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	January 13th through 19th, 2020

For almost 3 decades now, the deepest, coldest chunk of Winter has been reserved for the Annual Lake Lucerne Bottle Rocket War. In the past, the event has occasionally been delayed due to lack of snow, lack of cold, or logistical reasons. This year had good snow, plenty of cold, and no supply issues. There would be no delay.

Fort building, the number 1 or 2 fun thing about the bottle rocket war, depending on who you ask, started mid-week for the southern fort.

Forms were filled. Snow sintered. In just a few hours, ramparts began to take shape.

Some of the times in the past, snow had to be mined for tens of yards away. Not this year. The snow depth around the young structures was about 6 inches deep.

By Friday evening, one fort was done. The southern fort included buttress walls, polycarbonate windows, icicle spikes, decorative totems, and a breakfast nook.

It also had a small anti-skip wall that turned out to be very valuable.

Friday saw some progress on the north, but much of the finishing work would wait until Saturday.

On Saturday morning, we found that the area was pasted overnight with over 6 inches of fluffy snow. It required shoveling, blowing, and plowing from decks, driveways, and roads. It also softened the harsh corners of the forts giving them a more organic feel.

Just after 7:00 PM the first shots started to pour from the walls.

There was the occasional lull in fire from both sides.

The quiet would suddenly be replaced with a sudden barrage of color (with report!).

The war time wind coupled with a 60 foot separation combined to make flat trajectories especially effective.

Almost 20 minutes and over 2000 rockets later, all that remained was the signing of the peace treaty, the award ceremony, and the after party.

Congratulations to Mrs Nemo and Taylor for winning this year's Silver Brick (1 oz 99.999 pure silver) for fort building. Special compliments to xxLt for winning this year's BigFoot Award for Outstanding Beauty and Timeliness (2 oz 99.999 pure silver) for plowing out most of Mequon in the late morning and then rushing up north to make the first shot all the while keeping up the strict dress code and fashion sense that has become a hallmark of the North's fort.

With the dawn (plus the time required to recover from the after party), came the damage assessment and stick pickup. The North's fort had less visible damage this year. This was not due to misses but rather a pre-war watering that made the fort's walls more solid ice than compacted snow.

The South's compacted snow walls were pummeled with the most damage taking place in the middle section and the anti-skip wall.

Maintaining a even level of return fire while hearing and feeling chunks of wall being blown out just a few feet away was the highlight of the evening for me. .

It was also noted on Sunday that even though we have not had any huge snow event this season, the moderate ones are starting to add up.

The moderate snows plus the 6+ inches on Saturday morning have kept local roads white and icy.

It was a great war. You should have been there. Thanks to everyone that participated in the war and attended the after party for making both a smashingly fun success. The after party was especially grilltastic this year with ribs and other stick based meat being supplied by two of the lake's most accomplished grill masters. With the lighting of the last rocket came the realization that we are running out of Winter. There's just a few weeks of downhill and cross country skiing left before paths are stamped and trees are tapped. And then ice-out. This year's ice-out contest will not be up next week nor the next, but it'll be posted sooner than you'd think. Until then, it's worth noting that the 30th Annual Lake Lucerne Bottle Rocket War is scheduled for Saturday, February 6th, 2021.<br><br><br>-Nemo's already planning a fort, rocket count, and commemorative t-shirt.

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