On a frosty December morning in 2006 I left my house at 7:30 a.m. and scooted the three blocks down to Lake St. Clair to catch the sunrise.

This lake--which is large enough that, looking due east, you can't see the other side--lies between two Great Lakes, Lake Huron to the north and Lake Erie to the south. The rivers that connect Lake St. Clair to its larger cousins are the St. Clair River and the Detroit River. It is bordered by Ontario and Michigan, and is an active shipping route. I live on the Michigan side, a couple miles north of the Detroit River.

After the sun had risen, I turned my eyes towards the earth with its frosty leaves and grasses. Even the sands on the beach glistened with frost. Jewels everywhere!