Freeze, Thaw, Freeze

The third week of November started off with a dusting of snow on the ground and bit of nip in the air. It got better. It finished worse. In retrospect, with less than a month's march to the solstice, any week without several inches of white is a win.

It was cloudy at the start and the end of the week, but the middle was filled with bright sunlight.

The edges of the lake grew thin and crispy overnight. The mid-week warm and windy bump thawed and beat the crust until the ice was no more. It was back by the weekend.

Un-aerated lawn puddles froze out early in the week.

After mid-week, the lawn lagoons' ice started to breakup and there was talk of launching boats and properly pontooned mowers for one last ski run or grass cut. By the weekend it was iced tight again, boats remained winterized, mowers parked.

In addition to sun, those on the North end of the lake that looked up were treated to afternoon eagle wrestling.

After the bout, the grapplers hung out in a local pine and chirped of fish and roadkill.

I'm not sure if additional eagles have been added to the lake area or if they've hired better marketers, but we're seeing a lot more this year.

The dump is no longer open on Wednesdays until May. As a result, the weekends can be busier. It's best not to take advantage of rushes to dump items that are not accepted lest ye become a surprise star in the new Bravo series "Stink Eye from the Dump Guy".

The kickoff to gun deer season was still and more quiet than normal. Our camp did not get a one on opening weekend unless you count the knob doe that the Suburban picked off on Hwy. 8 near the old Fire-Up Smoke Shop.

Lake Wabikon is frozen over as is Silver Lake in Laona. It'll take a few more still nights in the teens to crisp-ify the surface of Lucerne. It seems unlikely this will happen before Thanksgiving, but you never know. In the meantime, sit back with a nice mug of hot chocolate while contemplating your entry in this year's Ice-In contest and enjoy the show.

-Nemo added Knob Deer to "The List".

Freeze, Thaw, Freeze

November 16th through 22nd, 2020