Autumn's Dawn

Historically after Labor Day, the air begins to cool, the lake temperature drops, and the trees get more colorful. This year has been no exception. Last week's mornings were cool and the lake temperature has fallen into the low 60s°F. You can still get your summer on with swimming, skiing, and diving, but everything is more shivery.

Despite the cooler temps, we still have frogs. Mrs Nemo, left unsupervised for only a second, caught (and released) this guy early in the week. It's been a good year for local amphibians with the populations of frogs, toads, and salamanders at an anecdotal high. Not so coincidentally, the bitey bug population seems to be down.

There was a bit of rain, about a quarter of an inch, during the week. With the fire danger low, we took care of a dead pine that had recently browned up the corner of Lake Lucerne Drive and Potawatomi Trail.

It burned pretty well.

Sunsets are getting earlier and cooler. When the sun goes down, it gets much, much colder.

The colors of sunset were just as good as any during the warmer evenings of the year..

Golf without hat, jackets, and snow pants continues to be a thing. The course is still in good shape.

The sunflowers on the left side of hole 18 can be a bit of a distraction.

A few of the trees around the lake are also becoming a bit of a distraction.

For the most part, the trees on the hills around the lake are still holding on to their green.

The bar's corn patch is nearing harvest.

The few ears we've picked were pretty good.

Crandon's main street has been resurfaced and the ankle twisting slope of some of the sidewalks has been removed.

In the 60s and 70s, Crandon had more than its share of food stores. One was located on Hwy 8 just as you entered the city and was called "The Minute Market". It closed over 50 years ago and the building has since fallen into disrepair. It was removed last week.

During the weekend, Crandon was lit up by a waxing moon and the Forest County Fair.

The fair was much brighter than the moon.

Tastier, too. The fair food trailers provided a saladless and vegetableless spread that was mostly deep fried.

The banks were closed, so we were not able to get a Fair Food Loan to finance a snack. While we did not get to experience the joy of Chile Cheese Fries, Funnel Cakes, and Deep Fried Oreos, our arteries ended the night less clogged.

The days are getting much shorter and the mornings much colder (38°F, ick), but there's still plenty of light and warm (ish) left to placate those afflicted with Summer's Ending Denial Syndrome (SEDS). Symptoms of SEDS include keeping the ski boat in too long, ignoring the blueish hue of your skin while swimming, and wearing sandals when boots would be more appropriate. SEDS usually goes into remission after the first snow flurry. Some of the more advanced cases require 3 or more inches of snow.

-Nemo remained delightfully incurious about the different prices of corn dogs.

Autumn's Dawn

Autumnal September 2nd through 8th, 2024