In 2009, Loreen Niewenhuis walked around Lake Michigan. This book is about that journey, a 1,000-mile walk around a Great Lake. The book explores both the geology of the lake and the measure of a person—a middle-aged woman, married, mother of two (her sons joined her for portions of the walk). But most of the walk was done solo, in quiet contemplation, an exercise in discovery of self and place. No one else has walked around the perimeter of Lake Michigan and written a book about it. This book conveys a sense of the magnitude of this lake, a place so elemental to the states which form its shores. Day by day, from ground level and at a leisurely, reflective pace, the book explores the natural and human history of Lake Michigan . . . and raises important questions about environmental protections and water-quality issues affecting us all.