The last full week of April tasted somewhat springy, but with a very wintery aftertaste. There was a touch of green in the trees, more green in the other plants, and the first lawn mowing event. There was also snow during many of the mornings and during one afternoon.
The green in the trees is currently more homeopathic than real. It helps to squint to see past the browns in the hills.
On Sunday, a bunch of eagles were seen diving and climbing around each other over the North end of the lake. Whether this behavior was about a territorial claim or just good frolicking air remained unclear.
A good gauge of the lake's temperature, aside from a thermometer, is the angle of a freshly plopped in boat lift. The warmer the lake, the more time the men spend in the water leveling the lift. Currently, the lake seems pretty cold.
Cold. Not the cold that would accompany carolers up and down the lane, but the cold that usually would extend ice-out and tapping season. The memory of the warm that took out the ice and the sap has become buried under days of 10°F to 20°F below average air and a dusting of snow. It's the perfect time to make sure the boat battery is fully charged, adequate sunglasses are available, and stocks of energy drinks and Ibuprofen are topped off. With these items mostly done, a subset of the College of Loons has called for, and have had seconded, a Knottlane Board Meeting and Pool Party to address the sorry state of Spring and garnishes on the North end of Lake Lucerne. Last year's virtual convention has been blamed for the drought of cocktails, oversupply of lake level, and an unsightly pale appearance of many during the Summer of '20, so this year zoom meetings have been ditched for an actual conference in the extreme southwestern corner of the lake. To quote Francis Bacon,'If the Summer will not come to Nemo, then Nemo must go to the Summer'.
-Nemo concedes that Francis Bacon may not have said that.
