How winter hates to let go (April 9, along the south shore of Lake Superior). The reddish brown ridges here and there are ice erosion--red clay from the banks along the shoreline has frozen into the snow and ice, then washed out to sea when the wind blew the ice floes around. Every spring our bank has receded just a little more.

Today is Earth Day, and like everybody else I'm thinking about ways to love the earth. Last year I started planting more root-heavy plants on our bank, hoping to help ease the erosion process. I planted rudbeckia, pampas grass, filipendula and sedum, all plants I have in abundance in my garden in southeastern Minnesota. Will they survive in the alpine-type environment along the Lake? I am waiting for the ice to go out and the weather to warm up so that I can see if any green shoots emerge. If not, I'll be trying some new plants. Most of this planting is done near the top of the bank, because ice rules at the bottom. In its own way, ice loves the earth, too. It sculpts like Michelangelo. Paints like Picasso. It draws me into its ecological web and does not let me go.