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June 29th through July 5th

To say it was hot last week would be a cliched understatement. It would be more accurate to say it was torrid, or sweltering, or steamy, but even then the scorching days and muggy nights would be only weakly described. For those that don't embrace the sunny season, it was a time to huddle around air conditioners and clutch iced beverages extra tight to try to cool fingers and palms. For others, including ourselves, it was the best week ever. There were a few cloudy days last week, but most of the time, the sun was out tanning the SPF 50 crowd and incinerating everyone else. The nights were warm and a waxing moon made them almost bright enough to finish a tan or ski run. Some of the sugarmen took advantage of the suffocating heat to cut a few cords. Suffering for your art is a time honored tradition for some, not me though. There was also some rain last week. Two of the rain events dropped about a half an inch on the lake. Lawn puddles are back and mowing will have to wait for another day. Lake Schaefer is back. If you are going to the Crandon IGA or the Liquor Lode, don't park in the deep water. The ski show on Wednesday was good. The second ski show on Sunday was better. The acts on Wednesday were just as good as Sunday, but Sunday had better crashes. Much better crashes. In between the ski shows and the night, the lake was almost continuously waved up by the active and the energetic. During the week, word went out that there was to be a boat parade on Lake Lucerne starting at Water's Edge at 10:30 AM Saturday. Decorated Watercraft began to gather in the bay at around 10. Our favorite was the "Yellow Submarine" boat that would randomly burst into song. The shark was a nice touch, but purists would have preferred a <a href='https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blue_Meanies_(Yellow_Submarine)' style='padding: 1px 1px;' target='_blank';>Blue Meanie</a> Right on time, the boats queued up and navigated North around Lucerne. There was also to be a boat parade on Lake Metonga. It didn't have a Yellow Submarine boat or very many other floatables so Lake Lucerne wins and will be awarded 50 points and the House Cup this year. Huzzah! The lake water temperature hit 80°F late last week before pulling back a bit. A few years back, we recorded a temperature of 84°F in late July. If the heat holds, we could beat that this year. If you dive down past 10 feet or so, you hit a layer of lake that's not so warm. Think 70°F. If you go down past 25 or 30 feet, you hit the thermocline. Think 50°F (brr). The lake level fell a half an inch during June, but is still just 2 inches under the record high recorded on May 1st. Historically, the level should decline around 6 inches until ice-in. If it does, that'll take some of the pressure off the shoreline. If it doesn't, when Lakes Lucerne, Metonga, and Schaefer merge, next year's boat parade will be huge.<br><br>-Nemo's not getting out until September.

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