untitled, photo by puja.

This picture wasn't exactly what I expected when I went looking for the most popular "michigan beach" picture on Flickr from the summer 2005.

Perhaps there's a message in there about respecting the power of the Great Lakes when enjoying them in the summer. It's always sad for me when I hear about someone who got caught in a riptide and drowned while enjoying swimming in the waves.

Water Safety & Rip Currents from Michigan Sea Grant has some great advice for how to avoid rip currents (which apparently grab 40,000 swimmers a year from US beaches and are deadlier than lightning or tornados). They also tell you how to handle yourself if you do get caught in one of these powerful currents: stay calm, don’t fight the current and swim parallel to the shoreline.