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	January 22nd through 28th, 2013

At the border of last week (the first week of "Deep Winter") and this week (the second week of "Deep Winter") the evening sky began to clear. It was going to be an extra special cold night.

The frozen silver lining of the extra special cold night was the view of the moon and Jupiter crossing very close. Jupiter is upper right of center, the moon is the other one.

High temperatures during much of the week were below zero. We did not look forward to cutting a hole in the lake to check the ice.

To nobody's surprise, the lake still has ice. It's 13.75 inches thick.

In order to better understand how cold it was, we felt it was time to ride empty chairlifts and throw our bodies off cliffs in the Upper Peninsula on Wednesday. The high temperature that day was around -7°F at Brule.

Homestead Lodge is a big cabin with several wood burner heated rooms and food in the middle of the back runs at Brule. On the lower right of the sign is a knife and fork. It would seem that anti-spoon bigotry is alive and well on top of Wisconsin. We showed solidarity with our spoon brothers by not going into the Homestead Lodge. Also it was locked (too cold to open is the spiel we heard).

The extra special cold is extra, extra special when pushing 30 to 40 feet per second into a stiff wind.

The Best Western in Crandon has a pool. And a hot tub. The temperature of the room is 73°F. The pool is close to 88°F. The hot tub is warmer. It took about an hour to de-ice Wednesday's skiers.

It's only the second week of "Deep Winter" and there is already talk that this sub-season is too long. You won't get an argument from me. Thaw, the third and last sub-season in winter, is just weeks away but many questions haunt the faces of those holding out on the shore of Lake Lucerne. How much longer will the extra special cold last? Seriously, you want to go skiing? Where did I put my hat? Will the garnishes (mostly lemons and limes) hold out?<br><br><br>-Nemo, looking forward to thaw.

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