Drowning the Nail, Carving the Pumpkin

October 17th through 23th, 2016

Lake Lucerne
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.
Lake Lucerne
It rained! Not the gentle showers we have become accustomed to, but a full out deluge. The lake continues to go up, Huzzah!
Lake Lucerne
The warmer, wetter weather produced a rare bumper crop of ink caps.
Lake Lucerne
Local milkweed pods celebrated the ginormous rain by exploding.
Lake Lucerne
The water hazards at the soon-to-be-closed-for-the-season Nicolet Country Club golf course haven't been fuller.
Lake Lucerne
New water hazards sprung up. It took several days before all the rain seeped back into the ground.
Lake Lucerne
Through it all, some trees held their color until the weekend.
Lake Lucerne
River otter or woodchuck? We think river otter.
Lake Lucerne
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.
Lake Lucerne
The pines are holding on to their greens nicely. The other trees, not so much.
Lake Lucerne
By the weekend, most of the leaves were on the ground.
Lake Lucerne
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.
Lake Lucerne
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.
Lake Lucerne
Construction on Knott Lane is winding down. The gas line is in and unstalled new foundations have windows and stuff.
Lake Lucerne
By Saturday night, all that was left was pumpkin carving.
Lake Lucerne
About a score of people came out and butchered orange gourds while being over served well garnished cocktails.
Lake Lucerne
The results were both creative and entertaining.
Lake Lucerne
Some were also really funny.
Lake Lucerne
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!


-Nemo: Blue Eyes, Bluer Skin.