H.O.M.E.S. Swimming Tour: 2026
In the summer of 2021, I swam in all five of the Great Lakes. I was re-examining the world after 16 months of lockdown and the end of a 17-year relationship. It was a heady, cathartic time. The same weekend I moved to Ypislanti, I took a road trip to Harbor County to hear harpist Mary Lattimore play an outdoor concert — it was my first live show since the pandemic started. At Weko Beach in Bridgeman, I swam out into Lake Michigan and tried to wash away the toughest parts of the previous year and a half. I felt compelled to list all the things I was grateful for, and recited them out loud to the waves. Over the next couple months, I repeated this ritual in Superior, Huron, and Erie, then wrapped up my baptismal tour just west of Rochester, New York, with an October swim in Lake Ontario.
Five years later, the catharsis feels more urgent and outwardly-directed. I wasn’t really planning on doing another swimming tour, but during a camping trip to Ossineke State Forest, I found myself delivering a fresh roll call of thank yous to Lake Huron. In this cynical climate, despite all the drama and political tumult, I still have so much to be grateful for. Between June and August, I bounced around the state, camping, paddling, and swimming in the remaining Michigan-adjacent lakes. On Friday, I took a day trip to Canada to complete my quest in the lake that will always be called Ontario.
Weeknotes: July 13–17, 2026
Monday, July 13
Another heat wave arrives, as if reporting for its week-long residency. I write the forecast in my notebook, just to see the temperatures all neatly lined up in my own handwriting. Around two o'clock, I relent, button up the house, and turn on the air-conditioning. In icy privilege, I sit on my bed and work, back propped against a pillow.
Later, at the brewpub, I get to know a couple I met earlier in the summer who are relatively new to Michigan. Both are fascinating — erudite and well-traveled, with a bundle of interests that bisect my own. They tell me about living in Antarctica and cycling across the U.S. We discuss running, writing, and Howard Frank Mosher. I note with satisfaction both are notebook carriers, and as we trade book recommendations, my Japanese brass pen gets passed back and forth across the table.