Shades of Gray

April 18th through 24th

The ice went out last week marking the beginning of Summer but more importantly the end of Winter. As Winters go, this one was not so bad. Let's review (pay attention, there may be a test).

The ice did not go in early. It was late December before the lake got its topcoat. Congratulations again to last year's ice-in contest winners.

Less than a week after the last liquid firmed up, the lake was safe to walk on. Cars and snowmobiles piloted by the sane would have to wait a few more days.

This was one of the shortest snowmobile seasons ever. It seemed like the trails were open for only a few hours in January and closed in February.

In late January, ramparts for the 25th Annual Lake Lucerne Bottle Rocket War dotted the North end of the lake.

The event was one of the best ever. There were snow boats, warm (for January) temperatures, collapsing walls and rockets. Lots of rockets.

The slopes at Brule seemed to fully open a little later than usual, but it was worth a visit or three.

Lake Lucerne's ice never did reach the one yard thick mark. Peak ice was about half a yard.

Sapping season started early. The sugar content was a little lower than usual. What the sap lacked in sweetness, it made up in volume. We got over 5,000 gallons of maple juice from 360 trees, one or two of which were basswoods.

Last week, that all ended. We celebrated the finale of the sapping season, snow, cold, and lake ice with a party just to the South and West of Water's Edge.

It's a little warmer here and more gamblely.

That, and we found a new favorite thing.

We refer to the time between ice-out and Memorial Day weekend as The Gray. It's a time of planning and anticipation, but not execution. Forty degree Fahrenheit water does not swim well and fifty degree F air does not golf well. And there's rain. At last check, the lake was less than two inches from the nail. After all last weekend's rain, it's expected that the lake level will be above the nail for the first time since September of '05. Huzzah! <br><br>-Nemo's not a fan of clip shows.