Hello Winter!

November 20th through 26th, 2023

Lake Lucerne
Last week was bookended with clouds and cold. The difference being the cold at the start of the week slipped above freezing for the high. The weekend, not so much. The sliver of mostly cloudless light we got midweek was nice.
Lake Lucerne
There was also some snow.
Lake Lucerne
The squirrels near the bar were missing at the start of the week. Wherever they went (napping, plotting evil, a tormenting humans convention), they came back on the weekend to empty the bird feeders at an impressive rate.
Lake Lucerne
A river otter that has been around the north end of the lake was also more active near the weekend.
Lake Lucerne
Flights of many types of migratory birds, mostly mergansers, were seen resting on Lucerne then taking off and continuing south.
Lake Lucerne
No one, to our knowledge, was injured by the north end's plethora of explode-y milkweed pods.
Lake Lucerne
Around mid-week the clouds started to thin and we were treated to a nice sunrise.
Lake Lucerne
Lucerne got really flat, too.
Lake Lucerne
The clouds came back just in time to paint a good sunset.
Lake Lucerne
It also got colder as the week progressed. The snow that lightly coated the deck on Friday was predicted, but still came as a surprise (there was supposed to be no accumulation).
Lake Lucerne
The last task of the week was to get a time lapse camera up to record the coming ice-in.
Lake Lucerne
Despite Friday's single digit (8°F) morning, there's not much ice-in to record yet.
Lake Lucerne
It got colder. The kind of cold that calls for thick coats, heavy boots, and wipes any hope of late, late season golf off the schedule. If this arctic weather continues, those with early dates in the ice-in contest will be rewarded for their foresight. With less than 7 weeks until the annual Lake Lucerne Bottle Rocket War, we're looking for the lake to firm up a little more before fort construction begins.


-Nemo: The one in the thick coat, heavy boots, and no tee time.