Deep Winter

January 28th through February 3rd
Deep Winter has arrived in the northwoods. The most dreaded sub-season of Winter was a week or two late. Its tardiness seems to be related to a mighty running start rather than a weak slothfulness. Accompanying the overly enthusiastic cold came strong winds that howled in the trees and penetrated the soul of anyone foolish enough to go for a walk to get their daily steps. Darn you Fitbit! The silver lining on this frost pile of a cake is that over 90% of the emerald ash borer larva will die under these conditions. So...Huzzah? There was also some snow. The wind spun it up. The resulting snow devils danced up and down the lake, crashed into the shore, and made some impressive drifts under a sunless sky. Eventually the sun came out. With the blue came a temperature plummeting we have not seen for a decade or more. Lots of dead ash borers in them woods. Even the Northern fort bowed to the arctic blast. Temperatures went above 0°F by the weekend and with the new found warmth (warmth, ha) came the best snowmobiling of the season. Before the weekend, the lake was white and flat, littered only with the corpses of fallen snow devils that were touched by neither track nor ski. By Saturday evening, even the less traveled North end of the lake held the marks and swirls of frolicking snowcraft. The conditions gave many the chance to do a Winter tour of the lake without those pesky walking-for-miles-in-deep-snow induced heart attacks. Last Summer during a presentation at the LLAA club house by the local historic society, we were told that this is one of the oldest cabins on the lake. Water's Edge is open in the evening, the first water ski show is still a few weeks away. Piers and docks are a few weeks away from going in, too. No need to come up and mow the lawn this week. Miles down the West shore, the fabled "Lost Fort" of the 2019 Lake Lucerne Bottle Rocket War was discovered. The craftsmanship of the block construction was magnificent. The pointy sign post in the background was even more splendid. Other lake construction took on a more traditional snow form. Love the hair. Fishermen either unaware or dismissive of the lack of any fish in Lake Lucerne, gathered in great packs not seen since last century. Some brought their own shelter that may or may not have included building permits and/or postal addresses. Others seemed to prefer dwellings best described as spartan. Side note: The East side of Roberts lake seems to have been the place to fish last weekend. Late in the week, there were some great sunsets to go with the warmer weather. The warmer weekend also had the Southern bottle rocket fort bowing even farther. On Sunday, a cloud of supersaturated air crashed over the lake's surface and all became cold and damp. What this year's Deep Winter and small thaw lacked in snowfall more than made up for with ice. The meager amount of snow has about an inch of crusty ice on top. The roads are all icy and treacherous right down to the pavement. It looks like a second helping of Deep Winter will fall on our plates before next weekend. Then there's the Deep Winter Dessert course after that, but the days are getting longer and the sun is getting warmer. The third sub-season of Winter, Thaw, is closer than you may think. Soon sub-zero lows will become uncommon and sub-zero highs will be rare. Someone will be taking your date in this year's ice-out contest before you know it.<br><br>-Nemo noted that the pointy sign states that London is 3,822 miles away.