Introduction

Every year, in the winter, after the temperature drops below zero, the lake freezes into an ice sheet. The locals drag a junkyard car to the middle of the lake and then they raise money for a local charity by raffling off tickets. But this past year, my old stomping grounds couldn't have the contest. For the first time in living memory, the lake didn't freeze over. And being from Michigan, it's hard to adequately express the surprise, the shock, our connection to the cold.