Genius Loci
The Apostle Island National Lake Shore is most meaningful place I have ever visited and still visit often. There is too much of it to ever see it all, I could and have spent a whole day in a single acre and felt I hadn’t seen all of it yet. But the most meaning full place to me is Bear Island. The island at first glace looks like a pile of trees on the lake, but as soon as you step foot on the island it becomes much more than an island of trees. When first entering the island civilization seems as far away as the moon, it’s just you and the animals on the island. When on the beach the trees seem to form an impenetrable wall, the outside of the island is covered with quick changes between sandy beaches, and tall sand rock cliffs. The water seems as if it is part of the island, as it both is always entering and leaving the island. Once inside the island it becomes very hard to navigate and you have to just let yourself go wherever it lets you go. In the winter the island is totally changed by the ice and snow. When ice conditions permit the island can be visited in the winter and is one of the most amazing ice formations you’ll ever see. It becomes a fragile environment that if messed with deteriorates quickly, the icicles look inviting to touch but as soon as are, they become deformed or broken unlike the summer cliffs that seem indestructible. The island is no more interesting than the rest, it’s just more meaningful to me because it’s where I spend most of my time when in the islands.