The Great Lakes Ranked by Greatness

My father spent his career studying the sediments of the Great Lakes (his Great Lakes Sediment Archive Database lives on as open data). 

Needless to say, much of my early life took place against the background of those lakes, and they loomed larger than they would for a typical kid. 

As such, learning that the singer-songwriter Donavan Woods releases a yearly ranking of the Great Lakes was of particular interest to me.

His 2024 ranking:

1. Huron
2. Superior
3. Michigan
4. Ontario
5. Erie

My own ranking would differ significantly:

1. Ontario
2. Superior
3. Erie
4. Huron
5. Michigan

Ontario for obvious reasons: I was born on one side of it, and grew up on the other. My father and my grandmother were both born on the shores of Superior. Erie is an underdog, and deserves more respect than it gets. I appreciate Woods’ love of Huron, and he has good reasoning behind it, but my own exposure to it was limited to time on Georgian Bay. Michigan might be amazing, but I’ve never been within a hundred miles of it.

In related news, Woods has, over the last year, become one of my favourite artists. He’s just released a 10th anniversary edition of his seminal Portland, Maine, a duet with LeAnn Rimes. I kick myself for missing him play in Rollo Bay last year.