Head Up, Shoulders Back It’s circa 2000s, I am circa 40s, and I’m learning how to walk again. My physical therapist has a keen eye for a hanging head, slouching shoulders, weak abs, a protruding […]
Category: Essays
Elizabeth G Fagan is an artist who resides on Lake Michigan’s shoreline in southeastern Wisconsin—a place she calls Lake Michigan’s Left Coast. She was a professional writer for much of a professional career that spanned more than 25 years.
Outdoor Edibles
June Little stirs our Wisconsin hearts the way first glimpses of green do each spring. Soon our minds wander to yards, to gardens—and to sojourns in Wisconsin’s wild places. To those who are lucky, careful, […]
Horseshoe Crabs on Memorial Day
Horseshoe Crabs on Memorial Day As a child summer-vacationing at an Atlantic beach, I discovered horseshoe crabs. They washed up on Maryland’s barrier spit and created spectacles for screeching toddlers. Their bodies were sleek, green, […]
Good News for Swearing, Messy, Night Owls
Good News for Swearing, Messy, Night Owls Were you annoyed as a kid when your parents told you to clean your room, sent you to bed early, and scolded you for cursing? There might be […]
Earth Day
April “It was a gamble, but it worked,” recalled Gaylord Nelson, the founder of Earth Day. The late Wisconsin governor and United States senator (D) successfully infused the activism of the late 1960s with such […]
Meteorites & Earth’s Age
Meteorites, Plate Tectonics, & Earth’s Age Meteorites are fascinating relics of a universe in transition. They are also the most important clues for determining Earth’s exact age. One can find meteorites on Great Lakes beaches. […]
Invaders from Other Ecosystems
March More than two centuries ago, cargo ships released freshwater ballast from the Ural region of Russia into the rivers and lakes of western Europe. That ballast contained tiny striped hitchhikers. In the 1820s, Londoners […]
February @ Lake Michigan’s Left Coast
February @ Lake Michigan’s Left Coast The Great Lakes of North America contain 20 percent of the world’s fresh water. Seventy percent is locked in the ice of Antarctica. All other lakes and ponds and […]
Maple Taps, Sugar Shacks
February By the time Europeans arrived in what is now New England, indigenous Americans had already discovered the lovely nectar with which we drown our breakfast pancakes. When carefully boiled, they found, maple sap turns […]
Baking Bread in General
Grandma Grace’s Coffee Cake Paul Hollywood from The Great British Baking Show told me that German cakes are unique because they are made with yeast. Everyone else, throw in the eggs, soda, powder, salt, and […]
Never Say Never
The Talking Heads were cool in the very beginning. I just heard The Big Country, a song from the second album.* I flash back to The Mudd Club in lower Manhattan. A rush of speakers […]
Extinction is Forever
Extinction is Forever The bedrock of the western coast of Lake Michigan (aka Lake Michigan’s Left Coast) is Paleozoic limestone and dolomite. It dates from the Devonian Period (420–350 million years ago). Abundant in rocks […]
The Teens Arrived on Tuesday
The Teens Arrived on Tuesday The teens arrived on Tuesday Then a deep dive To single digits German Shepherd In heart-gouging crouch Frozen pads, three nights in a row No beach walk for Rosie We […]
Lake Michigan’s Rise & Fall
January Each of the Great Lakes has an annual rise and fall cycle driven by precipitation, snow melt, and evaporation. Evaporation rates vary with air and water temperatures. Annually, water levels follow a predictable pattern. […]
The White Stuff
December Basking in the near-warmth of an early December, Ozaukee County, WI, residents wonder, “Where’s the snow?” In the Great Lakes region we know all we need to do is wait. In winter, there’s always […]
Time & Deep Time
The Geologic Timeline Put aside the drumbeat of your life. Clear your mind. Gather an image in your head of planet Earth spinning in tandem with Mercury, Venus, Mars, and the giant planets around the […]
Prepare for Winter
November A lovely, warm autumn can mean armies of garden pests the following spring. To discourage them, cut back perennials and prune trees of dead wood. Leave shrubs uncut but watch for mice and voles […]
Ghosts in the Stones
Ghosts in the Stones Lake Michigan reached record low-water levels in January, 2013, creating bountiful beaches on Wisconsin’s shoreline. By Winter, 2014, however, the Lake started rising. By April, 2020, it had risen more than […]
Heroes of the Back Yard
October Imagine neighbors who are nearly silent and invisible, who are dedicated to family, and who fly nightly over your yard to eat hundreds of villainous mosquitoes. Great neighbors like these can only be bats. […]
Amazingly Graceful Cranes
September A lone motorist travels an Ozaukee County highway flanked by late-summer fields of golden oats and grasses. There, mid-field on the right, a beaked triangle swivels, seemingly unattached to neck or bird. In the […]
Love Was All Around
Elizabeth G Fagan wrote this essay in memory of her husband. See more essays September 14 Today is your birthday. Years ago, we celebrated at our Chicago 3-flat. It was a beautiful day. It was […]
Precambrian Greenstone
Precambrian Greenstone The Canadian Shield constitutes the largest mass of exposed Precambrian rock on the face of the Earth. Extending into Minnesota and Wisconsin, the Canadian Shield is a collage of rock categories. One type […]
Milkweeds & Monarchs
Elizabeth G Fagan volunteered to write the monthly column “Green Talk” for the News Graphic in Ozaukee County, Wisconsin. This essay is from the column’s archives. See more “Green Talk” >>> September Landscaping with Wisconsin […]
Paramount Blues
Elizabeth G Fagan’s experience as a professional writer spans more than 30 years. See more essays Paramount Blues The founders of Paramount Records knew nothing about the music business. Launched in 1917, the label was […]
Death on Lake Michigan’s Left Coast
Death on Lake Michigan’s Left Coast Among the Great Lakes, Lake Michigan is unique for its north-south configuration. In summer, southwesterly winds create invisible currents running parallel to sandy beaches that line the western shore. […]
Get Outside, Feel Better
August New research points to specific factors supporting the claim that being in nature is good for us, a claim that most of us already know, or at least, know intuitively. Being outdoors generally means […]
Lake Michigan's Left Coast 