Winter 2016 Obituary Page

March 7th through 13th

It warmed up last week and the lake ice got thinner.

Early in the week, a high dew point and some wind combined to create great waves of fog that silently crashed into the shore pines.

Packs of wild turkeys could be heard gobbling up most mornings. With most of the snow gone, they're getting harder to spot.

Collecting sap at the start of the week was a snowy, ATV with feet affair. And there was a lot of sap.

Later in the week, the sun came out and it got even warmer.

The heat took its toll and collecting sap became less snowy/more sloppy.

All that collected sap was boiled down and was syrup by Saturday.

It had a little more color than you would have expected for the first batch of the year. The taste was amazing.

The condition of Knott Lane is good. Stunning really for this time of year.

The creeks flowing into the lake are not the snow melt filled torrents we had hoped for. A good rain storm will fix that right up. We need rain.

The snow is off the golf course and we were collecting sap in t-shirts by the weekend. There can be only one conclusion. Winter officially died this week. Winter is survived by about a foot of lake ice and some snow in the shadows. The lake ice could make April and beyond, but it's becoming less likely with each 50+ (℉) day. When the ice pulls away from the shore (a day or two from now) we'll get a lake level check. A casual glance suggests that the lake won't gain much if anything at ice-out.<br><br><br>-Nemo: Collect, boil, can, repeat.