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	December 31st through January 6th, 2014

Well, maybe not absolute zero. Most atmospheric gases are still gases. Helium for sure is still floating around which is good. Fishing in a superfluid can be hard on the tackle.

The web cam has been functioning well below its minimum operating temperature of -4°F for a few days now. Hang in there little camera. According to forecasters, the coldest temperatures in two decades have just about 3 days to go.

The lake ice is not growing as fast as expected during the really cold. Apparently, eight inches of snow on top is providing enough insulation to slow the creation of new ice. Still, eleven and a half inches of ice is about a half an inch thicker than last week.

Knott Lane is snow covered but not impassable.

It was cold on Sunday, so we headed south to warmer climes and watched the local team of footballers enjoy the balmy temperatures.

Minor problems (parking, heat pack placement, icy sidewalks) were dealt with as they cropped up but the real issue was that we did not have any actual tickets to the game. This turned out to not be an obstacle at all thanks to friendly scalpers unloading tickets at under face value. Huzzah!

The seats were pretty good. The first quarter Packer offense, not so much.

We did manage to snap a picture of the first Packer first down. We could have used one or more of them during the first 15 minutes of the game.

After the first quarter, it was a good game. Lots of lead changes and crowd noise. It was only one interception, 3rd down stop or blocked field goal away from a great game.

It's the peak of deep Winter or as some call it, "The Fat Times". Everyone outdoors appears to be chubby. Some chunkiness is due to cheese curds, et al, but most is caused by layer upon layer of clothes. This faux fleshiness has other advantages besides the not-freezing-to-death kind. Falls aren't as bad while wearing the typical full body helmet, real corpulence is reduced by the calorie burn of hauling around an extra 50 pound outer layer and boots are fun. We miss Summer. Sure, it's fun to amaze a bar full of portly people by pounding a nail into a board with a frozen banana, but that gets old faster than you may think. At least there is hope. The days are getting longer and the sun, when it's out, is getting higher and growing the promise of ice-out and summer. Until then, keep your boots dry and pass the cheese curds.<br><br><br>-Nemo, eater of cheese curds, et al

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