Column: Which Great Lake are you?
By David Poulson
Oct. 14, 2009
I recently took one of those Facebook quizzes for my favorite television series: Which character on House are you?
It turns out that I am most like the good doctor himself. Made sense to me – you know with the keen wit and brilliant mind. My wife agreed, but she thought it had more to do with the grouchy disposition.
OK. So these aren’t exactly scientific surveys. But they are fun and can be informative.
Here at Great Lakes Echo we’ve wondered if personality traits are reflected in attributes unique to each Great Lake. If you’re quick to judge are you shallow like Lake Erie? Is someone given to stormy outbursts more like Lake Superior? If your favorite holiday is the Fourth of July are you most like Lake Michigan – the only lake wholly within the United States?
Here’s where Echo readers like you come in. Help us craft the questions and identify the unique personalities of each lake. Make suggestions in the comments section below.
We’ll announce a quiz when we get enough questions. Then you can discover if Lake Ontario lurks deep in your soul.
David Poulson edits the Great Lakes Echo
Not sure if this is what you’re after, but Lake Superior is big, cold and just a little aloof. Lake Michigan is less magnificent but a more welcoming friend. I have always communed with and felt a strong connection to this accessible, approachable, sometimes overtaxed, always resilient body of water.
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So would you say Superior is a trifle condescending and arrogant – Superior? And Michigan is more of a lake you can have a beer with?
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If you’re a poser, wanna-be or an outsider, you’re Lake Champlain!
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Dave – this is hilarious. I actually started creating this exact quiz about a year ago and then put it on hold and forgot about it.
All I remember is that Lake Huron was considerably more challenging than I anticipated. And while Erie is shallow, it’s also warm and nurturing. I’ll dig up my questions to see if there’s anything good in there.
If you need any info from Michigan Sea Grant, let me know: stephaa@umich.edu
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I have always felt most closely aligned to Lake Michigan — it is closest in proximity to me,plus I worked for the Lake Michigan Federation for 14 years. Lake Michigan is definitely to be respected, but it is much friendlier than Lake Superior, which I describe as intimidating, deep, cold and not very accessible. (Not emotionally available in human terms?) Lake Michigan’s beaches on the east side are warm (sometimes) and incredibly inviting and nurturing. Kind of motherly and womanly. Sorry to be speaking in male/female terms. I think of Lake Erie as hugely productive, both with its fishery and in relation to algae – a positive and negative aspect of productivity. Its shallowness makes it more accessible, but also more prone to pollution/degradation. Not really sure I would call myself a Great Lake — that’s so big. Maybe I would be a small stream that connects to my favorite Great Lake – Lake Michigan.
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Erie: Industrial, busy, always on the go, surrounded by lots of people.
Huron: Humble, a little dirty, underappreciated.
Superior: Big, bold, but cold. Agree w/Dempsey = a little aloof.
Michigan: Warm, friendly, always open for partying.
Ontario: Distant, that friend from long ago you mean to reconnect with, but never around to it.
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Hey, don’t put words in my mouth! Superior is regal, not condescending. I feel awe and respect in its presence, but not warmth (literal or otherwise). Better to be feared than loved, right?
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Erie – eventful waters ever changing flipping with fish
Michigan – squeaking sands,,,USA.. Michigan vs. Wisconsin…
Huron – island hopping fun
Superior – wilderness
Ontario – at the end and out to sea…
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Superior- cold, frigid,stiff, knows its identity
Erie- ditzy, warm, shallow, friendly, dirty,
Michigan- popular, welcoming,
Huron-second best, runner up,
Ontario-if you feed used, like hockey and maple syrup
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No one’s quoted The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald, yet?
I’ve only met Superior and Michigan. Superior is wild, Michigan tame, neither is domesticated.
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OK. I can’t resist anymore. Here it is:
Lake Huron rolls, Superior sings
In the ruins of her ice water mansion
Old Michigan steams like a young man’s dreams,
The islands and bays are for sportsmen.
And farther below Lake Ontario
Takes in what Lake Erie can send her
And the iron boats go as the mariners all know
With the gales of November remembered.
Gordon Lightfoot
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[...] Echo readers, with an assist from the Mudpuppy, provided fodder for a Facebook quiz to discover which Great Lake you are most like. [...]
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From someone who’s driven around all five lakes:
Superior – wild
Michigan – the popular one, life of the party
Huron – the shy one, takes some time to get to know it, but well worth doing so
Erie – friendly, down-to-earth
Ontario – the intellectual one
dpoulson: I’d say Erie is the one you can have a beer with. Michigan is the one buying a round of tequila shots. Ontario prefers wine, of course. Superior is the questionable homemade moonshine. If you know Huron well enough it’ll suggest some unusual but wonderful drink you’ve never had before, but it’s not much for drinking with strangers.
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Didn’t read all the earlier comments, so sorry if repeating.
You’ll need a question about partying. Seems to me Lake Erie is the biggest party lake.
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[...] — A Facebook-style quiz: Which Great Lake are you? [...]
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[...] If you’re quick to judge are you shallow like Lake Erie? Is someone given to stormy outbursts more like Lake Superior? Take the quiz to find out. [...]
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