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	December 11th through 17th, 2023

Last week, the lake started off open. Lucerne ended the week mostly open. If we would have gotten one cold, still night near the weekend it might have iced-in. We didn't and the ice-in contest goes on.

It may not have been ice-in wintery, but it was cold enough to produce a slip or two of ice on the shoreline.

Well before the weekend, the north end of the lake got a nice coat of ice.

The ice extended a few hundred feet south.

Warmer, wavy days broke up the small amount of lake ice into plate sized chunks. Those chunks would refreeze into the shore on cold nights making a scalloped surface instead of the normal mirror like top ice.

Most have been watching Lucerne for ice-in. Others ignored the lake and instead focused their attention on their reflection.

The water was cold but open. We saw three getting in the last footing runs of the year.

Then they headed south.

While walking along West Shore Drive, we were startled by a huge eagle that lept from the trees and passed a few feet above our heads.

The big bird continued south along the west shore of the lake harrassing footers the whole way.

While flying the drone back and not harrassing any footers, we noticed one of the bar's squirrels watching the aircraft.

It did not know what to make of the hovering craft and watched it tranfixed for a good 17 seconds before raiding the bird feeders again.

The condition of Knott Lane got a little better, but is still dominated by patches of snow and ice.

There was enough snow heading into the weekend to give the area a good Christmassy feel.

Near the weekend, the janitorial staff at knottlane reminded us we had an annual board meeting and debauch (Cigars! Taco Bell! Staying up past 8:00 PM!) scheduled in the extreme southwestern part of Lucerne's shoreline for the weekend and days beyond. So we hopped into the car and drove over a few lumps to get there.

It turns out that board meetings are better when held in a cavernous pyramid.

Just as a watched pot never boils, a watched lake refuses to freeze. So in an effort to preserve a January Bottle Rocket War, we have taken our eyes off the lake for a short while. Looking at the forecast, if ice-in does not occur at the start of next week, we may be looking at a January ice-in. Will the ice be thick enough in a few weeks to support the forts and fun of the 33rd Annual Lake Lucerne Bottle Rocket War or will it be an event filled with soakers and soggy fuses? We'll see soon enough.<br><br><br>-Nemo's thinking Popeye's for lunch.

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