Less Snow, Less Cold

January 2nd through 8th, 2023

Lake Lucerne
Last week started off cloudy and seasonably warm. The absence of mood boosting sunshine was more than made up for by the lack of any sub-zero (°F) cold. There was talk of mid-week snow, mid-week rain, and even the worst of all, a mid-week rain/snow mix. This led to a rare occurrence of hoping for a little more cold in January. Brushing off a light dusting of snow is so much better than scraping off a thick coating of ice.
Lake Lucerne
All eyes were watching the weather as the forecasts bopped back and forth between up to 6 inches of snow to an annoying amount of rain.
Lake Lucerne
Well...not all eyes. Some were focused on the ground looking for a free meal.
Lake Lucerne
And others were walking around not really looking at anything like the generally wild lunatics that they are.
Lake Lucerne
And still others were not taking their new job of bird feeder bouncer very seriously and dozing on the job. This was perhaps for the best in that while the new hire did vex the squirrels, he's kinda mean to the birds, too.
Lake Lucerne
Of course it has long been known that, in the end, no bouncer is a match for a hungry squirrel.
Lake Lucerne
For whatever reason, the squirrels seem to mostly avoid the deer shaped suet feeder on Knott Lane.
Lake Lucerne
It started as a snow event on Tuesday evening.
Lake Lucerne
It continued on and off through Wednesday.
Lake Lucerne
The accumulation was not near the worst amounts predicted. An occasional bit of rain in between the flakes had the snow total close to 2 inches.
Lake Lucerne
The bit of rain coated the trees.
Lake Lucerne
When the sun eventually came out, the tree's crystal coating seemed to glow.
Lake Lucerne
The condition of Knott Lane after the snow/rain/snow wasn't as bad as expected. The snow on top of the frozen slush is much less slippery than the packed snow/ice that covers much of West Shore Drive and Potawatomi Trail.
Lake Lucerne
The last task of the week was to check the lake ice.
Lake Lucerne
Drilling a hole goes much more quickly than later in the year when the ice is a few feet thick.
Lake Lucerne
Huzzah!
Lake Lucerne
We have 8 solid inches in the northeastern corner of the lake.
Lake Lucerne
That's plenty for playing around and fort building.
Lake Lucerne
Winter is so much better when the sky is clear-ish and the sun is up or the stars are out. The Orion-Taurus-Pleiades combination is one of those great sky objects you miss if you're not here in Winter. Another object you'd miss in the Summer is the Annual Lake Lucerne Bottle Rocket War. In less than 2 weeks, the forts will be built, almost 4000 rockets will be fired, and the after party at the bar will be enjoyed by both the combatants and spectators alike. The location of this 32nd annual event has been moved to the northeastern corner of Lucerne this year to help with parking and to assure that watching can be done from the bar.


-Nemo's going to enjoy the 32nd from behind an ablative snow wall on the ice.