Got to thinking about alewives recently and how their population was massive when I was a kid in the 1970’s.
What are alewives?
They are slimy little sardine like fish that died by the hundreds and littered the beaches of Lake Michigan every summer day.
I’m not talking about one or two scattered here and there. There were hundreds of them lying along the beach and the ones that didn’t make it to the beach were floating on the water.
Did I mention the smell?
I moved away from Chicago when I was twelve for a few years and when I came back and they were gone. There were still a few scattered along my old beach, but not in the hundreds.
….and the smell was gone too.
The explosion of zebra mussels and lake salmon took out the alewives and the population dwindled.
I could only imagine if they were still around and how the Shepkids would react. They wouldn’t put one toe in the sand if dead fish were scattered all along the beach.
Unfortunately, these days we don’t go to the beach as often. Not because of alewives, but because of the violence that can happen in a split second.
Life was simple when the beach was littered with dead fish…
Get up and go enjoy this gorgeous Summer Monday. The day is long and will be filled with warmth and sunshine.
Maybe if you’re lucky the WLS Magic Bus will be in your neighborhood and they will give you a WLS bumper sticker t-shirt!!
…..Let’s Roll Chalkheads
