Deep Winter

January 11th through 17th
Deep Winter. Marked by its white landscapes, icy roads, but mostly its sub-zero highs, Deep Winter typically lasts only a few weeks. Here's to hoping that this season's Deep Winter is typical. The shiny whiteness that adorns the outdoors around Lake Lucerne is a not so thin coat of ice. It should push the lake level up a few inches when it all melts. The lake ice is over 7 inches thick. In other places it's over 8 inches. There's a 1 to 2 inch blanket of snow on top of all that ice. It's a little thin for cars, but fine for feet, snow-goes, ATVs, and ice shacks. Just East of aLf's bay, there's currently a nicely sided ice-house Near the house is a vast field of tip-ups. We witnessed one actually tripping, catching possibly the only fish in Lake Lucerne. We hope the fisher-people release it so that we might have a chance to catch it, too. The snow on the lake is perfect for sledding The sky above the lake is a little cool for flying. It can be done, but flight times are reduced and control fingers get frozen. The lake ice was thoroughly tested by looping around the fishless holes on the North end of the lake. During mid-week, low clouds kept us from getting a better view of all the ice and snow During the weekend, low temperatures kept us from getting a better view. At -15 F, control devices start to malfunction and fingers start to ache. To say it's cold out just doesn't carry with it the bitter, frosty feeling one gets when venturing outside. To say it's cold is accurate, but too short. A polysyllabic word would be better or, better yet, an entirely curse filled narrative. Let's be clear, after droning on Sunday, it took a good 10 achy minutes to get a normal-ish feeling back into my digits. All the while hoping that they would not turn black. Won't be doing that again.<br><br>-Nemo, Keeping warm by dancing around, complaining about the weather, and burning stuff.