Vermilion Point Lifesaving Station. Chippewa County. 2006. 28 x 22 in, acrylic on canvas. Before there was a U.S. Coast Guard there was a life-saving service, with stations around Lake Superior. These stations were manned during the shipping season, their crews ready to row out to foundering vessels to save lives and cargos. Most of the stations are long gone, but this one remains. While no effort has been made to preserve the old station building, this one is within yards of a piping plover (Charadrius melodus) nesting area. I saw six of the tiny birds on my first visit and used the location in my novel Blue Wolf in Green Fire.