cormorants, and Canadian Geese speckled the surface of the wind-swept water.

I decided on a short trail that headed towards the lake. Based on the current flow of people I felt this path would be the least populated and thus would allow me to see much more wildlife. As I took in the vibrant emerald shades of the sun shining through the newly sprouted leaves, my attention occasionally would be drawn by tiny flashes of movement and color provided by the electric yellow female orioles, which I have only recently learned to identify. In my journal I noted how I did not see any cardinals, which are one of the most common birds around my house, and the only red-wing blackbirds I saw were near the marsh by the parking lot. I continued along the trail which arched over the crest of a hill and down towards the lake. I encountered a male Baltimore oriole and I was stunned by how its vibrant orange body contrasted its darker head. We observed each other in the sunlight for a few moments until we decided to part ways and I continued down towards the lake.

"Life is about the journey, not the destination”. This is one of the most common quotes I have seen and I consider it one of my personal favorite because of how it can apply to many different aspects of life. That being said, a quote like this did not come to mind when I arrived at the lake this past Sunday. I always enjoy visiting the Lake because even though I live fairly far away from it, I always feel at home as I gaze out over the water and scan the rocky shoes for anything of interest. The sound of the waves crashing and the feeling of the breeze coming off the lake is enough to relax me and permits a vast amount of time to slip by without my knowledge. This was the scene I pictured in my head as I drove to Mentor, hiked in the woods, and made my final decent towards the lake. My excitement only increased the closer I got but I was in for a rude awakening as I witnessed the less picturesque reality of Lake Erie. The rocky shore was devoid of any resting spot as seemingly every inch of it was trashed with uprooted trees and debris. As I maneuvered around their broken and jagged web of branches, I noticed how in place of the water was a muddy brown substance that showed no sign of life. The storm must have washed eroded soil from the shore into the lake and created opaque brown liquid that stretched several hundred yards into the lake before transitioning to more recognizable water. Seemingly infinite amounts of plastic, litter, and dead fish populated everywhere I looked. I could not help but feel angry as I saw this potentially beautiful coast trashed by recent storms but also people's carelessness. My hostile feelings immediately were directed to the yacht club which existed nearly a hundred yards away.

I cooled down after a while and began my journey back. After a short walk along the polluted section of coastline, my trail arched back up a hill and eventually back towards the wetland where I came from. As I walked away I asked myself what I expected. “It’s Lake Eire, it’s always been polluted because people only care about how it can help them”. This pessimistic mindset is not uncommon when returning from natural areas that are victims of societies unquenchable greed and lack of consideration. I wondered how anything could live here at all and before I could even finish this thought my focus was immediately drawn to a large brown and white figure perched on a small branch ahead of me. I got low to the ground and maneuvered around a tree so I could sneak up on the creature and get a better look. I pretty sure my jaw dropped as I sat and stared at the large Osprey that was not even 20 feet away from me. The encounter may have lasted a few second but it felt like hours before the bird majestically flew deeper into he woods and out of my sight.

As I walked back to my car, my mind was much more at ease. If an osprey could adapt and survive on such a mistreated body of water, maybe the lake, and the people who are mistreating it, can be redeemed as well. This is a thought I want to continue to contemplate whenever I encounter the mistreatment of nature and hopefully it can serve as inspiration and lead me to cause change for the better.