Drowning the Nail, Carving the Pumpkin

October 17th through 23th
Last week started off strange. It was warmer than normal and the air had an extremely still dampness to it. That dampness fully expressed itself during the late afternoon. It rained! Not the gentle showers we have become accustomed to, but a full out deluge. The lake continues to go up, Huzzah! The warmer, wetter weather produced a rare bumper crop of ink caps. Local milkweed pods celebrated the ginormous rain by exploding. The water hazards at the soon-to-be-closed-for-the-season Nicolet Country Club golf course haven't been fuller. New water hazards sprung up. It took several days before all the rain seeped back into the ground. Through it all, some trees held their color until the weekend. River otter or woodchuck? We think river otter. After a few days to dry out, lawns and ink caps were mowed. The growth rate of the grass has slowed a great deal. There is talk among the men of this being the last mowing of the year. We'll see. The pines are holding on to their greens nicely. The other trees, not so much. By the weekend, most of the leaves were on the ground. We checked to see if the boat landing was washed away. It's still there, plus we found this bit of aluminum washed up on the beach. The lake is going to need a few more feet of rain before the water reaches the tree of many roots. Think two more years. Construction on Knott Lane is winding down. The gas line is in and unstalled new foundations have windows and stuff. By Saturday night, all that was left was pumpkin carving. About a score of people came out and butchered orange gourds while being over served well garnished cocktails. The results were both creative and entertaining. Some were also really funny. Ladies and gentlemen, Summer has left the lake. Thank you and goodnight. The water temperature was 58 F as we pulled the last of the piers and raft onto the shore. As the lucky one to be in the water during the pulling, I can attest to the 58 degree Fahrenheit-ness of the lake. Refreshing! Breathtaking! Bracing! Won't be doing that again for awhile. Lake Lucerne's water level continues its recovery by going over the nail by a good two inches. Yay!<br><br>-Nemo: Blue Eyes, Bluer Skin.







Landing on the North End of Lake Lucerne.