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December 23rd through 29th

Last week thrust upon the lake some of the more atypical elements of late December Winter. It started dry enough and there were even some reports of a little sun. Then came the clouds, the shrinking piles of snow, the fog, and the general drippiness that was felt in unseasonable abundance. What the week lacked in sunny and clear it more than made up for in blech. Streams and creeks around the lake have shaken off their ice and are in Spring inflow form. Did we mention the fog? No, that's not right. Did we mention <b>FOG</b>?! We had a lot of fog last week. At week's end there was still enough snow (a little less than a foot) to determine the number and direction of roving deer. Near the end of the week, the remains of the 2 feet of snow that burdened metal roofs lost their grip and came crashing down. Great sheets of ice, snow and slush blessed previously clear decks and walkways. Those fortunate enough to have this event occur in the early evening had the added bonus of having the mass freeze and bond to the concrete overnight. Knott Lane was not in good shape even before the wet froze into a wonderfully friction-less coating. For reading this far into this rather wet, icy, and colorless summary, spot the squirrel and receive 7 bonus points! Points can be exchanged in the knottlane store* for valuable prizes including cars, boats, cabins, and private planes.<br><br>*There is no knottlane store. Also code monkeys will no longer be allowed to "Irish up" their coffees for the holidays. <br> -The Management With rain forecast for the weekend and mostly above freezing temperatures, a small, brave rain gauge was risked to get a metric on all the sky shenanigans. The courageous glass tube made it through without cracking to record just over an inch and a half of rain. According to NOAA, one inch of rain is equivalent to 13 inches of snow. The lake dodged over 20 inches of wet, heavy white by about 5°F. The mood up here is mixed what with the Christmas cheer being blended with the blechy weather and management's unilateral ban on "coffee helper". Snow is mostly off the lake. No lake ice check was attempted last week. The footing on Lucerne was deemed super slippery and there was well founded conjecture that any journey onto the ice could include the latest swim of the year. As the temperatures fall, we'll try to get an ice thickness measurement as soon as it's judged safe-ish. Until then, the wise ice fisher won't forget their PFD.<br><br>-Nemo, feeling the chill even with a hat on.

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