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December 12th through 18th, 2016

At the start of last week, the lake ice had made some gains, but most of the surface of Lake Lucerne was open. With the air being all polar express-y, the open water would not last. The sub-zero weather froze the North end by Wednesday. A strong wind from the West kept the South end open a few days longer. How frozen was the North end? It looked good enough to walk on. It wasn't. The water was only a foot deep and the 18 inch boot waterproof, so the event lacked that profanity laced refreshment that it could have had. A nice stroll on the North end was not to be. There were reports on Thursday that the lake had frozen over. It might have been close in the morning, but that strong Western wind took a small open patch in the South and blew it clear. Due to our experience the day before, we kept an eye on the crazy ice fisherman as he walked around the North end Thursday evening. The thin, but apparently strong enough to walk on ice, sprouted a fine crop of frost flowers. It takes over 100 of the delicate blossoms to fully hydrate a can of condensed soup. It also snowed. There's currently about eight inches on the ground and three on the berries. The roads through the northwoods are not as dry and ice free as they were back in July. At first we thought that the cold, snow, and ice caused some to throw themselves to the ground. But no, she was just decorating the yard for Christmas. Ice formations on the shore are always interesting, but this year they seem even more so. <center>Ice stalagmites!</center> In keeping with last week's apparent theme, bar nights featured ice (cream) based cocktails. With sprinkles! And above it all, there was a super moon. Baby, it's cold outside. No, that's not right. BABY, IT'S COLD OUTSIDE!! There, that's better. Having ridden the Polar Express in the past, we've developed a few coping/survival strategies, most of which involve fire, blankets, and not swimming in the lake. We'll be doing the second lake ice depth check in the next few days. Didn't ask about the first ice check. Don't fully trust the number given by crazy fishermen.<br><br><br>-Nemo, developing a low grade cabin fever.

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