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	January 39th through 45th

Deep Winter is still here and stronger than ever. Last week was the coldest of the season. High temperatures occasionally eked just above 0°F, but for the most part floated from negative single digits down to the -20s°F. Brrr.

There was wind, too. The frosty breezes would pick up the meager amount of new snow and deposit it in delightfully deep drifts on roads and driveways.

Some of the snow did not blow off in the gusts. The remaining bottle rocket war fort ended the week a little taller than the week before.

We've entered that time of year where the snow strata on roofing has recorded a seemingly permanent record of the various snow events of the year. It also can make interior doors of some older cabins and bars close funny if at all.

The strata on the roads has been pressed into an ice like substance that we have several words for, none of which are suitable for mixed company.

To call Knott Lane snow and ice free would be inaccurate.

Flinging pans of boiling water into the air and seeing it turned to snow before it hits the ground has been supplanted by making soap bubbles and watching them freeze in about 5 to 10 seconds.

No eagles were spotted on or above the North end of Lucerne last week, but we have quite a wild turkey infestation.

By the end of the week, it was time to check on the lake ice. It took a while to drill through to the less icy part of Lake Lucerne.

There's currently just over 18 inches of very hard, clear ice between Deep Winter and ice-out.

These are the cold times that try men's souls; the summer swimmer and the sunshine tourist will, in this crisis, shrink from the shore of Lake Lucerne; but he that stands on it now, should wear a hat and pray that the pipe to the holding tank doesn't freeze. We've seen it before, it's not a pretty sight. If the calendar is any gauge, January should soon give way to February and begin the bestest sub-season of Winter: Thaw. Thaw slushes up the snow on top of the lake ice during the day and freezes it at night resulting in thicker lake ice. With Lucerne currently covered by a foot and a half of ice, we'll need more snow and thaw/freeze cycles to push it up to a yard. Until then, tapping season is nigh. Time to warm up the spiles, find the snowshoes, and tramp the trails. Or at least think about those things until we get a few more degrees.<br><br>-Nemo, shivery but hopeful.

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